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  USAF Manned Orbiting Laboratory (MOL) (Page 2)

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Author Topic:   USAF Manned Orbiting Laboratory (MOL)
mercsim
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Posts: 219
From: Phoenix, AZ
Registered: Feb 2007

posted 07-12-2012 09:37 AM     Click Here to See the Profile for mercsim   Click Here to Email mercsim     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
There is some pretty cool stuff at Deepcold. It is a fictional spinoff of early Gemini and Dynasoar but the author did a nice job.

Jim Behling
Member

Posts: 1463
From: Cape Canaveral, FL
Registered: Mar 2010

posted 07-12-2012 10:15 AM     Click Here to See the Profile for Jim Behling   Click Here to Email Jim Behling     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
Astronauts can not provide any real info unless officially debriefed and that also goes for Mitchell.

WAWalsh
Member

Posts: 809
From: Cortlandt Manor, NY
Registered: May 2000

posted 07-12-2012 12:50 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for WAWalsh   Click Here to Email WAWalsh     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
quote:
Originally posted by albatron:
Ed Mitchell?

From his NASA biography: From 1964 to 1965 he served as Chief, Project Management Division of the Navy Field Office for Manned Orbiting Laboratory.

avclubvids
New Member

Posts: 4
From: Los Angeles
Registered: Jul 2012

posted 07-12-2012 03:55 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for avclubvids   Click Here to Email avclubvids     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
quote:
Originally posted by Jay Chladek:
Only other interesting bit is since the crews would be breathing an Oxygen Helium mixture, their voices would be all high pitched and squeeky, like deep sea divers breathing a similar HeliOx mixture...
HeliOx is the one main MOL detail that I am going to be getting wrong on purpose, for obvious reasons. Having watched several documentaries featuring working environments that use this mixture, I know that it will be beyond distracting to the layperson, and honestly even those who know it is historically accurate will be distracted by the high pitched voices.

As for the no windows thing, I've seen a few schematics with one to two port holes and some without, I'm choosing to go with the versions that have portholes because the lighting will be vastly improved by having sunlight coming in through a small opening. I might not do any VFX to insert the Earth through those windows, it's more about light than the view.

quote:
Originally posted by Jim Behling:
MOL camera layout
Those schematics would seem to support the side-shooting rather than down-shooting configuration for the MOL — do you know what they actually ended up going with? I ask because there will be a few scenes inside the Gemini B, so I need to know what the view was like from there — "flying" over the Earth or pointing away from it?
quote:
Originally posted by Mr. Apollo 17:
If you could get into contact with one of the astronauts planned to go up on it like Bobko, Crippen, and Fullerton they might be able to tell you more from a point of view that is as good as you can get.
I'm reaching out to a few of the MOL astronauts and program administrators, though I am not expecting to find out much from them that our research hasn't already turned up. I'm willing to bet that we have found documents that they would not talk about because it is so unclear to everyone how much of this program is officially declassified and so silence is safest for them. I get it though.

Thank you all so much for all the help so far, keep it coming if you have any more info — I'm loving this! Researching for this project has been deeply rewarding, thanks to people like all of you.

Jim Behling
Member

Posts: 1463
From: Cape Canaveral, FL
Registered: Mar 2010

posted 07-12-2012 07:34 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for Jim Behling   Click Here to Email Jim Behling     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
Since this is from a recent release of official documents and first I have seen with the official use of the code word "DORIAN", the program or portions of it may have been officially declassified.

There may be a large release of KH-10/DORIAN documents in the near future, much like the recent release of HEXAGON, GAMBIT and QUILL programs.

tdrss
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Posts: 2
From:
Registered: Jun 2014

posted 06-18-2014 12:54 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for tdrss     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
The NRO just declassified a bunch of KH-10 DORIAN / Manned Orbiting Lab images - now posted on Wikipedia.

onesmallstep
Member

Posts: 1310
From: Staten Island, New York USA
Registered: Nov 2007

posted 06-19-2014 08:22 AM     Click Here to See the Profile for onesmallstep   Click Here to Email onesmallstep     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
Any further updates on the MOL film? The last one on the AV blog was dated July 19 two years ago.

With the death of Gordon Fullerton, that leaves fewer MOL selectees to interview or correspond with.

avclubvids
New Member

Posts: 4
From: Los Angeles
Registered: Jul 2012

posted 06-19-2014 01:53 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for avclubvids   Click Here to Email avclubvids     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
Yes, there is definitely an update on the MOL project!

