Science Fiction Policy

        There is a fun new piece on Paleofuture about the a government plan from 1959 (but only recently declassified) to build a military base on the moon. The plan predates the Apollo program and its a really cool example of big science and big policy working on together. By the time we actually made it to the moon a decade later, the military edge of the endeavor had been rubbed off, but we can see, from the start, how big the ambition and excitement were for getting into space.

Here's the first paragraph of the report to give you a feel for the tone:

There is a requirement for a manned military outpost on the moon. The lunar outpost is required to develop and protect the potential United States interests on the moon; to develop techniques in moon-based surveillance of the earth and space, in communications relay, and in operation on the surface of the moon; to esrve as a base for exploration of the moon, for further exploration into space and for military operations on the moon if required; and to support scientific investigations on the moon.

Even though scientific research is tacked on at the end after all the military purposes, this is still a pretty amazing statement of purpose, no less because they were absolutely serious (as evidenced by the rapid development of the space program). At the time all of this was speculative, we were nearly two years away from Yuri Gagarin and Alan Shepard's first space flights and none of the required technology had been built. Can you imagine the military today justifying a program in part to "breach the void of human understanding." The space race is an historical moment that fascinates those of us who are into science policy because of statements like this. Since the end of the Apollo program, over 40 years ago, people have been trying to recreate this convergence of basic science and political necessity.

The whole document is worth a skim (or a read) just to bask in the ambition and optimism of the plan and what we can work to accomplish when the government makes science a national priority. We talk today about launching "moon shots," big technical solutions major problems, and decry the lack of political will to make them happen and our inability to copy our past glory. Perhaps the best thing I learned spending time with this report is that its drafters, whose accomplishments now stand as a seminal moment in human history, say they are attempting to recreate the conditions of the Manhattan Project, I would love to ask them if they feel like they succeeded.