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DEPARTMENT OF THE AIR FORCE 1101111111111111Iiik 

OFFICE OF THE SECRETARY 

WASH I NGTON Rom 

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Tsz Ara yones 

AUG 4 1966 

MEMORANDUM FOR THE SECRETARY OF THE AIR FORCE 

SUBJECT: Manned Orbiting Laboratory Monthly Status Report 

The attached Status Report on the Manned Orbiting 

Laboratory (MOL) Program covers activities through July 31, 

1966, and is submitted in accordance with the July 18, 1966 

instructions from the Office of the Secretary. 

f;44)01, 

B. A. SCHRIEVER 

General, USAF 

Director, MOL Program 

1 Atch 

a/s 

(J) 

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I. PRORLPM 

FY 1967 Funding Limitation and MOL Program Schedules 

Because a lower level of funding is anticipated for FY 1967 

than required to meet stated program schedules and objectives, an 

early determination is required on the rate and level of effort 

for proceeding with system engineering development. The Director, 

MOL, by memorandum for the Secretary of the Air Force on July 20, 

1966, recommended that the MOL Program proceed until January 1, 1967 

at a rate and level of effort which supports the documented Program 

Plan. By January 1967 the program requirements and schedules would 

be reassessed based on the progress being made and the rate of 

expenditures experienced. At that time appropriate adjustments or 

requests would be made commensurate with availability of FY 1967 

and FY 1968 funds. A timely decision on this matter is necessary 

in order to pursue program direction and contract negotiations on 

an orderly and productive basis. 

II. CHANGE PAST MONTH 

A. MOL Manpower Requirement 

The Director, MOL, in a memorandum for the Secretary of 

the Air Force dated July 5, 1966, requested the Secretary's 

assistance in obtaining additional manpower spaces to support the 

MOL Program. In lieu of additional spaces, the Director, MOL 

asked for reallocation of the AFSC spaces identified for deletion 

in FY 1967 under the manpower reduction directed by OSD. The SAF 

has the request under consideration. 

B. DORIAN Briefing to Senator Cannon 

On July 1, General Evans briefed Senator Cannon of the 

Senate Armed Services Committee. The briefing, which included 

overall program status, mission objectives, technical configuration, 

schedules and funds, was given to keep Senator Cannon current on 

MOL Program progress. 

C. Briefing to Secretary of Defense 

On a visit to the West Coast on July 7, Secretary McNamara 

received a comprehensive briefing on the MOL Program. Significant 

comments which pertained to the objectives of the program were discussed. 

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D. MOL Ocean Surveillance Mission 

The Navy briefed their proposed Ocean Surveillance mission 

to the MOL Policy Committee on July 13. The Committee gave their 

support to the Navy for presenting their mission plan to DDR&E 

requesting approval to undertake the Contract Definition Phase. It 

was suggested that Contract Definition Phase objectives be defined 

in greater detail prior to presentation to DDR&E. 

Dr. Foster and members of his staff were briefed on 

July 20. A decision to approve entry into contract definition was 

withheld pending the results of a follow-up presentation which is 

being prepared to answer specific questions asked by Dr. Foster. 

The questions centered primarily on the requirement for Ocean Surveillance and an alternate booster/orbital vehicle combination to 

perform the mission. 

E. Air Force Council Briefing 

On July 14, General Evans briefed the Air Force Council on 

the MOL Program. The briefing covered the evolution and status of 

the program, mission objectives, baseline configuration and capabilities, schedules, and problem areas. 

F. Titan IIIM/MOL Support of NASA Apollo Applications Program 

A letter from NASA to DoD dated June 17, 1966 requested 

detailed data regarding use of Titan IIIM/MOL hardware for the NASA 

Apollo Applications Program. The information is required by NASA for 

use in responding to a Bureau of Budget query. A report which 

presents the requested data was prepared by the MOL Systems Office 

and the Titan III SPO and was submitted to DDR&E on July 14 for 

transmittal to NASA. 

G. Briefing to Messrs. Vance and McNaughton 

At the request of the Secretary of the Air Force, General 

Evans presented Messrs. Vance and McNaughton a MOL DORIAN briefing on 

July 14. Dr. Flax was in attendance for the briefing. 

H. Electromagnetic Pointing System Study 

A Technical Development Plan and briefing have been prepared 

showing the configuration, use and integration requirements for 

inclusion of this capability in the baseline MOL laboratory vehicle. 

A decision for including design provisions for the EPS in the MOL 

baseline design will minimize the cost of design changes at a later 

date. 

DORIAN 

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I. MOL Presentation to the President's Space Council 

On July 21 General Evans presented a DORIAN review of the 

MOL Program to the Space Council chaired by the Vice President. 

The only significant discussion pertained to the objectives of the 

MOL Program which Secretary of Defense McNamara reiterated for the 

benefit of the Vice President. 

J. DORIAN Briefing to Mr. Preston 

Mr. Preston, Staff member of the House Appropriations 

Committee, was given a MOL DORIAN briefing by the MOL Program Office 

on July 25. General Crow and Mr. Fine, AFABF, were in attendance at 

the briefing. 

