NRO APPROVED FOR 

RELEASE 1 JULY 2015 

Handle via BYEMAN 

Co 

OFFICE OF THE SECRETARY 

DEPARTMENT OF OF THE AIR FORCE 

WASHINGTON 20330 

.111.11.1111P 

FEB 7 1969 

DORIAN 

Handle via BYEMAN 

Control System 

Page / of 6 pages, 

Copy / of copiek 

SAFSL BYE 68230-69 

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 January 31, 1969 and is 

submitted in accordance with the January 17, 1969 memorandum from 

the Office of the Secretary. 

JAMES FERGUSON 

General, USAF 

Director, MOL Program 

1 Atch 

a/s 
NRO APPROVED FOR 

RELEASE 1 JULY 2015 iOVSECREf Handle via BYRIAN 

Central System 

I. PROBLEM 

None. 

II. CHANGE PAST MONTH 

A. Purchase of Sudden Ranch 

The court action for the government purchase of the Sudden 

Ranch (14,500 acres) was completed December 20, 1968. The judgement 

established the total price to be $9,002,500 with 6% interest on the unpaid balance. The Air Force deposited with the court $3.850M on March 1, 

1966, and took possession to initiate construction of the Space Launch 

Complex No. 6 (MOL launch facility). An additional $1.912M was deposited 

May 9, 1968. A request for apportionment of $4,060,340 was submitted to 

the Secretary of Defense (OSD) January 14, 1969. As of February 14, 1969 

Office of Civil Engineering reports no action from OSD. Interest is 

accumulating at the rate of $53022 per day. 

B. COMIREX Interest in MOL/DORIAN 

Subsequent to General Stewart's briefing on December 19, the 

United States Intelligence Board's Committee on Imagery Requirements and 

Exploitation (COMIREX) has shown interest in the problems of defining 

DORIAN targeting requirements. A briefing on the development of Master 

Photo Chips and cue materials was presented by the Aeronautical Chart and 

Information Center (ACIC) at the January 16 COMIREX meeting. The Chairman 

of COMIREX has placed emphasis on identifying those targets requiring 

DORIAN resolution and on working with ACIC towards either a single target 

nomination system to serve the whole intelligence community, or, if this 

is not economically feasible, at least achieving the greatest possible 

compatibility with operational considerations. 

The COMIREX will visit the National Reconnaissance Program 

activities on the West Coast during the period 3-12 February. A briefing 

at the MOL Systems Office and a tour of the Laboratory Module mockup at 

Huntington Beach is included for these visits. The Systems Office briefings 

will cover technical aspects of the Eastman Kodak Company, General Electric 

Company and McDonnell Douglas Astronautics Company (Western Division) segments 

of the program; a review of on-orbit operating concepts; mission planning 

software; and crew training requirements. 

C. Approval of Associate Contractor Special Facilities at Eastman 

Kodak Company 

In early December 1968 the Systems Office provided General Stewart 

with an Eastman Kodak Company (EKC) proposal to contract additional office/ 

DORIAN 

Handle via BIM 

Control System 

Page ."AL of pages 

Copy ) of 2 copies 

SAFSL BYE 68230-69 
Handle via HUMAN 

Control System 

NRO APPROVED FOR 

RELEASE 1 JULY 2015 

3 

laboratory space, in EKC Building 102, to support General Electric/ 

McDonnell Douglas requirements for on-cite personnel located at EKC. 

The SAYRD signed a request to DDR&E, on December 19, 1968, asking for 

approval to authorize the additional construction. On January 11, 1969, 

the DDR&E authorized the Air Force to proceed with the required facilities 

contract with EKC. 

The authorization to proceed has a contingency that if funds 

in excess of $2 million are required, an additional review will be made by 

both the SAFRD and the DDR&E. A second contingency to the authorization, 

to protect the United States, the new building extension will be included 

within the special conditions attaching to the basic building. 

The Systems Office has been directed to initiate the contract 

with EKC. 

III. CURRENT STATUS 

A. Funds 

There was no change in the fund release status during January. 

FY 1969 funds in the amount of $455 million have been released to the 

Systems Office. The remaining FY 1969 funds in the amount of $60 million 

are retained in Headquarters USAF by the Director, MOL and will be released just prior to the beginning of the fourth quarter. 

B. Advanced Planning - Space Electrical Power System 

DDR&E responded on November 28, 1968 to a request from the Atomic 

Energy Commission (AEC) for specific delineation of the future needs of 

the Department of Defense (DOD) for space nuclear power technology. This 

request was generated by AEC in order to assist them in supporting their 

budget requirements. SAFSL-6 and SAFSLS assisted in the generation of 

the DDR&E inputs to AEC by providing projected electrical power requirements for long duration high-power-consumer space systems of the future. 

DDR&E may request an AFSC study to further define the potential 

applications of the organic-Rankine system of space electrical power 

generation. NASA has conducted similar work relative to the Brayton cycle. 

The result of these studies should be beneficial to the AEC in developing 

optimum isotope heat sources. 

C. Depleted Uranium 

McDonnell Douglas (Western Division) has notified the Systems 

Office that lead will be an acceptable mass substitute for the LOX Tanks 

DORIAN 

Handle via BYEMAH 

Centli Slistem TOP SECRET 

Page 3 of 6 pages 

Copy / of 7 copies 

SAFSL BYE 68230-69 
NRO APPROVED FOR 

RELEASE 1 JULY 2015 Hama via BYEMAN 

Control System 

on Flight Vehicle 2. Accordingly, lead (instead of the previously 

considered depleted uranium, as reported in our November 1968 monthly 

report) will be used for the simulation of these tanks. 

