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Not your average research paper -

‘A Study of Lunar Research Flights, Vol 1’ may sound rather innocuous, but Project A119 was anything but.

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Project A119 -

‘A Study of Lunar Research Flights,’ aka Project A119, was actually a top-secret plan developed by the United States Air Force in 1958.

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The plan -

The plan was essentially to detonate a hydrogen bomb on the Moon. Hydrogen bombs were significantly more destructive than the atomic bombs dropped by the US in Japan, and America wanted to show the world exactly how devastating they could be.

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The Air Force pressured scientists to fast-track the project -

Between May 1958 and January 1959, American nuclear physicist Leonard Reiffel produced a number of reports on the feasibility of the plan. Reiffel led a team that included people such as Gerard Kuiper (pictured), who is regarded by many as the “father of modern planetary science.”

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Team -

The late American astronomer and planetary scientist Carl Sagan was also involved in the project.

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Team -

From May 1958 to January 1959, the team was based at the Armour Research Foundation (ARF) in Chicago, now known as the Illinois Institute of Technology Research.

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The goal -

The main idea was to reveal America’s nuclear power to the Soviet Union, and indeed the world. Such a display of force would attest to the strength of the US.

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Study -

They studied all aspects of the nuclear blast, including the visual impact if it was detonated on the dark or light side of the Moon, as well as dust and gas behavior.

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Study -

In the end, Reiffel determined that the plan was “technically feasible,” though an atomic bomb would have to be used instead of a hydrogen one.

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Research -

The plan included the placement of three instruments on the Moon’s surface to take measurements. The instruments would collect data before, during, and after the explosion to better help understand the composition of the Moon.

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Detonation site -

The plan was to detonate the bomb on the Terminator Line. This is the line separating the light and dark side of the Moon.

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Explosion -

The explosion would create a huge bright flash of light that could be seen by pretty much everyone on Earth, regardless of location.

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Damage -

When the project first came to light, the media speculated that such an explosion could have blown up the Moon, but Reiffel later clarified that this wouldn’t be the case.

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Damage -

According to Reiffel, the damage “would have been microscopic.” He explained that the explosion would leave a crater on the moon that would be likely invisible from Earth, “even with a good telescope.”

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Damage -

An atomic explosion on the Moon would, however, cause radioactive contamination of its surface.

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Damage -

Reiffel pointed out that “if such biological contamination of the moon occurred, it would represent an unparalleled scientific disaster, eliminating several possibly very fruitful approaches to such problems as the early history of the solar system, the chemical composition of matter in the remote past, the origin of life on earth, and the possibility of extraterrestrial life.”

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It was a PR move -

“It was clear the main aim of the proposed detonation was a PR exercise and a show of one-upmanship. The Air Force wanted a mushroom cloud so large it would be visible on earth,” said Reiffel in an interview decades later.

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Space warfare test -

In his 1959 report, Reiffel said that “it is quite clear that certain military objectives would be served since information would be supplied concerning the environment of space, concerning detection of nuclear device testing in space and concerning the capability of nuclear weapons for space warfare.”

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Motivation -

The US was not “winning” the Cold War and one event in particular triggered the urgency to show the mighty power of America: the successful launch of Sputnik 1.

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Sputnik 1 -

Sputnik 1 was the first ever artificial Earth satellite in orbit. Launched by the Soviet Union in 1957, it made America nervous.

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The Vanguard -

The Soviet success was a particularly hard pill to swallow, especially because the US failed to launch their Vanguard rocket, which exploded at takeoff.

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Response to Sputnik -

"Project A119 was one of several ideas that were floated for an exciting response to Sputnik," said Alex Wellerstein, a historian of science and nuclear technology.

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Media panic -

US newspapers didn’t help when they published headlines such as "Soviets to H-Bomb Moon On Revolution Anniversary Nov 7," among others.

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Why it didn’t go ahead -

Project A119 didn’t go ahead for a very simple, but valid reason: the launch of the bomb could fail and it could explode on American soil.

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Project E4 -

The Soviets also came up with their own plan to nuke the Moon. It was called Project E4. Like the Americans, they too ended up abandoning the idea, for the very same reasons—it wasn't safe.

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Alternative -

The US focused on winning the Space Race in a much better way: by putting a man on the Moon.

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How did such a top-secret plan leak? -

Carl Sagan mentioned the project when he applied for a Miller Institute graduate fellowship at Berkeley in 1959. The project was then mentioned in Sagan's biography published in the '90s.

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Outer Space Treaty -

The 1967 Outer Space Treaty, originally between the US, UK, and the Soviets, put an end to any future plans of a similar kind. 

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Outer Space Treaty -

The Treaty “bans the stationing of weapons of mass destruction (WMD) in outer space, prohibits military activities on celestial bodies, and details legally binding rules governing the peaceful exploration and use of space.”

Sources: (BBC) (History) (Arms Control Association) 

See also: A history of famous firsts in space

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