Policy: MOL 

STIC: MOL 

Security: Publ Info. 

Department of the Air Force 

I . 

RE lEA'SE "'l .JU LY 2010 

NRO APPROVED-TO c, 

-au czAl&,

--Lza.,..--d 

eaL.41,di am 517E 

r

.Z#,tieftz4,41 

/3 e / 5 

116 / 09 

CLASSIFICATION: 

TITLE: 

REFERENCES: 1. Air Force Information Plan 63-6, TITAN IL 

6 June 1963 

2. Department of the Air Force Letter: 

"Security Policy and Procedures, MOL Program, 

(Confidential), 25 February 1965, to Hq AFSC 

(MSF) 

3. AFSDC-S mesoage Li89459 (Confidential). 

26 February 1965 . 

1. TASIC ORGANIZATIONS: 

U.S. Air Force (SAF-0I) 

Air Force Systems Command " 

U.S. Navy (CHINFO) 

Participating Contractors 

2. Tx&RPOSE:, 

To establish general Information policies and responsibilities 

relative to the Manned Orbital Laboratory Program (MOL}.,, 

4144.4,1 

.9 0.4......1' g/ ea.,.., 

Washington, D. 

CONFIDENTIAL ....40--.-4, -04-,..f-y.a..7/.....6..4_0,,, -:44.; .014sy, A. e. sw.thl...... ...... .„..1.4_, 

Information Responsibilities for Manned Orbiting .• .: . i, 

Laboratory Program (MOL) 

? 

-*?4"-"Y&Fligjd'ION PLAN 4-4 -Le-_'4 .C4e-itz 

.1. 

CUNFIEPEL 
NRO APPROVED FOR 

RELEASE 1 JULY 2015 

r•rwrI,.1„ 

. OBJECTIVE: 

To provide for a carefully planned program of public information 

on the' Manned Orbiting Laboratory (MOL) program which can be releas- 

. 

ed as required. 

. SITUATION: 

a. Background 

(1) Study of space station concepts by.the Air Force goes 

back to about 1958. Since thes, various concepts and design proposals 

were studied. These included the Military Test Space Station (MTSS); 

NASA's Manned Orbital Space Station (MOSS); the Military Orbital Development Systems (MODS) --- which provided specific hardware propos 

sale and clearer concepts --- and, a National Orbital Space Station (NOSS). 

(2) On 10 December 1963, the L'ocretary of Defense announc," 

ed the assignment of a space station development program to the Air 

Force and identified it as a "near-earth Manned Orbiting Laboratory. " 

(3) On 23 January 1965, the Secretary of Defense announced the issuance of Request for proposals (2..FP's) from industry for 

design studies to assist in developing cost and technical information 

required to proceed with full-scale development of the IVIOL. At that 

time, DOD outlined broadened guidance concerning the program. 

(4) On 1 March 1965, the Department of Defense announced 

-aCONFICENTiAL 
NRO APPRQVED FOR 

RQ_EASE 1 JULY 2015 

that the Air Force had selected Lour contractors to perform preliminary design atudaea, for the MOL. The four were selected from seven 

contractors which responded to the RFP's. The four announced were: 

Boeing Company General Electric CorpOration, Douglas Aircraft 

Company, and Lockheed Aircraft Corporation. Each contractor was to 

perform 60-day design studies at a cost of about $400, 000 each. 

(5) On 25 .August, 1965, President Johnson announced 

that he was instructing the Department of Defense to proceed with MOS,. 

and that Douglas and General Electric had been selected to carry out the 

developmental work required. The President indicated that initial unmanned and manned launches of a fully-equipped laboratory were • 

expected to take place in 1966. 

b. _Policy 

(1) The mission of MOL will be described solely as that 

of learning more about what man is able to do in `space and how that • 

ability can be used for defense purposes. The research and experimental nature of MOL will be emphasized. Statements or connotations 

that MOL is to be an operational system or an intermediate step toward 

an operational system will be avoided. -4 

(2). No special effort will be made to justify the 1v101.• 

program publicly. The objective is not to generate publicity, but 

6, 
...4•114 rc2s 

4 

NRO APPROyED FOR 

REI.EASE 1 JULY 2015 

• `c;11."-I— 

rather to pirovide tlsouch rnator al to re,spond to Iezilinlate public 

interest in tle prod rarn and t ec-pe 1: it4 its international repo:- 

cuLzioas. 

