The MOL or the Manned Orbiting Laboratory was a section of the United States Air Force’s human spaceflight program. The project was formed from the early USAF United States Air Force ideas of human-crewed space stations to be utilized for satellite reconnaissance purposes. It was a replacement to the canceled Boeing X-20 Dyna-Soar military reconnaissance spaceplane.
The Manned Orbiting Laboratory (MOL) was a joint project of the U.S. Air Force and the National Reconnaissance Office to take high-resolution photographic imagery of America’s 1960s Cold War enemies.
Credit: NASA and National Reconnaissance Organization.
“Dorian” the telescope for military reconnaissance
The primary payload designed to fly in the laboratory was a telescope with imaging systems for military reconnaissance. The imaging system was codenamed Dorian and carried the Keyhole KH-10 designation.
Its main mirror was 72 inches in diameter, meant to provide high-resolution images of targets of military interest. To reach their polar orbits, the Manned Orbiting Laboratory would launch from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California, and development of Space Launch Complex-6 (SLC-6) there was begun to accommodate the Titan-IIIM launch vehicle.
MOL envisioned a series of 60-foot-long space stations in low polar Earth orbit.
Announced by Defense Secretary Robert S. McNamara in December 1963 and formally accepted by President Lyndon B. Johnson in August 1965.
The Manned Orbiting Laboratory Program envisioned a series of 60-foot-long space stations in low polar Earth orbit, controlled by 2-man crews for 30 days at a time. Launching to space and returning to Earth aboard modified Gemini-B capsules.
The Gemini B spacecraft
The top contractor for the spacecraft was McDonnell Aircraft; the Douglas Aircraft Company built the laboratory. The Gemini B was externally comparable to NASA’s Gemini spacecraft.
However, it experienced several modifications, including the addition of a circular hatch through the heat shield, which provided passage between the spacecraft and the laboratory. The historic Vandenberg Air Force Base Space Launch Complex 6 was formed to permit launches into polar orbit.
Selection for the MOL program
The USAF selected 17 pilots in 3 groups for the MOL program. Pilots chosen for the MOL program were later told of the secret reconnaissance mission. The first group, selected on Nov. 12, 1965, consisted of eight pilots – Michael J. Adams, John H. Finley, Albert H. Crews, Richard E. Lawyer, Lachlan Macleay, James M. Taylor, Francis G. Neubeck, and Richard H. Truly. Michael J. Adams retired from the MOL program in 1966 and died in the crash of an X-15 in 1967.
The second group was chosen on Jun. 17, 1966, and was comprised of five pilots – C. Gordon Fullerton, Karol J. Bobko, Robert L. Crippen, Henry W. Hartsfield, and Robert F. Overmyer.
The third and final group of four pilots was picked on Jun. 30, 1967, including Robert H. Lawrence, James A. Abrahamson, Robert T. Herres, and Donald H. Peterson. Lawrence has the distinction of being the first African-American chosen to be an astronaut by any national space program. He later died in the crash of an F-104 in late 1967.
The Manned Orbiting Laboratory (MOL) competed with the Vietnam war for funds.
As the 1960s went on, the Manned Orbiting Laboratory competed with the Vietnam War for funds, and resultant budget cuts frequently caused a postponement of the first operational flight. At the same time, automated systems quickly improved, narrowing the benefits of a human-crewed space platform over an automated one.
Manned Orbiting Laboratory was later canceled in June 1969
A sole uncrewed test flight of the Gemini B space capsule was conducted on Nov. 3, 1966, but, following a review, the new administration of President Richard M. Nixon, was confronted with competing priorities for the federal budget. He later declared the cancellation of the Manned Orbiting Laboratory program (MOL) on June 10, 1969.
The Titan IIIM rocket developed for the Manned Orbiting Laboratory never flew into space, but its UA1207 solid rocket boosters were later used on the Titan IV, and the Space Shuttle Solid Rocket Booster was based on materials, methods, and designs produced for them, with only minor changes.
NASA spacesuits were derived from the MOL
The sudden cancellation came as a shock to those working on the program, but some of the personnel involved, as well as some of the hardware that was developed for it, made its way into different agencies and projects.
For instance, the Air Force had created a flexible spacesuit required by the Manned Orbiting Laboratory astronauts to navigate through the narrow tunnel between the Gemini-B capsule, and the laboratory – that technology was transferred to NASA for future spacesuit development.
The waste management system designed for use by Manned Orbiting Laboratory astronauts was flown aboard Skylab. The MOL laboratory simulator and the special computer to operate it were also transferred to NASA.
The technology developed for the tracking system and acquisition and the mission development simulator for the KH-10 imaging system found its way into NASA’s earth sensing program.
Thanks for reading this short article about MOL. If you want to know more about the Apollo Program, then head over to this article named; A Complete Guide to NASA’s Apollo Program.