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dimmonwalin• 

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/JAMES FERGUSON 

General, USAF 

Director, MOL Program 

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DEPARTMENT OF THE AIR FORCE 

WASHINGTON, D. C. 20330 

OFFICE OF THE SECRETARY 

B APR 1957 

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 

March 31, 1967 and is submitted in accordance with 

the March 10, 1967 memorandum from the Office of 

the Secretary. 

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I. PROBLEM 

Titan IIIM Funding 

Direction was issued at the March 10 MOL Meeting 

to renegotiate and fund the MOL contracts on a commitment 

rather than an expenditure basis. The impact of this 

direction on the Titan IIIM was immediate and was the 

subject of a Redline Presto Report from the Titan III 

Program Director. 

Obligating authority issued to the Titan III SPO 

is sufficient to cover the Titan IIIM development on an 

expenditure basis through FY 67 for a 12-month schedule 

extension to the baseline program. To go to a commitment 

basis will require an additional $15.3 million OA during 

FY 67. 

As an interim solution to the Titan IIIM problem, 

the decision was made to use available monies to stay 

on a commitment basis through mid-April. Before midApril a further scrub down will be made of the commitment 

requirements for the overall program, including the 

Titan HIM. At that time the complete commitment requirements will be known and a decision on the Titan HIM can 

be made in consonance with, and not independent of, the 

total system funding requirements. 

II. CHANGE PAST MONTH 

A. Schedule Adjustment Guidance 

A MOL Management Meeting was convened at 

Andrews Air Force Base on March 10, 1967 to review the 

results of the funding and schedule effort undertaken 

by the MOL associate contractors and the MOL Systems 

Office in response to guidance received from the Director, 

MOL. The guidance asked for a rework of the program 

schedules and associated costs for a 9 and 12-month 

schedule slip. 

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The conclusions derived from the exercise 

were that the 9-month slip involved high risk, extremely 

tight integration schedules and unacceptable fiscal year 

costs. The 12-month slip was a much more acceptable 

schedule from the standpoint of program integration, but 

the FY 68/69 costs exceeded the guideline figures of 

$500/$600 million stipulated by Dr. Flax at the February 15 

Management Meeting. 

As a result of these determinations, and 

subsequent discussions with Dr. Foster, the MOL Program 

Office has initiated action to derive new schedules 

and costs subject to the following constraints: 

- FY 68/69 funding levels of $480/$620 

million respectively. 

- Commitment funding of all contracts. 

- DO industrial priority. 

These constraints probably would result in 

a slip of at least 15 months for the first manned flight. 

Alternatives aimed at a lesser slip are being investigated 

by the Program Office; these will be discussed at the 

April MOL Management Meeting. 

B. Advanced Planning Directive 

MOL Program Office Directive 67-4, dated 

March 1, 1967, has been issued. Two advanced planning 

studies are now in progress in accordance with the 

provisions of the directive. The first is an effort 

to determine what system studies and technology projects 

would be required before initiating development of an 

improved optical/camera system capable of resolution at 

This analysis, 

including schedules and cost estimates, is to be available by April 10, 1967. The second study under the 

terms of the directive will provide a detailed analysis 

of the technical, operational, schedule and cost implications of long-duration operations. Mission durations 

on the order of one year are envisioned, with both 

reconnaissance and biomedical R&D mission modes being 

considered 

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C. MOL Priorities 

During the March 10, 1967 discussions on 

adjustment of MOL schedules and costs, Dr. Flax agreed 

to support an interim action to upgrade the MOL 

position on the DOD Master Urgency List (MUL) to 

Category S(Brick-Bat other than .01), pending a final 

OSD decision on Category S(Brick-Bat .01) designator 

for MOL. 

A Director, MOL, memorandum to Dr. Flax, 

dated March 22, forwarded a proposed memorandum for 

the Secretary of Defense recommending the interim 

upgrading. The memorandum to Dr. Flax further proposed 

internal Air Force action to improve the MOL USAF 

Precedence Rating from 3-70 to 1-7. 

D. Briefings for Secretaries Charles and Marks 

On March 3, The Vice Director, MOL gave 

Secretary Charles and Secretary Marks a DORIAN briefing 

on MOL Program Status. Emphasis was placed on the 

fiscal year funding problem, the exercising of current 

baseline schedules, and contract status. 

Secretary Marks was briefed by SAF-SL again on 

March 14 and informed of the latest information resulting from the March 10 MOL Meeting with Dr. Flax and 

General Ferguson. 

E. Results of Solid Rocket Motor (SRM) Competition 

The source selection board findings on the 

5-segment SRM competition for the Titan III C and D 

programs were briefed to a select Hq USAF Staff on 

March 14 and to Dr. Flax on March 15. The winner of 

the 5-segment competition will be announced in early 

April. This selection is important to the MOL Program 

as it could impact on the cost for the 7-segment SRM 

for the Titan IIIM program. 

