Manned Orbiting Laboratory

E520497

The Manned Orbiting Laboratory was a Cold War-era U.S. Air Force program to develop a crewed military space station for reconnaissance and other defense-related missions, ultimately canceled before any operational flights.

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Observed surface forms (2)

Statements (54)

Predicate Object
instanceOf U.S. Air Force space program
military space station program
reconnaissance satellite program
abbreviation MOL NERFINISHED
announcementDate 1963-12-10
cancellationDate 1969-06-10
codeName DORIAN NERFINISHED
country United States of America
surface form: United States
crewAccessMethod Gemini B hatch through heat shield
crewCapacity 2
designFeature Gemini B reentry capsule NERFINISHED
optical reconnaissance system
pressurized laboratory module
era Cold War
fundingAgency United States Department of Defense NERFINISHED
launchVehicle Titan IIIM NERFINISHED
launchVehicleFamily Titan III NERFINISHED
missionDurationPlanned 30 days
notableTransferredAstronaut James A. Abrahamson NERFINISHED
Karol J. Bobko NERFINISHED
Richard Truly NERFINISHED
Robert Crippen NERFINISHED
numberOfAstronautsSelected 17
numberOfOperationalFlights 0
numberOfTestLaunches 1
operator United States Air Force
partOf United States military space program
plannedCrewSelectionSource USAF astronauts
plannedInclination polar orbit
plannedMissionProfile crew return to Earth in Gemini B capsule
crew to conduct reconnaissance and experiments in orbit
launch crew and lab together on single booster
plannedOrbit low Earth orbit
primaryPayload KH-10 DORIAN reconnaissance camera system NERFINISHED
purpose crewed military space station
defense-related missions
military reconnaissance
reasonForCancellation advances in unmanned reconnaissance satellites
high cost
relatedProgram Gemini program NERFINISHED
National Reconnaissance Office programs
secretUntil declassified in the 1990s
someAstronautsTransferredTo NASA Astronaut Corps NERFINISHED
spacecraftType modified Gemini spacecraft
spaceStationType low Earth orbit military space station
startDate 1963
status canceled
successor KH-9 Hexagon reconnaissance satellite program NERFINISHED
testLaunchComplex Launch Complex 40 NERFINISHED
testLaunchDate 1966-11-03
testLaunchSite Cape Kennedy Air Force Station NERFINISHED
testLaunchVehicle Titan IIIC NERFINISHED
testPayload modified Gemini B capsule
uncrewed MOL mockup

Referenced by (3)

Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.

Robert Henry Lawrence Jr. memberOf Manned Orbiting Laboratory
this entity surface form: Manned Orbiting Laboratory program
Robert Henry Lawrence Jr. spaceProgram Manned Orbiting Laboratory
this entity surface form: United States Air Force Manned Orbiting Laboratory
X-20 Dyna-Soar successorProgram Manned Orbiting Laboratory