NRO-MOL_2015

Chapter XIII - AIR FORCE/NASA COORDINATION
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In early April General Evans prepared a counterproposal
for NASA’s consideration. In forwarding the
document to Mueller’s deputy, Brig Gen David Jones,
on 8 April, Evans said he believed it would minimize
interference between the two Gemini projects, while
assuring that the management of the highly integrated
Gemini B/MOL system remained with the Air Force.
According to this plan, NASA’s Gemini Project Office—
located at the Manned Spacecraft Center (MSC),
Houston, Tex.—would be assigned full responsibility for
modifying and refurbishing Gemini spacecraft required
for MOL early test flights. On the other hand, the Air Force
would retain responsibility for contracting, development,
and acquisition of Gemini B. 9
This compromise was accepted by the space agency. On
12 April, Drs. Seamans and Hall formally agreed the Air
Force should proceed to negotiate the Gemini B contract
with McDonnell. In light of this agreement, DDB&E
wrote to Seamans to solicit suggestions “of technical or
management methods” which could help DoD reduce
Gemini B acquisition costs. Schriever followed up during
a meeting with Mueller on 13 April. As a matter of policy,
he said, the Air Force wanted and needed all the NASA
technical help it could get, particularly in connection
with refurbishment of the Gemini 2 spacecraft and other
equipment for use in the MOL test flight program. 10
During the next several days, Generals Evans and
Jones worked out the details of the responsibilities of
the two agencies. In their preliminary draft agreement,
the Air Force assigned to NASA the responsibility for
engineering, contract management, and procurement
associated with refurbishment and modification of the
GT-2 spacecraft and Static Article #4. The Air Force also
agreed to provide several highly qualified personnel to
participate in the above work. As for Gemini B, the Air
Force alone would be responsible for its acquisition and
would contract directly with McDonnell. 11
A final, revised agreement—incorporating the major
points agreed upon above—was signed on 21 April 1966
by Dr. Mueller for NASA and General Ritland for the Air
Force. Simultaneously, the Manned Spacecraft Center
designated Mr. Paul E. Purser as its main contact for
NASA policy matters relating to MOL and Mr. Duncan R.
Collins of the Gemini Spacecraft Office as the point of
contact “for all technical assistance provided to the MOL
Program. § ” 12 Lt Col Richard C. Henry, USAF—assigned
to NASA’s Gemini Program Control Office at Houston—
was named the Air Force’s contact “for matters relating
§ The space agency later assigned two employees at McDonnell to work
full-time on the Gemini B.
to the transfer of materiel and equipment to the MOL
program and for all matters pertaining to the HSQ (Heat
Shield Qualification) program.”
With this agreement the issue was resolved and the Air
Force took steps to negotiate a Gemini B engineering
definition contract with McDonnell. OSD provided seven
million dollars for this work; the final contract, signed in
May 1965, totaled $6,784,000.
Turnover of NASA Equipment
After the President announced the Air Force would
proceed with MOL, Dr. Seamans wrote to OSD on 23
September 1965 to offer again NASA’s full support to
the new program. His agency believed, he said, that “an
experimental manned space flight program under the
military” was justified and it was prepared to undertake
joint planning “for the maximum practicable utilization by
DoD of the NASA developed hardware and technology,
our production, testing, processing facilities, and our
management and operational experience.” 13 Seamans’
helpful offer was made against the background of
three spectacularly successful NASA Gemini flights.
On 23 March Gemini 3 was successfully launched, its
astronauts achieving an important space “first” when they
changed their orbit three times. Gemini 4, launched on 3
June, also made space history when Astronaut Edward
H. White “walked in space” for 20 minutes and used a
propulsion gun for the first time. Gemini 5, launched
into an eight-day flight on 21 August 1965, shattered all
existing space endurance records.
The newly formed MOL Program Office pursued the
subject of turn- over of various items of Gemini equipment
to the Air Force. After it had reviewed the subject,
NASA on 4 October requested the Air Force to submit
a complete list of all Gemini-associated equipment it
needed for the MOL. This task was passed on to the MOL
Systems Office, which by the end of October 1965 had
compiled a list of items desired, including Gemini training
boilerplates, flotation collars, mission simulators (one
each located at Cape Kennedy and the Houston Center),
crew station mock-ups and engineering mock-ups.
On 8 November General Evans forwarded the list to
NASA and suggested the space agency designate a
Houston official to work out details of the turnover with
General Berg’s representatives. On 29 November, after
his staff had reviewed the items listed, Mueller directed
Dr. Robert S. Gilruth, head of the Manned Spacecraft
Center, to immediately transfer to the Air Force one
Gemini training boilerplate, three Gemini flotation collars,
Spacecraft Article #3, and Spacecraft #3A. He also