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DEPARTMENT OF THE AIR FORCE 

MANNED ORBITING LABORATORY, SYSTEMS PROGRAM OFFICE (OSAF) 

AF UNIT POST OFFICE, LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA 90045 

2 2 MAY 1968 

S BYE-89682/68 

SUBJECT: MOL Monthly Management Report, 25 March-25 April 1968 

Attached is the monthly report of significant events, 

25 March - 25 April 1968. 

1 Atch 

Report 

cum-. 

. S. BLE IER, Maj Gen, USAF 

Deputy Director, MOL 

DORIAN 

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MONTHLY REPORT 

OP SIGNIFICANT EVENTS 

25 MARCH - 25 APRIL 1968 

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1. Project Upgrade Progress: 

a. As part of Project Upgrade, an intensive effort was exerted to 

establish an integrated technical baseline. This baseline is reflected 

primarily in the System Performance and Design Requirements (SP/DR) 

document and in lower tier supporting plans, requirements documents and 

SAFSL Exhibits. A week long meeting of contractor program managers and 

the SPO was conducted at DAC, Huntington Beach, 22-26 April to achieve 

a mutually acceptable understanding of the requirements defined in the 

documents. 

The exchange of view points and in depth discussions of varying 

interpretations of requirements was a worthwhile and necessary first step 

toward achieving our goal of technical integrity and mutual understanding. 

The follow-up review is scheduled for the week of 20 May to resolve areas 

still outstanding, and thereby achieve a major objective of Project Upgrade. 

b. Five interface Technical Signoff Meetings (TSONs) were held this 

month resulting in signoff of 12 basic documents and removal of numerous 

TBDs and TBRs from ICNs. The TSOKs have been geared to define and 

document interface agreements at a level consistent with contractor scoping 

of the interface program by 1 June. 

2. On 1 April 1968, Mr. William Newman and Mr. Harold Rubin of the General 

Accounting Office and Mr. Arthur Hanby of DCAA received a series of presentations on the MOL Program at the DORIAN level. A short review of MOL 

program objectives, basic management structure, contractor structure, and 

the baseline vehicle configuration served to introduce more comprehensive 

discussions on specific elements of the program led by Maj Gen Bleymaler. 

Emphasis was placed on the procurement and business management aspects of 

the program, and on the controls and techniques used by all echelons of 

government management to obtain program visibility, to surface problems, 

and to resolve important issues. Mr. Alan Donovan of the Aerospace 

Corporation supported these discussions with a presentation on the role 

of Aerospace, placing particular emphasis on the Aerospace involvement 

as the GSE/TD contractor for MOL. Presentations by Douglas MSSD were 

conducted on the following day, at Huntington Beach, California. These 

discussions were oriented toward the detailed management techniques utilized 

by a typical MOL associate contractor in conducting his portion of the 

program. It was apparent that the visitors considered the two days of 

discussion extremely helpful. They offered complimentary comment to the 

effect that they had not been aware of how simple, yet how exceptionally 

effective, the Air Force's management techniques appeared to be in'the 

conduct of MOL. 

DORIAN 

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3. On 25 April 1968, the Systems Office participated in a Joint NASA/DOD 

Manned Space Flight Subsystem Symposium in Washington D.C. The meeting 

was "in-house" in the respect that hardware contractors were not .present. 

The majority of material presented was unclassified and oriented to the 

detail level of critical MOL subsystems. Mission aspects and mission 

requirements were neither involved nor discussed during the symposium. 

4. Dr. D. S. Lewis, President of the McDonnell Douglas Corporation, in 

reply to a request by Maj Gen Bleymaier, has reviewed the tasks to be 

performed by McDonnell Astronautics and Douglas MSSD in MOL Launch and 

Flight Operations, and has concluded that this effort should be covered 

by a single contract. The Systems Office is now conducting discussions 

with appropriate McDonnell-Douglas representatives to this end. 

5. During the month of April a number of technical conferences were held 

with the MOL Associate Contractors and the Aerospace Corporation to analyze, 

in depth, the recommendations of the Test Objectives Review Board (TORS). 

The technical requirements and associated cost and schedule impacts were 

evaluated by the appropriate segment contractors, and the results presented 

to the MOL SPO. Although the recommendations were not all deemed practical 

or feasible within the present funding allocations, a number are considered 

valid and will be duly implemented. 

6. The Static Loads Structure (SLS) Camera Optics Assembly (COA) structure 

was ready for test on 2 April 1968. This structure is to be subjected to a 

load capability test at Douglas Aircraft Company. The test will begin about 

9 May after instrumentation is installed at Douglas. 

7. The Ross Corrector and upper optical assembly structure for Structural 

Development Model #2 was completed on 9 April 1968. This assembly fits on 

the forward part of the optical path and contains the Ross Corrector lenses. 

