Declassified: U.S. Military's Secret Cold War Space Project Revealed
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 from December 1963 until its cancellation in June 1969. The program spent $1.56 billion during that time, according to some estimates.
While the program never actually lofted a crewed space station, those nearly six years were quite eventful, featuring the selection of 17 MOL astronauts, the remodeling of NASA's two-seat Gemini spacecraft, the development of the Titan-3C launch vehicle and the building of an MOL launch site at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California. [Photos: Declassified US Spy Satellite Photos & Designs]
Early in the MOL program, its architects weren't quite sure what MOL was all about. "Is the MOL a laboratory?" reads one of the newly released documents, which were put out by the U.S. National Reconnaissance Office (NRO). "Or is it an operational reconnaissance spacecraft? (Or a bomber?)"
Even today, aspects of the MOL initiative remain secret.
MORE AT SITE
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So! If they've had ONE secret program, you have to think there are probably more! Maybe those people talking about secret space bases and such need to have us listening more closely instead of dismissing them.
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 from December 1963 until its cancellation in June 1969. The program spent $1.56 billion during that time, according to some estimates.
While the program never actually lofted a crewed space station, those nearly six years were quite eventful, featuring the selection of 17 MOL astronauts, the remodeling of NASA's two-seat Gemini spacecraft, the development of the Titan-3C launch vehicle and the building of an MOL launch site at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California. [Photos: Declassified US Spy Satellite Photos & Designs]
Early in the MOL program, its architects weren't quite sure what MOL was all about. "Is the MOL a laboratory?" reads one of the newly released documents, which were put out by the U.S. National Reconnaissance Office (NRO). "Or is it an operational reconnaissance spacecraft? (Or a bomber?)"
Even today, aspects of the MOL initiative remain secret.
MORE AT SITE
________________________________________________________________________________
So! If they've had ONE secret program, you have to think there are probably more! Maybe those people talking about secret space bases and such need to have us listening more closely instead of dismissing them.