K. CER-VIT Mirrors for DORIAN 

A contract has been negotiated and authorization granted 

to Owens-Illinois to proceed with additional facilities equipment to 

provide 72-inch CER-VIT mirrors for DORIAN. The $1.2 million 

required in FY 1967 for these additional facilities is being funded 

under the SAFSP Applied Research/Advanced Technology Program. An 

additional $2.0 million in FY 1967 for development of the 72" mirror 

is being funded under the MOL Program. 

L. PSAC Briefing 

The MOL briefing to PSAC scheduled for August 1 and 2 was 

cancelled at the request of PSAC and is expected to be rescheduled 

in approximately two weeks. The agenda was to have included MOL 

Program status, baseline MOL configuration and effectiveness factors, 

results of the unmanned DORIAN system studies, and a manned/unmanned 

system comparison. 

III. CURRENT STATUS 

A. MOL Contract Negotiation Status 

A review of the status of contract negotiations by the MOL 

SPO with General Schriever and General Evans on July 27 revealed that 

the contract evaluation and negotiation efforts were approximately 

one month behind schedule for Douglas, General Electric and McDonnell. 

The negotiations with Eastman Kodak for the DORIAN effort have 

recently been completed and approval has been given by Dr. Flax to 

sign the contract. Negotiations of follow-on effort with Titan IIIM 

associate contractors is not scheduled for several months yet and no 

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delay is anticipated. The primary cause for delay with Douglas, 

General Electric and McDonnell has resulted from these contractors 

having to resubmit their cost proposals based on the revised MOL 

Program schedule, Option 6, which was decided upon in May. Douglas, 

General Electric and McDonnell have made it a condition of their 

contract proposals that a DX priority for material procurement will 

be provided. The contractors have advised the System Office that 

they cannot give assurance of meeting program schedules without the 

DX priority. The Deputy Director, MOL has been instructed to proceed 

with negotiations on the basis that a DX priority will be assigned to 

the program. 

It is anticipated that the Douglas and McDonnell contracts 

may be negotiated by mid-September with the GE contract no sooner 

than October 1. The Eastman Kodak cost-plus-fixed-fee contract was 

negotiated for $243.1 million, which is $29.1 million greater than 

the MOL Program Office estimate. The increased cost was predominantly 

an increase in Aerospace Support Equipment (ASE) required to support 

the DORIAN production. Under the terms of the contract, continued 

reviews and refinements will be made by the government as specific 

requirements are identified. The government's liability will be 

limited to those funds allotted to the contract from time to time and 

to special termination costs in the event of contract termination. 

B. Air Force Experiments for NASA Saturn IVB Workshop 

The NASA S-IVB Workshop program, currently planned by NASA 

for Saturn IB flight AS-209 in the first quarter of CY 1968, involves 

pressurizing the S-IVB hydrogen tank so that astronauts can work 

inside in a shirt-sleeve environment during a 14-30 day mission. The 

Ad Hoc group, which was established to define a proposed package of 

MOL supporting experiments, has selected six experiments for this 

program. Briefings on the proposed Air Force participation have been 

presented to Dr. Flax, Mr. Kirk and Mr. Fink. General Evans presented 

the proposed Air Force experiments as an informational item at the 

July 25 meeting of the MSFEB. Work is continuing within the Air Force 

to obtain approval and FY 1967 funding for the experiments. 

C. MOL Abort Recovery Aircraft Staging Base 

The site survey party to determine the feasibility of 

establishing a MOL launch abort recovery aircraft staging base on 

Henderson Island has completed their on-site survey. The survey team 

left Henderson Island on July 30 and are expected to arrive in Hawaii 

about August 10. The party reported that the desired facility can be 

built in time to meet MOL launch schedules if funds are provided in 

the FY 1968 Military Construction budget. Sufficient data has been 

obtained by the survey team to allow for final design of the facilities. 

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D. Unmanned Comparison Study 

The report on comparison of MOL to an unmanned system of' 

resolution has been revised and is nearing completion. 

When completed, the report will be submitted to the DNRO for review. 

E. MOL Fund Status 

Obligation Authorities issued during July 1966 for MOL 

efforts totaled $11.0 million. This raises the total of funds 

released by the MOL Program Office since program approval in August 

of 1965 to approximately $108.0 million. In addition to the released 

MOL funds, $25.8 million FY 1967 Program 624A funds were released in 

July to the Titan III SPO for deVelopment of the seven-segment 

120-inch solid motor and the development associated with increasing 

the core Stage I engine nozzle expansion area ratio to meet MOL 

payload requirements. 

IV. FORECAST FOR FUTURE 

A. Continuation during August of contract evaluations and 

negotiations with Douglas, General Electric, and McDonnell on the 

contractors' Phase II proposals. 

B. Submission during August to the DNRO of the report on 

comparison of MOL to an unmanned high resolution reconnaissance 

system. 

C. Briefing to PSAC during August to include results of the 

unmanned DORIAN system studies. 

D. Management decision on the rate and level of effort for 

proceeding with the MOL engineering development. 

V. DUE DATE FOR NEXT PROGRESS REPORT 

Next monthly MOL Progress Report to be submitted September 7, 

1966. 

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