8. Owens-Illinois successfully manufactured a 23" diameter Cer Vit Lightweight Blank using drilling and coring technique rather than the pressed 

process. They are presently proceeding on a 72" Tracking Mirror blank on 

which the drilling and coring technique will also be used. 

9. Corning delivered a 72" welded WILE flat which is being ground and 

polished at El. Structural tests have been completed and passed on this 

blank. 

10. The Statement of Work was received from EK on 15 April for the deferred 

effort including the Mission Payload Segment (MPS) assembly and test at the 

Mission Module level at Rochester. Also included were all other items of 

program content which were defined as of the current 8 December 1967 Baseline. 

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11. A Laboratory Module Unpressurized Section (short section) with 

handling and transportation AGE was accepted by the Air Force on 

28 March 1968. A CCN has been issued to DAC to retrofit it for Blast 

Shield Accommodation prior to shipping it to McDonnell on 3 June 1968. 

12. The test sequence has been completed on all three Image Velocity 

Sensors (IVS) in the GE test program. GE met with each of the vendors 

during the month of April to show them preliminary test results and 

to receive comments from all on the test methods. GE has been requested 

to brief the PRC on the status of the IVS progress. 

13. GE is currently evaluating proposals received from Honeywell and 

Bell for procurement of the Low G Accelerometer. GE is expected to 

make a source selection 10 May 1968 with a briefing to the Program Office 

about one week later. 

14. GE has indicated that a report documenting their requirement for 

removal of the DAC exterior structural MM door at the launch site will 

be available during early May 1968. This is to facilitate maintenance 

access to AVE components. GE has agreed to provide the MOL SPO with an 

overall impact of this requirement on associate contractors. The SPO 

anticipates that there will be significant impacts on all FV contractors 

if the GE requirement is justified. 

15. The Systems Office has reviewed alignment requirements for the 

Mission Module. With the present alignment techniques that GE is 

advocating, some major changes will have to be made in the ER facilities. 

To preclude this, GE is being requested to re-investigate the possiblity 

of using an alignment fixture that would fasten on the top of the Mission 

Module. This would conserve space as well as delete the necessity for 

seismic isolation and very tight temperature controls. 

17. A Gemini B Technical Management Meeting was held at McDonnell 

Astronautics Co. on 5 April 1968. An overall review was conducted to 

evaluate the status of the following: (1) Action Items, (2) Interface 

documentation, (3) Weights, (4) Electrical Power, (5) Reliability and 

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(6) Equipment Qualification. Reports were then presented from the 

following technical working groups: (1) Mechanical Systems, (2) Avionics 

and (3) Dual Gas Design Review. Based on these reports the SPO personnel 

made the following decisions: (1) Based on MAC's Aero Tech Note #64 the 

main parachute system has an acceptable (1.5) margin of safety. (2) The 

Dual Gas Design review is considered complete pending the completion of 

all action items. (3) SPO restated that ECS component orbital storage 

should be conducted to the 33 day requirement rather than the 14 day 

deviation requested by MAC. 

18. The Mission Enhancement effort to provide a detailed response to 

Gen Stewart's questions concerning 

for April 1967. 

The data was available on 26 April. This data will be forwarded to GE/ 

Philadelphia for subsequent computer analysis which considers further 

vehicle/physical constraints. GE data availability is estimated for 

6 May; response to Gen Stewart by 8 May. 

19. The detailed requirements specificatiOn for the Mission Planning 

and Mission Correlation Data (MCD) software packages were submitted by 

TRW to the SPO for approval on 15 April. These documents are currently 

under review with a SPO/contractor review scheduled for 13 May. 

20. A meeting with the SCF, Test Operations, Aerospace, and TRW was 

held to discuss the incompatibilities between Advanced Data System (ADS) 

design and TRW's Ascent and Reentry Software. The SCF plans to issue a 

Technical Directive to Lockheed/Mellonics to resolve these incompatibilities. 

General agreement was reached in all areas except the manner in which the 

switchover from the primary to the secondary CDC 3800 is to be handled. 

Test Operations agreed to establish the MDL position on 3800 switchover 

by 3 May. 

21. DD Form 1391, Military Construction Line Item Data, pertaining to VAYS 

facilities necessary to adequately support a recovery force to effect crew, 

spacecraft, and data retrieval in the event of a pad or ascent abort, has 

been disapproved. This FY 70 requirement was submitted by the AFWTR and 

carried a MOL program element number. It has been determined that the 

required facilities should be provided by the host at YAPS and, as such, 

the DD Form 1391 should reflect a SAC element number. The AFWTR has been 

apprised of this matter with a further request to take whatever action is 

necessary with SAC so that recovery facilities are provided and available 

by need dates. 

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22. Correspondence was forwarded to the Air Training Command (ATC) 

requesting detailed technical data and to specify training requirements 

for the 6595th ATW and the Powered Flight Controllers. These requirements must be identified by ATC prior to I May 1968 so that they can 

be reflected in the MAC, DAC and MHC Statement of Work. 