D. 

2. 

3. 

E. Mission Simulator Development 

System Office representatives visited classified facilities of 

the 9th Strategic Reconnaissance Wing, Beal AFB, California. The primary 

purpose of the visit was to study the SR-71 simulator technology, operation 

of the simulator, and the simulator support concept. The use of photographic stimulus materials to simulate an optical view of vehicle ground 

track was of special interest. This visit was arranged to broaden the 

experience of Systems Office personnel assigned to the development of the 

MOL mission simulator. 

F. General Stewart's Visit to the MOL Systems Office 

On 27-28. January 1969 General Stewart visited the MOL Systems 

Office for the purpose of reviewing the MOL financial situation, astronaut 

time-lines for the first two days in orbit, and advanced planning activities. 

DORIAN Page 14 of 6 pages 

Copy of g copies 

SAFSL BYE 68230-69 

Boodle via BIEMAN 

Coat n1 System ---TOP-SERET- 
Handle via BYEMAN 

Control System 

NRO APPROVED FOR 

RELEASE 1 JULY 2015 

MOL Fiscal Situation - The MOL financial review covered actual 

fiscal performance for FY 68 and the first half of FY 69, estimated 

performance for the last half of FY 69 and a preliminary assessment of 

the FY 70 situation. The funding figures were compared with related 

contractor manpower figures (direct or indirect) for the corresponding 

periods. The program has been tracking very well to date with obligations 

and expenditures following rates compatible with available funding. The 

review disclosed that the contractors were proposing expenditure increases 

for the balance of FY 69 which will exceed our target figures unless they 

are slightly depressed. General Bleymaier plans to meet with senior 

contractor officials in early February 1969 to reaffirm our FY 69 figures 

and to caution them to keep expenditures within established ground rules. 

It is not expected that the contractors will have any difficulty in meeting 

these constraints. 

The FY 70 picture is a little less clear. The amount of work 

which has been deferred into FY 70 due to fiscal constraints in FY 68/69 

poses some problem. The exact size of the problem is somewhat obscured 

by a number of factors, including the contractors desire to enter into 

contract negotiations in a favorable position. The FY 70 situation will 

be carefully analyzed. 

Astronaut Time-Line - The review of the astronaut time-lines 

showed that the work is proceeding satisfactorily with all reasonable 

alternatives (work-rest cycles) being examined. Guidance was given to the 

Systems Office to give first preference to the solution which had both 

astronauts rested and awake for the photographic operations over the 

target area. 

MOL Advanced Planning - Review of MOL advanced planning activities 

included a discussion of a McDonnell Douglas proposal to conduct a study 

of the life support systems required to extend duration of MOL to 45 days. 

The unmanned system design has a wafer section in the unpressurized section 

of the Laboratory Module which contains the necessary expendables to obtain 

the on-orbit duration. Conceptually, this study will perform the engineering 

and design analysis that will permit selection of a configuration of the 

wafer required to support longer duration manned missions. 

A proposal from EKC was reviewed. This proposal was prepared as 

a follow-up to a preliminary study completed in December 1968 on defining 

methods of improving MOL camera performance to the maximum possible within 

the basic optical envelope (larger oval tracking mirror, improved Ross 

corrector design, reduced obstruction, etc.) 

It was concluded that the EKC proposal 

required additional definition and a more detailed break-out of tasks 

providing greater flexibility of choices. 

DORIAN 

Handle via HUMAN 

Control System 

Page S' of pages 

Copy / of y copies 

SAFSL BYE 68230-69 

TOP S[CRET 
NRO APPROVED FOR 

RELEASE 1 JULY 2015 TOP SECRET Handle via BYEMAN 

Control System 

The status of the Systems Office study on electronic photo 

read-out was reviewed. A large number of options are under consideration 

with the view of proposing the inclusion of a read-out capability in the 

follow-on MOL buy. 

General Stewart concluded the meeting by outlining the priority 

for the application of the limited MOL advanced planning resources to 

(1) efforts to improve MOL camera resolution, (2) increased on-orbit 

vehicle life and (3) other system improvements and/or capabilities, e.g. 

read-out. 

IV. FORECAST FOR FUTURE 

A. Space Station Technology Symposium 

The MOL Program Office has been invited to participate in a 

space station technology symposium at Langley Research Center on 

February 11 through 13. The symposium is jointly sponsored by the Office 

of Manned Space Flight and the Office of Advanced Research and Technology 

in NASA. An unclassified paper will be given by the Systems Office and 

will treat unique MOL contributions to space station technology as well 

as this Program's view of gaps in technology required for a space station 

development program. 

B. Program Review Council Meeting 

An MOL Program Review Council (PRC) meeting is scheduled for 

February 11 at the MOL Systems Office in Los Angeles. 

The agenda will include a review and status report on financial 

and schedule matters, and a technical report which will include the 

camera system, and astronaut training simulator, contamination studies 

and results, and the Image Velocity Sensor. 

V. DUE DATE FOR NEXT STATUS REPORT 

The next monthly MOL Program Progress Report will be submitted 

March 7, 1969. 

DORIAN 

Handle via BYEMAN 

Centre! System 

Page of 6 pages 

Copy / of g copies 

SAFSL BYE 68230-69