We stopped updating on the blog but we have not stopped working on the research, writing, planning and funding fronts. On a personal note I got married last month so the lead-up to that meant that I had to put this project down for a little while and focus on all of those plans. But we are back from the honeymoon and I'm picking up full steam!

This new FOIA dump has been an incredible event, lots of the assumptions that I was basing the narrative on have been confirmed, and I could not possibly be happier about that! I'm digging through everything now and making sure that nothing is drastically affected by this latest information.

As we (finally) get close to locking down the story and begin moving into production, there will be opportunities to get involved for anyone who is interested, so please let me know if you'd like to be included in the small group of folks that have already been helping us as we've wrangled this monster into an achievable form.

Super thanks to everyone on this forum so far, it's been quite an interesting winding journey so far. — Andy Cochrane

alanh_7
Member

Posts: 1252
From: Ajax, Ontario, Canada
Registered: Apr 2008

posted 03-26-2016 05:11 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for alanh_7   Click Here to Email alanh_7     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
I have been interested in the MOL program. Two questions:
  1. Was there ever a finalized design for the Manned Orbiting Lab?

  2. And did they ever do extensive heat shield testing on the Blue Gemini with the aft hatch through the heat shield?
Editor's note: Threads merged.

Jim Behling
Member

Posts: 1463
From: Cape Canaveral, FL
Registered: Mar 2010

posted 03-26-2016 09:02 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for Jim Behling   Click Here to Email Jim Behling     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
quote:
Originally posted by alanh_7:
Was there ever a finalized design for the Manned Orbiting Lab?
Yes, it can be found at the NRO website.
quote:
And did they ever do extensive heat shield testing on the Blue Gemini with the aft hatch through the heat shield?
No.
  1. Blue Gemini was separate program from Gemini B which was the spacecraft for MOL.

  2. There was only the one test flight of the hatch through the heat shield and it was the reflight of the Gemini 2 capsule.

ApolloJim
Member

Posts: 35
From: Crosby, TX 77532
Registered: Jan 2008

posted 04-20-2018 10:47 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for ApolloJim   Click Here to Email ApolloJim     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
Doee anyone know of any hardware from this project?

Editor's note: Threads merged.

Jim_Voce
Member

Posts: 273
From:
Registered: Jul 2016

posted 06-16-2018 06:43 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for Jim_Voce   Click Here to Email Jim_Voce     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
The MOL Program was started in late 1963. Does anyone know what caused the delays in the station's development (other than the Vietnam War budget) such that by 1969, the station had still not flown? Were there any technological development issues? Was heat shield development a major hold up?

Secondly, does anyone know how frequently the station was suppose to be launched? I saw one schedule that suggested one MOL station per year would be launched. But that seems a long stretch between launches for national reconnaissance needs.

Third, in 1969, MOL was cancelled mostly because it was determined that unmanned reconnaissance satellites could do the job just as well. But I think that could have been established years earlier — probably by 1966 — that reconnaissance satellites could do the job. So why was MOL still being pursued?

And finally, what was the plan for the MOL station once the astronauts left the station and separated the Gemini B spacecraft from it? Was the station portion suppose to reenter the atmosphere right away and burn up or was the abandoned station designed to have automated reconnaissance capabilities once the astronauts left.

Editor's note: Threads merged.

Jim Behling
Member

Posts: 1463
From: Cape Canaveral, FL
Registered: Mar 2010

posted 06-17-2018 06:19 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for Jim Behling   Click Here to Email Jim Behling     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
quote:
Originally posted by Jim_Voce:
Was heat shield development a major hold up?
Heat shield was never a development issue. It was a space station with a camera, things take time.
quote:
But that seems a long stretch between launches for national reconnaissance needs.
It wasn't "The" reconnaissance platform, it still was just one of many. It was only for high resolution targeting and not broad area.
quote:
But I think that could have been established years earlier — probably by 1966 — that reconnaissance satellites could do the job.
No, the GAMBIT-3 program only started flying in 1966, it still took some time to verify its capabilities. Also, HEXAGON did not fly until 1971. And some in the USAF still wanted a man in space program.
quote:
...what was the plan for the MOL station once the astronauts left the station
There were different versions. Some had automated capability and other would deorbit after the crew left.

Do some reading here.


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