The moon might have been home to a spying base, a missile complex, or even been destroyed with nuclear missiles, based on newly-released documents.
The National Security Archive made several documents about the moon public in celebration of the 45th anniversary of the Apollo 11 mission that first landed humans on another world.
Secrets revealed include plans to militarize our planetary companion. Various ideas were discussed during the Cold War, centered on how best to employ the unique staging ability of the lunar surface.
A surveillance base, able to spy on the Soviet Union as it passed underneath cameras each day, was one of the plans considered.
The Lunar Expedition Plan (LUNEX), written in 1961, looked forward to the first human mission to touch down on the face of the lunar surface. Much of the technology which would be used on the Apollo project was foretold in the LUNEX document. These included the idea of having three astronauts make the trip, as well as a lunar landing stage, and using a Doppler altimeter to measure height of the vehicle over the surface of the moon.
"The execution of this plan will land three men on the moon and return them during the third quarter of calendar year 1967, and will establish the Lunar Expedition in 1968," Air Force Systems Command authors wrote [pdf] in the Lunar Expedition Plan.
The Lunar Based Earth Bombardment System was an idea to place missiles on the moon, ready to rain terror down on Soviet assets in the event of war.
"[T]he base should be designed as a permanent installation, it should be underground... and it should provide suitable accommodations to support extended tours of duty," the Military Lunar Base program stated [pdf].
Each of those documents revealed the existence of groups within the Air Force and Army who wanted the moon landing to be conducted in secret.
Sputnik 1 was launched in October 1957, near the height of the Cold War. That mission was not only a triumph for science, but also showed Moscow possessed the ability to land a large payload, anywhere in the world, with a great deal of accuracy. Plans for a military base on the moon began in earnest after the Soviet Union gained that early lead in the space race.
"A different potential military use of the moon was found in... A Study of Lunar Research Flights... to deliver a nuclear device to the surface or to the vicinity of the moon, where it would be detonated. Also involved in the study effort was the yet-to-become-famous astronomer Carl Sagan... the foremost intent [of such a detonation] was to impress the world with the prowess of the United States" Jeffrey T. Richelson wrote.
The Air Force canceled the project to blow up the moon when it was decided the risks outweighed the benefits.
