Secret plans for Irish spaceship revealed

Secret plans to build and launch a spaceship in Ireland were put to the Government by American astronauts, according to classified documents released today.

A team of experienced scientists, including “at least one astronaut who had walked on the moon” planned to use Ireland as its base for the ground-breaking project, Government papers released under the 30-year rule reveal.

A letter detailing the exact proposals was sent to the Government of the day by the US-based Consulate General of Ireland.

American scientist Dr Gary Hudson, who claimed to have worked for NASA, submitted his plans for the space flight project on behalf of an alleged team including British astronomer Sir Frederick Hoyle.

He had chosen Ireland because it was a neutral country and was not affiliated to any other space programme.

In a 16-page letter to the Department of Foreign Affairs, vice consul Seán Farrell described the plans to build a space station on Inishnabra, the middle island in the Blaskets.

He detailed Dr Hudson’s claims that Inishnabra had a number of advantages including isolation but with a source of raw fuel at hand.

A launch from the Blaskets would not risk civilian lives, he said.

Dr Hudson told him that he had been taken to the island by the tourist board in Kerry, which had been “enthusiastic” about the project.

Fears were expressed about the economic viability of the project, particularly as the US space programme was “in ruins because of escalating costs” and the joint European space venture had so far failed due to enormous costs.

But Dr Hudson claimed to have £140,000 (€200,000) behind him for the project. He estimated that the total cost of building, fuelling and firing a rocket would not exceed £1.7m (€2.4m) and that he would charge around £3.4m (€4.8m) per launching – starting in 1976 or 1977.

He proposed to lease the island from the Government.

Almost all of the necessary materials were to be purchased locally in Ireland, he said. The project would have involved an initial work force of 1000.

Government sanctions were needed as the UN convention stated that the country from which a rocket was launched had responsibility for any damage caused.

Mr Farrell described Dr Hudson as “the man who sold the moon.”

“He could not see how modern society could function without raw materials and he imagined that by the year 2000 most of the raw materials used in industry would be obtained directly from the moon,” he wrote.

But any Irish hopes of making history were dashed when a Government reply was sent back condemning the scheme as “science fiction.”

It was suggested that the whole thing was a “gigantic leg-pull” and Dr Hudson may not have been what he claimed to be.