Small SHADO Moon Base Miniature

Large SHADO Moon Base Miniature

SHADO Moon Base
Web site by: Phil Broad

The SHADO Moon Base featured in nearly every episode of "UFO" and was therefore one on the most photographed of the show's miniatures. Apparently there were two different miniatures of the base, a small one for long shots and a larger one for close-ups. The larger model would get the most air time on the show as well as provide background plates for process shots of the actors walking on the lunar surface. The base consisted of five spherical structures connected by rectangular corridors to a two-story central square structure with an attached hangar for two "Moon Mobiles". The primary purpose of this base was to provide a forward defensive position where weapons and personnel could engage the enemy long before approaching the earth itself. The primary weapons consisted of the "Moon Base Interceptors" and mobile surface "weapons carriers" equipped with surface-to-air missiles. These systems were commanded by personnel in the base itself which could also coordinate with the earth orbital tracking system known as "SID" and the supreme operational headquarters on earth.

One thing which was never addressed on the show was just how all this was transported to the moon and assembled. All we ever saw was the small Lunar Shuttle which was only capable of transporting a few men to the moon and back. Somewhere there would have to be a very large "heavy-lift" lunar transport capable of hauling construction equipment and large prefabricated sections of the base from the earth to the moon. Even the American Saturn V rocket was only capable of putting 110,000 pounds of payload into Lunar orbit, an undertaking of this magnitude would require either a rocket larger than the proposed follow-on to the Saturn V (called "Nova") or a lunar orbit transfer vehicle assembled in Earth orbit from many Saturn launches which would then be loaded with cargo via many Saturn launches. Either way, the building of this base required a major space-launch infrastructure to support it, virtually none of which was seen on the show. The only exception is seen when SHADO must borrow a NASA launch vehicle to put up a repair craft when "SID" is knocked out of action by the Aliens in the episode "The Man Who Came Back".