23. Sample Pressure Suit Assembly (PSA) suits B1 and B2 were received 

on 2 April 1968 by SAYSL-10. This brings the total to three sample 

suits that have been delivered by Hamilton Standard. Present planning 

is to furnish the previously received Sample Suit A to Douglas and Sample 

Suit Bl to McDonnell as required for their GFE Testing and for system 

development work. Sample Suit B2 will remain in SL-10 for the present 

for crew indoctrination, developmental simulations in Zero-G aircraft, 

and augmentation of developmental testing in contractor plants. The 

mobility achieved in these sample suits has been even better than in 

the prototype upon which suit selection was based. Other features, such 

as reproducibility and donning characteristics have been above expectations. 

24. A draft Statement of Work (SOW) for the crew transfer van was 

completed and is now being reviewed by the SPO for comments and recommendations. 

25. As previously reported, a MOL Feeding System Assembly (FSA) 30-day 

feeding test was recently completed in the altitude chambers at the USAF 

School of Aerospace Medicine/AMD, Brooks APB, Texas. Test results showed 

minor weight loss in 3 of the 4 test subjects. This loss may be attributed 

to a loss in body water and not a tissue loss. Food acceptance by the 

subjects was excellent. Preliminary analysis of other test objectives 

indicate satisfactory performance. The next test will substitute improved 

food items and evaluate new packaging concepts which are being made to 

reduce weight and volume as well as improve preparation techniques. This 

second of four programmed chamber feeding trials is scheduled for August 

1968. The remaining two feeding trials are scheduled for early and middle 

1969. 

26. New completion dates were established for Package 2 of the SLC-6 

Launch Complex. The Mobile Service Tower (MST), Umbilical Tower (UT), 

pad and flame bucket are now scheduled for completion on 15 November 1968. 

This new date will permit erection of the MST in the forward position using 

the UT at a considerable cost reduction. The AGE Building, Air Conditioning 

Shelter, fan houses, and essential power are scheduled for completion on 

1 July 1968. All other elements of Package 2 will be completed on 15 June 

1968. 

27. NASA is having AVCO do a user "integration" study to incorporate several 

users integration criteria into their development efforts on the isotope 

Brayton cycle electrical power conversion system. They have agreed to 

consider the MOL one-year duration concept as a candidate vehicle for this 

system. On request from NASA, the Advanced Planning Office provided them 

a package of Confidential data on certain MOL follow-on .program concepts. 

AVCO will prepare a final report this summer presenting their plan to integrate the Brayton cycle into our mission. COPY / OF 2/ COPIES 

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28. Advanced Planning representatives attended a SAMSO briefing in which 

TRW and General Electric discussed the results on their Satellite Control 

Satellite study. This system could provide real time continuous wideband communications and 0.1 mile accuracy in tracking in the 1972-75 

time period. After the briefing, representatives from G.E. gave a brief 

general discussion of how MOL might utilize this system and how they 

might incorporate MOL into the program. We are very interested in this 

SCS effort due to its application to increased mission capability for the 

follow-on program. The G.E. briefing was very preliminary but indicated 

they are considering MOL as a customer. 

29. An informal discussion of NASA/MOL hardware for the Apollo Applications 

Program (AAP) was held with Mr. John Disher, Deputy for AAP. This discussion revealed no significant change in NASA's attitude on MOL hardware; 

i.e., little interest. 

30. The duplication of effort between the Schedule Interface Log (SIL) 

and the Hardware Exchange List (HEL) has been eliminated. The total 

operation of the SIL has been assigned to the Directorate of Procurement 

and Production and the HEL has, in effect, been incorporated into the SM. 

31. The MOL CCB processed 27 ECPs; 11 were approved; 3 were disapproved 

and 13 were deferred for further evaluation. The major cost bearing ECPs 

approved by CCB action totalled approximately $343,000 based upon nonnegotiated contractor estimates. 

32. The T-IIIM CCB processed 68 ECPs; 20 were approved; 2 were disapproved 

and 46 were deferred for further evaluation. The major cost bearing ECPs 

approved by CCB action totalled approximately $1,430,000 based upon nonnegotiated estimates. One ECP, AGC 60050, TU. Exit Closures, accounts for 

this cost. 

33. The financial statement for this reporting period is as follows: 

Of the 430.0 million FY 68 funds released to the Systems Office, 

423.8 million has been initiated. 

34. MOL Manpower Status: 

AUTHORIZED ASSIGNED 

*OFFICERS 136 153 

AIRMEN 9 8 

CIVILIANS 102 97 

HIGH GRADES (34) (31) 

CLERICAL (68) (66) 

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* MOL Flight Crew included. Six attached officers (4 Navy/Marine 

Flight Crew, 1 SAC and 1 MAC are not included). 

T-IIIM uilitary not shown. 

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