The U.S. Once Planned to Nuke the Moon 

In the thick of the Cold War, when tensions between the United States and the Soviet Union were at their peak, the U.S. military came up with an audacious plan: detonate a nuclear bomb on the moon. This top-secret initiative, known as Project A119, was developed in the late 1950s with one goal in mind—demonstrating American technological and military superiority to the world, and especially to the Soviets. 

At the time, the Soviet Union had just launched Sputnik in 1957, becoming the first country to send an artificial satellite into space. This triggered fear and urgency in the U.S., who worried they were falling behind in the “space race.” The proposed lunar explosion, visible from Earth, was intended to send a message: the U.S. had not only caught up but was capable of powerful actions beyond the planet. 

The idea was spearheaded by the U.S. Air Force and involved serious scientific minds, including a young Carl Sagan, who was brought on to study the potential impact of the explosion on the moon’s dust and atmosphere. 

However, the plan was never carried out. Officials eventually deemed it too risky—both in terms of public perception and the possibility of something going wrong. Blowing up part of the moon could have unpredictable consequences and might have backfired politically. Additionally, as the space race shifted toward exploration and peaceful competition, the U.S. decided to invest in missions like Apollo, which ultimately landed the first humans on the moon in 1969. 

Project A119 remained classified until the late 1990s, when documents and interviews brought the bizarre plan to light. It stands as a stark example of just how extreme Cold War strategies could get.