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.

All labels observed (3)

How this entity was disambiguated

Statements (54)

Predicate Object
instanceOf U.S. Air Force space program
military space station program
reconnaissance satellite program
abbreviation MOL
announcementDate 1963-12-10
cancellationDate 1969-06-10
codeName DORIAN
country United States
crewAccessMethod Gemini B hatch through heat shield
crewCapacity 2
designFeature Gemini B reentry capsule
linked to: Gemini spacecraft

optical reconnaissance system
pressurized laboratory module
era Cold War
fundingAgency United States Department of Defense
launchVehicle Titan IIIM
launchVehicleFamily Titan III
missionDurationPlanned 30 days
notableTransferredAstronaut James A. Abrahamson
Karol J. Bobko
Richard Truly
Robert Crippen
linked to: Robert L. Crippen
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
purpose crewed military space station
defense-related missions
military reconnaissance
reasonForCancellation advances in unmanned reconnaissance satellites
high cost
relatedProgram Gemini program
National Reconnaissance Office programs
secretUntil declassified in the 1990s
someAstronautsTransferredTo NASA Astronaut Corps
spacecraftType modified Gemini spacecraft
spaceStationType low Earth orbit military space station
startDate 1963
status canceled
successor KH-9 Hexagon reconnaissance satellite program
testLaunchComplex Launch Complex 40
testLaunchDate 1966-11-03
testLaunchSite Cape Kennedy Air Force Station
testLaunchVehicle Titan IIIC
testPayload modified Gemini B capsule
uncrewed MOL mockup

How these facts were elicited

Referenced by (6)

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

X-20 Dyna-Soar successorProgram Manned Orbiting Laboratory
Robert Henry Lawrence Jr. memberOf Manned Orbiting Laboratory program
linked to: Manned Orbiting Laboratory
Robert Henry Lawrence Jr. spaceProgram United States Air Force Manned Orbiting Laboratory
linked to: Manned Orbiting Laboratory
Karol J. Bobko partOf Manned Orbiting Laboratory program
linked to: Manned Orbiting Laboratory
X-20 Dyna-Soar successorProgram Manned Orbiting Laboratory
subject linked to: X-20
SLC-6 associatedWith Manned Orbiting Laboratory program
linked to: Manned Orbiting Laboratory