NRO-MOL_2015

98 The Dorian Files Revealed: a Compendium of the NRO’s Manned Orbiting Laboratory Documents
Figure 48. MOL Astronaut Training
Source: CSNR Reference Collection
In this report the group stated that at the beginning of the
study, the members were concerned that the rationale for
including man in the MOL had deteriorated since program
approval in August 1965. They cited developments
in automatic equipment, which appeared to undercut
the original USAF argument “that a manned system
appeared capable of achieving {better than 1 foot} ground
resolution whereas an unmanned system probably could
not, or at least not as soon.” But contrary to the group’s
expectation, it found as it completed its work “that the
argument for man is as strong now or even stronger than
it was when the program was first approved.” 18
Thus, the study group maintained that the original
rationale in McNamara’s 24 August 1965 memorandum
to the President—his point that conducting the
development program with a manned spacecraft would
improve the prospect of achieving resolution in-the
{better than 1 foot} class**—remained valid, even taking
into account that technological progress in development
of automatic devices would provide greater assurance
that the unmanned configuration would produce {better
than 1 foot} resolutions. The group argued that, even if
it were postulated that a completely unmanned system
** McNamara’s statement was: “Beyond the initial objective of producing
{better than 1 foot} ground resolution photography, successful automation will
be increasingly difficult. Conducting the development program with a manned
spacecraft will improve the capability of achieving resolutions in the {better than
1 foot} class.”