The United Kingdom planned to land on the Moon before Neil Armstrong according to new documents

British scientists had planned to place a man on the moon ahead of the United States and the Soviet Union, according to documents recently unearthed.

As we approach the fiftieth anniversary of Neil Armstrong's landmark landing, it was revealed that in the 1950s British engineers had the primary goal of achieving this feat.

The plans were developed years before John F. Kennedy's famous speech to the US Congress in which he pledged to send an American man to the moon before the end of the decade.

Recently published documents show how Britain planned to compete with the US and the Soviet Union in the race for space (photo, scientists working on the British rocket Blue Streak)

Had the plans been successful, a British astronaut would have landed on the moon a year before Apollo 11 on July 20, 1969 (photo).

British scientists wanted to make their first soft landing in 1962 before bringing a Briton to the surface in 1968.

According to The Telegraph, in 1970, engineers planned to install a base on the moon and conduct a seven-day expedition.

It was believed that the success of the space race would bring international prestige and military power to Britain.

If the plans had borne fruit, the British astronaut would have defeated Neil Armstrong 's "giant leap for humanity" by an "an" year on July 20, 1969.

Secret plans have recently been revealed after the discovery of hundreds of photographs and drawings at Stevenage's Airbus factory in Hertfordshire during recent renovations.

The Blue Streak rocket was originally a ballistic missile that later became the first leg of the Europa satellite launcher.

The documents were found in an Airbus factory that previously belonged to de Havilland Propellers, behind Blue Streak.

The factory previously belonged to de Havilland Propellers, responsible for the British nuclear missile Blue Streak.

It is believed that the space plans were established at the time of the termination of their defense contract and that the engineers were looking for another use for their expensive rocket.

Doug Millard, an expert at the Space Race at the Science Museum in London, said: "It may be hard to believe now, but Britain was really the third space power at that time. There were rockets.

"At that time, he was leading the space scene with America and Russia. It is not unthinkable to think that we could have developed a space program. & # 39;

The British Interplanetary Society, founded in 1931, has had a decisive influence on attempts to move into space.

Arthur C. Clarke, a science fiction writer, was a member of the British Interplanetary Society, who asked Britain to lead the space race

It was believed that the success of the space race would bring international prestige to Britain and a military power

The group of academics and philosophers, including science fiction writer Arthur C. Clarke, designed a plan to land on the moon using a multi-stage rocket.

After the Second World War, the group had sufficiently sensitized to the idea that a trip to the Moon would become possible.

According to plans recently uncovered, engineers have predicted that British astronauts will land in the Piazzi Smyth crater near the Sea of ​​Rains, 300 km from the Sea of ​​Tranquility where Apollo 11 landed.

It is unclear why the plans never materialized, but Millard believes that the enormous post-war costs and the birth of the NHS could have had an impact on the program.

The British space agency said it did not know about the plans.

Jeremy Close, spokesman for Airbus, said: "These archives, hidden discoveries in a former Stevenage warehouse, show that even in the 1960s, our engineers were considering cutting-edge technologies."

Prospero, a satellite launched in 1971, remains the only British satellite to be put into orbit with the help of a British vehicle.