MOL, which would have zipped around Earth in a polar orbit, pioneered complex human interaction with an automated film camera system, Truly said. Truly said MOL "was not a trivial thing that we were working on." He thought the program had solved some complex problems before "black Tuesday," when delays, cost overruns and other factors brought the program to an end. "It got canceled on June 10, 1969, a date that will live in my memory for a long time, which was one of the low points in my life," Crippen said. Memory laneįor the MOL astronauts, the Wright-Patterson museum event was a trip down memory lane.
Abrahamson led NASA's space shuttle program in the early 1980s, then later headed President Ronald Reagan's Strategic Defense Initiative, dubbed the "Star Wars" program. We are going to go look behind the Iron Curtain … defend the nation while doing the exciting things of manned spaceflight."Īfter the termination of MOL, Truly, Crippen and Bobko became NASA astronauts, with Truly eventually ascending to NASA administrator status. "We're going to also do something very important for national security.
"We were doing something that was exciting and important," Yarymovych said. Michael Yarymovych, who served as technical director of the U.S. 22 event included James Abrahamson, Karol Bobko, Albert Crews, Bob Crippen and Richard Truly. (Image credit: by Karl Tate, Infographics artist)įormer MOL astronauts taking part in the Oct. See how the Gemini-based manned spy satellite would have worked here. military's Manned Orbiting Laboratory was planned in the 1960s but never realized. "But history allows the opportunity to rediscover and recover facts." "Time often allows for facts to be distorted or forgotten," said James Outzen, chief of historical documentation and research at the Center for the Study of National Reconnaissance in Chantilly, Virginia. Would-be MOL crewmembers and other program officials took part in the event, which was called "The Dorian Files Revealed: The Manned Orbiting Laboratory Crew Members' Secret Mission in Space." Air Force, which is located at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base near Dayton, Ohio. The NRO's release of MOL information was timed for an event held Oct. Notably, there was much reflection regarding the biological and psychological responses of MOL crewmembers in orbit for 30 days or more. (Image credit: NRO)īut the historical documents suggest numerous other jobs were on the MOL docket for deliberation, including the use of side-looking radar, the evaluation of electronic intelligence-gathering gear and the assembly and servicing of large structures in space.Īlso discussed were the use of MOL-carrying "negation missiles" that would use non-nuclear warheads, the inspection of satellites, and the encapsulation and recovery of enemy spacecraft, which may have been accomplished using rocket-propelled net devices.įor a spacewalking MOL crewmember, a remote maneuvering unit was considered key for approaching and circumnavigating a target while the astronaut remained at a safe distance "to prevent harm from an active defense or booby-trapped target." Air Force's Manned Orbiting Laboratory program focused on astronauts' ability to conduct military operations in space.
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