page_title: Manned Orbiting Laboratory
section_title: Selection
hierarchical_section_title: Manned Orbiting Laboratory / Astronauts / Selection
caption_attribution_description: English: Left to Right: Michael J. Adams, USAF; Albert H. Crews, USAF; John L. Finley, USN; Richard E. Lawyer, USAF; Lachlan Macleay, USAF; Francis G. Neubeck, USAF; James M. Taylor, USAF; and Richard H. Truly, USN.
context_page_description: The Manned Orbiting Laboratory was part of the United States Air Force's human spaceflight program. The project was developed from early USAF concepts of crewed space stations to be used for satellite reconnaissance purposes, and was a successor to the canceled Boeing X-20 Dyna-Soar military reconnaissance space plane. MOL evolved into a single-use laboratory, for which crews would be launched on 40-day missions, and return to Earth using a Gemini B spacecraft derived from NASA's Gemini spacecraft.
  The MOL program was announced to the public on 10 December 1963 as an inhabited platform to prove the utility of putting people in space for military missions; its use for satellite reconnaissance was a secret black project. Seventeen astronauts were selected for the program, including Major Robert H. Lawrence Jr., the first African-American to be chosen as an astronaut. The prime contractor for the spacecraft was McDonnell Aircraft; the laboratory was built by the Douglas Aircraft Company.
context_section_description: To provide prospective astronauts for the X-15 rocket-powered aircraft, Dyna-Soar and MOL programs, the USAF created the Aerospace Research Pilot Course at the USAF Experimental Flight Test Pilot School at Edwards Air Force Base in California. Four classes were conducted between June 1961, and May 1963. The third class received instruction on Dyna-Soar as part of the course. The USAF Experimental Test Pilot School was renamed the Aerospace Research Pilot School (ARPS) on 12 October 1961. When it came to selecting astronauts for MOL, the commandant of the ARPS, Colonel Charles E. "Chuck" Yeager, advised Schriever to restrict selection to ARPS graduates. The program did not accept applications; 15 candidates were selected and sent to Brooks Air Force Base in San Antonio, Texas, for a week of medical evaluation in October 1964. The evaluations were similar to those conducted for the NASA astronaut groups.
  For the first three NASA astronaut groups in 1959, 1962, and 1963, the USAF established a selection board to review candidates before forwarding their names to NASA. The Chief of Staff of the USAF, General John P. McConnell, told Schriever he expected the selection of MOL astronauts to follow the same procedure. A selection board was convened in September 1965, chaired by Major General Jerry D. Page. On 15 September, the selection criteria for MOL was announced. Candidates had to be:
  Qualified military pilots;
  Graduates of the ARPS;
  Serving officers, recommended by their commanding officers; and
  Holding US citizenship from birth.
  In October 1965, the MOL Policy Committee decided that MOL crew members would be designated a "MOL Aerospace Research Pilots" rather than astronauts.
  The names of the first group of eight MOL pilots were announced on 12 November 1965 as a Friday night news dump to avoid press attention. To prevent their return to the Navy, as would normally have occurred on their graduation from ARPS, Finley and Truly stayed at ARPS as instructors until the announcement:
  Major Michael J. Adams, USAF
  Major Albert H. Crews Jr., USAF
  Lieutenant John L. Finley, USN
  Captain Richard E. Lawyer, USAF
  Captain Lachlan Macleay, USAF
  Captain Francis G. Neubeck, USAF
  Major James M. Taylor, USAF
  Lieutenant Richard H. Truly, USN.
  Around this time, the USAF began selecting a second group of MOL pilots. This time applications were accepted. Selection occurred at the same time as for NASA Astronaut Group 5, with many applying to both programs. Successful candidates were told that NASA or MOL chose them, with no explanation. Over 500 applications were received, from which the names of 100 candidates were forwarded to USAF headquarters. The MOL program Office selected 25, who were sent to Brooks Air Force Base for physical evaluation in January and February 1966. Five were selected. The names of the second group of MOL pilots were publicly announced on 17 June 1966:
  Captain Karol J. Bobko, USAF
  Lieutenant Robert L. Crippen, USN
  Captain C. Gordon Fullerton, USAF
  Captain Henry W. Hartsfield, USAF
  Captain Robert F. Overmyer, USMC.
  Bobko became the first graduate of the United States Air Force Academy to be selected as an astronaut.
  Eight other finalists had not yet completed ARPS. One was already attending; the other seven were sent to Edwards Air Force Base to join Class 66-B. They would be considered for the next MOL astronaut intake. The MOL Astronaut Selection Board met again on 11 May 1967, and recommended that four of the eight be appointed. The MOL Program Office announced names of those selected for the third group of MOL astronauts on 30 June 1967:
  Major James A. Abrahamson, USAF
  Lieutenant Colonel Robert T. Herres, USAF
  Major Robert H. Lawrence Jr., USAF
  Major Donald H. Peterson, USAF.
caption: First MOL astronaut group. Left to right: Michael J. Adams, Albert H. Crews, John L. Finley, Richard E. Lawyer, Lachlan Macleay, Francis G. Neubeck, James M. Taylor, and Richard H. Truly.
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