The Acquisition and Tracking System, Mission Development Simulator, Laboratory Module Simulator, and Mission Simulator were transferred to NASA by the end of 1973. The MOL Program Office at the Pentagon closed on 15 February 1970, and the office in Los Angeles on 30 September 1970.

Jun 10, 2019 · The MOL laboratory simulator and the special computer to operate it were also transferred to NASA. The technology developed for the acquisition and tracking system and the mission development simulator for the KH-10 imaging system found its way into NASA’s earth sensing program.

Dec 30, 2015 · A newly released treasure trove of historical data reveals intriguing details about a secret Cold War project known as the Manned Orbiting Laboratory (MOL). The U.S. Air Force's MOL program ran...

The Manned Orbiting Laboratory (MOL) was a semi-secret United States Air Force (USAF) space project, with a public face but a covert reconnaissance mission. Seventeen astronauts were selected for the program in three intakes in 1965, 1966 and 1967.

Mar 4, 2017 · The spacecraft at top is a version of the two-person Gemini spacecraft that NASA flew in Earth orbit between 1964 and 1966. MOL operated for more than five years and spent $1.56 billion in 1969...

Sep 8, 2014 · The Air Force’s Manned Orbiting Laboratory (MOL) of the 1960s is finally being declassified. A significant document release this summer included hundreds of illustrations of the overall laboratory, many of its components and subsystems, and …

Dec 19, 2022 · NASA viewed MOL as a competitor to its own ambitions for placing a space station in orbit and clashed with the Air Force over its development.

Feb 1, 2023 · This is the fourth and final story about the Manned Orbiting Laboratory (MOL). Read part three here. The MOL program was stood up so the United States could collect immediate and on-demand intelligence in response to unanticipated events, like the Cuban Missile Crisis.

Nov 3, 2022 · MOL was designed to test new abilities and fulfill a top-secret reconnaissance mission of providing rapid response intelligence collection. Programs such as the U-2 provided excellent aerial imagery, but the United States required a better alternative due to the high risk of aircraft getting shot down.

Jun 11, 2024 · The Manned Orbiting Laboratory (MOL), a joint classified project of the U.S. Air Force (USAF) and the National Reconnaissance Office (NRO), sought to establish a crewed platform in low Earth orbit to obtain high-resolution photographic imagery of America’s 1960s Cold War adversaries.