F. Source Selection - ACTS/Propellant Tankage 

On March 24, 1967, Douglas Aircraft Company 

presented to the MOL Systems Office the results of 

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their source selection for the attitude control and 

translation system propellant tankage. The Rocketdyne 

Division of North American Aviation was chosen by a 

DAC Source Selection Board, using procedures similar 

to those of Air Force Source Selection Boards. The 

MOL Program Office and Systems Office have concurred 

with the DAC selection. With this selection, all DAC 

major subcontractors have been chosen. 

G. MOL Facilities Visit by Government Officials 

Mr. Barfield, OSD (DDR&E) and Mr. Linder, 

Strategic and Space Systems Division of the Bureau of 

the Budget, visited General Electric at Philadelphia, 

Martin Denver, the MOL Systems Office, Douglas Missiles 

and Space Systems Division, Vandenberg AFB, AerojetGeneral at Sacramento and McDonnell Aircraft. The 

primary purpose of their visit was to familiarize themselves with the contractor effort and activities in 

support of the MOL Program. 

In response to their specific request they 

were provided briefings by company officials on contractor 

management and organizational structure, the program 

technical requirements and factory to pad flow, major 

milestones, and special facility requirements. They also 

examined hardware mock-ups at Douglas, GE and McDonnell. 

H. Astronaut Training 

A two-week indoctrination program for the 

MOL astronauts is being presented by the National 

Photographic Interpretation Center (NPIC). The 

purpose of the program is to introduce the astronauts 

to the general subject of photographic intelligence 

and to provide them with an initial background in 

target recognition prior to their participation as 

subjects in Active Target Indicator Mode Simulation. 

The first group of four astronauts started 

the program on March 20; the second group of three will 

start on April 3. 

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The NPIC presentations have been attended 

and monitored by Program Office personnel. The NPIC 

program has been an unqualified success both in enhancing 

the motivation of flight crews and in preparing them 

for future activity in the DORIAN mission area. The 

quality of overall NPIC cooperation, program preparation, 

and program presentation has been superb. 

I. Funding Responsibility for Operation of 

Recovery Forces in Support of MOL Missions 

The Department of Defense Manager for Manned 

Space Flight Support Operations has been requested to 

negotiate a funding responsibility agreement covering 

the MOL Program and the DOD agencies providing recovery 

forces. This agreement will probably be patterned on 

the existing policy governing funding responsibilities 

of the users and operators of the National Ranges. Under 

this concept the responsibility for funding for the 

operation of recovery forces in support of DOD manned 

space missions would be assigned to the DOD agency 

providing the support forces, on the condition that 

user requirements are stated in time for the support 

forces to include the cost estimates in their normal 

budget submissions. 

The MOL Program will continue to budget for 

non-recurring costs to meet requirements peculiar to 

the MOL Program such as the development and procurement 

of special handling equipment and training aids. No 

funds have been included in the MOL budget estimates for 

augmentation or modification of ship and aircraft forces 

which may be necessary to support the national manned 

space recovery mission beyond FY 1968. 

J. Titan IIIM Contract Awards 

The Titan IIIM Phase II contract with the 

Martin Company was distributed on March 21. Target 

price is $148,401,500. The Phase II contract with 

AC Electronics for TIIIM guidance was distributed on 

March 17. Target price is $24,925,000. 

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K. Congressional Activities 

A "Congressional Briefing" has been prepared 

for use in discussions on MOL that may be requested by 

Congressional Members or their Staffs. On March 7 

General Evans reviewed the briefing for Dr. Flax who 

concurred, with the proviso that funding problems be 

held as backup and not volunteered. 

On March 14 a briefing on MOL and other space 

systems was given to Mr. Price of the House Armed Services 

Committee. On March 28, the MOL briefing was given to 

Senator Symington at his request. 

III. CURRENT STATUS 

A. Funds 

No funds were released during March by the 

Director, MOL Program. When the program adjustment is 

completed in early April, the $38.0 million (FY 67) 

retained by the Director will be released. At that 

time the release of the remaining $58.446 million (FY 67) 

retained by DOD will be requested. 

B. MOL Astronomy Mission 

Following NASA's recommendation that planetary 

observations be conducted on MOL flights (on a noninterference basis), a detailed feasibility and impact 

study has been initiated by the MOL Systems Office. 

The study is predicated on no interference to the 

primary mission and no modification to the MOL vehicle. 

Results of the study are to be presented to the Program 

Office on April 10, 1967. 

