Britain had drawn up plans to put a man on the Moon by 1968, newly discovered archives show. For decades it was assumed that only the US and the Soviet Union were seriously considering a human mission to the lunar surface in the early 1960s.

In a speech to Congress in 1961, John F Kennedy committed America to reaching the Moon within the decade, sparking a space race with Moscow that would only end when Neil Armstrong took a ‘giant leap for mankind’ in July 1969.

But new documents prove that rocket engineers in the UK had their sights firmly set on the Moon by the end of the 1950s, believing it would bring prestige, new scientific discoveries and a huge military advantage.

Hundreds of time-worn photographs and documents dating back 60 years prove Britain was contemplating a 10-year mission, starting in 1960, and had hoped to make the first soft landings on the satellite by 1962, ahead of sending humans to the lunar surface in 1968.

By 1970, the UK wanted to establish a lunar base and carry out a seven-day expedition, even drawing up a detailed itinerary of what the astronauts should be doing, hour-by-hour.