(3) BCCZO:C.4 of isitora.-Itions.1 sensitivities public infor=a 

tioa arc 14.101‘WU1. bo carefully planned to avoid or nlitilreizo interns. 

tional coatroverzy or apprchc,...v.31oa. Tills by especially iropor. 

taut at the tirae permissible of) Vac operational pase will 

bo releasod at or near latincbin:; public information releasog 

S tatAMse=tr) Oaw. OL rand° b roprosoii,tatives a any Dopart. 

raent or .47%;4:1cy will process for E;,-)prova,1 a vi=z;la DO) 1:.%oicit 

review 410. anco Li t:t.:;e A1e;:,-1.4,,zant sc..c.r.ctary o Defenso (Public 

Affairs). 17:rectorate for P14.,as vitict,1 will be rospon- 

.2ibie, for cio4r5.41:,, 1:klblie Mfaira, 

'• Depart.n,sont of 

Public re14.,,ases will deal 

ez.clur.iv,,ly %cit.'s), non ...Si:4 Citi.V0 t,C, Chr..`0103.i.Cal or other aspects of tile 

ESL L. prol;raurs, such a* the. bcoster syctora, life support syr tem. 

enincerir..,-for 1/.10 1.. orbit, latintIsing teek.nolozy. corannulicatious -

1.40:11c-44,43, experiments, the like. WilitAry *We cekvoak opezz.- 

t;oitas and capabilities will not be4.1iscussee is public .ttforrortioz 

releases. 

(4) Ail aJ.wOi.4 Inur.chirsza Le,1-.)1,,..-aucl,,.d T.T.,S13 itultiou 

of tile United National rc.q.stry of satellite 

W.:t V. ;, J .:0,:'...'.; 1.: ; ,I, ". -
NRO APPROVED FOR 

RELEASE 1 JULY,2015 

• 

L 

(5) Public Affairs policy and guidance not otherwise • 

included in this Plan (or referenced) will emanate from OASD(PA)- • -• 

(or SAF-OI subject to the approval of OASD/PA). . Such guidance will 

be coordinated in advance with State by OASD(PA).- 

• (6) Proposed public participation or appearance of designated. 

MOL, astronauts will be forwarded to S-.L.L7`-01 for action. Participation. • • 

of Navy astronauts will be coordinated with Navy Office of Information' 

(CHIN.F0) by SA:17-01. SAF-01 will process these proposed appearances 

through 0.ASD(PA), which will clear with State. 

5. ASSUMPTION: • 

There nlay occasions w' ca it will bo advantageous to enera.te 

public inf mation xna -leis in apt of prOgra goals 0 or other 

cial requir nts. 

44( RZSPONSIBILITIES: 

a. Within the policies approved by the Assistant Secretary of 

Defense (Public Affairs). the Director of Information, Office Secretary 

of the Air Force (SAF-01), is responsible for the implementation of 

this plan and overall monitorship. 

b. Air Force Systems Command will carry but Information 

actions for SAF-01 as outlined in this plan and future annexes and/or 

specific procedural plans to be developed. 

-5- 
NRO APPROVED FOR 

RELEASE 1 JULY 2015 

tJ 

c. Agencies of the (3.S. Navy, ac well as the Air Force, participating in the 1.101.4 program will follow the policy and procedures in., 

this plan. 

d. All Major Commands will follow closely the policies and 

procedures of the IVIOL 'Information Plan. 

7. INFORMATION ACTIONS: 

a. Tasks 

•••■■■■■■mor.! 

(1) SAF-OI will: 

(a) Assign a qualified Inforrnation Officer as a • 

single point of contact to work with the Office of the Diroctor MOLE. 

