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21 July 1965 

MEMORANDUM FOR RECORD 

SUBJECT: MOL "Posture" Paper 

The attached memorandum and questions, covering the 

9 July 1965 meeting of the Space Council were not made available 

to me until today. In a meeting with Mr. Friedman, it was 

agreed that Colonel Sanders and I would prepare answers to these 

questions, inserting the answers into the policy paper, as appropriate. 

PAU / 1 .WORTHMAN 

Colonel, USAF 
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Executive Office of the President 

NATIONAL AERONAUTICS AND SPACE COUNCIL 

Washington 

Execut ive Secretary 

July 9, 1965 

MEMORANDUM FOR 

Honorable Dean Rusk Honorable James E. Webb 

Secretary of State Administrator, NASA 

Honorable Robert S. McNamara Honorable Glenn T. Seaborg 

Secretary of Defense Chairman, AEC 

Subject: Follow-up Re Space Council Meeting of July 9 

Enclosed is a copy of the news release issued shortly after the conclusion of the July 9 Council meeting. The language of this release 

was concurred in by State, Defense, and NASA. 

Enclosed also is the list of questions which the Vice President referred to in the meeting and which he advised he would have circulated 

so that they might be answered appropriately. It is clear from the 

phrasing of some of the questions that all members of the Council 

would not be expected to reply to all of the inquiries. It is hoped that 

each Council member will identify those questions which he feels come 

within his area of interest and responsibility and then will respond to 

those so chosen. For convenience in assembling the responses for the 

examination of the Vice President, it would be most efficient if such 

replies were sent directly to the Executive Secretary. 

Signed 

E. C. Welsh 

Enclosures 

COPY 
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July 9, 1965 

QUESTIONS RE MOL 

1. Will the :military label and the security classification as to some 

of MOL's activities adversely affect our international image, which has 

been generally so good in regard to MERCURY, GEMINI, and APOLLO? 

What educational programs should be carried out to maintain this good 

image? 

2. Who will have the responsibility for attempting to have all ground 

stations on foreign soil support the MOL project? 

3. What will be the policy and the practice as to public release of 

data from MOL experiments? 

4. Will MOL launchings be opened to the public like MERCURY, 

GEMINI, and APOLLO launches? 

5. What can be said about the relationship between the MOL project 

and any NASA plans for manned space flight after the lunar trips? 

6. If asked ( and I am sure we will be), what would be the answer 

as to why we do not use the SATURN/APOLLO system for the MOL project? 

7. To what extent will the large investment in NASA facilities be 

used to monitor, communicate with, and control MOL's? 

8. Will the same tracking facilities be used for MOL as are planned 

for APOLLO? If not, why not, and also will the two systems be compatible for emergency uses? 

9. What are the total cost estimated for MOL, including astronaut 

training, new facilities if any, etc. ? What portion of the cost of 

TITAN IIIC is included in these estimates? 

10. When would you expect the first manned MOL flight? Could this 

schedule be speeded up? 

11. What mechanism will be used, to prevent launch scheduling conflicts between APOLLO and MOL? 
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12. Will launches of MOL be from Cape Kennedy or Vandenberg? 

If the latter, what uses will the TITAN pads be put to at the Cape? 

What are the primary military launching projects for the Cape, as we 

look ahead? 

13. Ground landings of MOL spacecraft would seem to have security 

advantages and also economy advantages, compared with ocean landings. 

Has this been considered? 

14. Can the astronaut training for MOL be combined with that for 

APOLLO? 

15. Will the success of the initial MOL flight become the basis for 

a decision as to whether the project will go operational or just developmental? 

16. Is any space rescue capability included in the MOL planning? 

If not, what should be the response to the question as to why not? 

17. If GEMINI is used, will NASA or the Air Force procure the 

spacecraft from the contractor? Will the modification in GEMINI be 

substantial if it is used? 

19. Will public information arrangements for the personal stories 

of MOL astronauts permit the type of private contractual arrangements 

which have been entered into by NASA astronaits? 

20. To what extent will NASA participate with experments for MOL? 

21. What suggestions do you have about any statements which might 

be made about the developments from this meeting?