C. MOL Target Model 

A target model for use in MOL engineering and 

software development, system simulation, and operational 

planning is being developed. This is necessary since 

current operational target lists are not compatible with 

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the DORIAN field of view nor do they utilize additional 

capabilities of the MOL system. The approach being 

used to generate the model is to select a representative 

sample of targets from a current operational target list, 

obtain detailed intelligence information and photo requirements for these targets, and then expand this sample 

into a complete, representative target model. The sample 

targets should be available the first week in May. The 

expansion into a complete target model will take approximately one month. 

D. Review of Decision on MOL Subsystem Testing 

at NASA Sacramento Test Facility 

In a letter dated March 9, 1967, the Secretary 

informed Senator Anderson that transfer of MOL subsystem 

tests from the NASA Sacramento Test Facility to the 

NASA White Sands Test Facility could not be justified 

on a cost basis. The MOL Systems Office was informed 

of the Secretary's decision on March 20, and was directed 

to continue work and planning aimed toward testing at 

Sacramento. 

E. SIVB Checkout System for use on MOL Flights 

1 and 2 

A meeting was held at Douglas, Huntington 

Beach, on March 8 among representatives of NASA, MOL 

Program Office, and Douglas to review the list of 

available equipment and to make disposition arrangements. 

It was agreed that two PAM/FM/FM telementry 

ground stations and two single sideband ground stations 

were in excess to the needs of the Saturn Program and 

would be made available for use on the MOL Program to 

support flights 1 and 2. Other equipment may become 

available later, depending on the NASA decision on the 

need for refurbishment of the test stand at Sacramento 

which was damaged by an explosion. 

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F. MOL SIGINT Studies 

The flight test portion of the Aircraft Test 

Program was completed on March 21. All planned profiles 

were flown and evaluation of the data is underway. Data 

tapes will be delivered to NSA and Sylvania-EDL for 

final analysis on April 5, with a final report expected 

June 30, 1967. 

G. NASA Gemini Hardware for MOL 

In order to optimize use of residue support 

hardware from the NASA Gemini program, an agreement 

was signed in July 1966 between the NASA and DOD 

providing for transfer, at no cost to DOD, of the surplus NASA Gemini support hardware to the MOL Gemini B 

Program. Transfer of the majority of this equipment was 

efficiently accomplished by late 1966. However, of the 

items desired by the MOL Program, about sixteen items 

totaling about .5 million value were withheld by NASA 

for support of Apollo programs. Four of these sixteen 

were specifically identified by the agreement for transfer. 

Correspondence with Dr. Mueller, NASA, has culminated in 

his decision to withhold transfer of all these items 

and to recommend replacement procurement by the MOL Program. 

Special arrangements have been effected between NASA and 

DOD to allow loan to MOL of the several critical long 

lead procurement items until delivery of the new procurement can be effected. The MOL Systems Office has taken 

action to fund the procurement through McDonnell Aircraft 

Company. 

IV. FORECAST FOR FUTURE 

A. Systems Office Activity Schedule 

In response to guidance received from SAF-RD 

following the March 10 presentations, and subsequent 

discussions with OSD (DDR&E), the MOL Systems Office 

has established the following schedule for contract 

negotiations: 

DORIAN 

March 27-29 - Joint meetings to develop 

integrated schedules and hardware exchange agreements. 

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March 31 - Receive ROM costs from contractors. 

April 3 - Receive firm costs from contractors. 

April 10 - Start negotiations. 

April 30 - Conclude negotiations. 

B. MOL Management Meeting 

The Monthly Management Meeting for April 1967 

is scheduled for Friday, April 14. The meeting will 

convene at 9 A.M. at Hq AFSC, Andrews Air Force Base. 

The tentative agenda is attached. 

V. DUE DATE FOR NEXT PROGRESS REPORT 

The next Monthly MOL Progress Report will be 

submitted May 5, 1967. 

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MOL MANAGEMENT' MEETING 

AGENDA 

14 April 1967 

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0900 Titan IIIM Status 

0930 Revised Baseline Schedules 

0950 Funding Status 

1010 Aerospace MTS Requirements 

1030 BREAK 

1045 Contracts Status 

1115 Acoustic Testing 

1145 LUNCH 

1300 Weight and Power Status 

1315 Wide-Band Data Link and Data Recovery 

Vehicle 

1400 Astronaut Training Program 

1430 Operational Recovery Plan 

1500 BREAK 

1515 Simulation 

1545 Cer-Vit Status 

Col Kniss 

Col Kester 

Col Kester 

Col Kester 

Col Dietrich 

Mr. Tennant 

Mr. Tennant 

Mr. Tennant 

Lt Col Torosian 

Lt Col Paige 

Mr. Bernstein 

Cmdr Geiger 

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