All SAY-01 Divisions will assist this officer as required. . 

(b) Prepare answerf.4.-to-queries to be used as 

required in the accomplishment of this very limited information pro- • 

gram. 

(c) Monitor implementation of this Plan. 

(4 Prepare and/or recoziarnend specific items of 

public interest pertaining to U. S. Navy 1,102.'4 activities for submittal 

to C1-37.NFO for release through Navy information channels, and/or 

QASD(P.P..). 

(Z).AFSC will: 

Coordinate the Information activities of all participating 

AFSC divisions and centers along with thoec of the Contractors and 
NRO APPROVED FOR 

RELEASE 1 JULY 2015 

OIrr,C77",..7.7•17" 

• .0 

insure their compliance with this plan. 

(3) Major Air Co:..nr...ands will: 

Provide support to SA:.7-01. and AFSC as may be 

directed. 

(4) U.S. Navy will coordinate any proposed information 

activity relating to MOL) with CAS ;PA) and S.A. 27-0.1 prior to execution, 

b. Procedures 

(1). News Releases: 

Proposed releases concerning the M.01.■ program will 

be submitted through channels to the OAS:L.:IPA) for approval. In 

will be submitted for clearance as early as practicable in order • 

that sufficient time can be allotted to the extensive inter-agency coordination required prior to approval. 

(3)• Soceches: 

Speeches concerning the MOL program will be disand must not be made without specific authorization by the 

0ASD(PA). References to the MOL :?rogratn in. public addresses on 

related or other topics will be held to an absolute minimum and will also 

be subject to review and approval by the OASD(PA). 

(3) Answers to Queries: 

Answers to queries may be provided only within the 

-7- 
NRO APPROVED FOR 

RELEASE 1 JULY 2015 

context of the aggregate of material that has been released officially 

since the Presidential announcement of August 25 1965. A resume 

of this material is attached. Queries which do not fall within the. 

aggregate will be submitted through channels to OAST:IPA) for review . 

and guidance. as appropriate. 

-(4) Proposed changes to this plan: 

Proposed changes to this plan will be submitted to 

sAr-,cyi for approval subject to policy decisions of OASD(PA.). 

(5) Information anise es: 

The Director a or:-..-,altiore, Office of the Secretary of • 

the Air :Force (SAP-07.). is assig-ned responsibility for the preparation of an annex to this plan which treats in detail the planned actions for.. 

each significant si:hecluled event in the 1\.6.0.1., program including the 

• following: 

Selection of astronauts 

Contract awards 

Establishment of :VIOL Experiment Advisory Committee 

Signing of the AF-NASA agreement 

:11.. TITAN IIIC test launchings 

Completio-n of the contract definition phase and beginning 

of development phase 

Delivery of modified GETVIINI spacecraft 

-3- 

trI 7,74777°7 F, p 

• , „ 
NRO APPROVED FOR 

RELEASE 1 JULY2015 7-.777r7:7 

• 

. Deliver.y of first laborz.,.tbry . 

First "pal up" lz.lunec,11-10. 

First unrnanned launchi 

Selection of crew and backup crew for first manned 

launching .•' 

First manned la'ench 

Selection of cr4.., Avs fo succe.luor.t 

Selection of oxperinlents to be performed, 

(6) Coordination 

The Directorate c4:17-71..=.3 and Prog,raras will be the -

• • focal point within U.: .A.) to r.1...e2;;...;..y coordination is 

accomplished; withinOD coo-4-..dinzition. will inc.11idc ac a minimum 

OAS1D(ISA), S.F-& and.0Ar-cz. LI, addition, coordination 

will be accomplished with SZ.te ZCIA and NI.SA. 

Attachments 

1. Presidential statement, 23 :_ugust 1965 

2. Depa•ria-n. ent of Defense release, 25 August 1965 

3. oAsz(p..k.,) message r.olL:T 9152, 25 August 1965 

4. Fact Sheet 

5. Approved Questions and Answers 

4 

-9-