NRO-MOL_2015

Chapter XVI - POST-MORTEM
167
POST-MORTEM
For military and civilian personnel closely associated
with the program, including the MOL astronauts, the
project’s cancellation came as a distinct shock. Hopes,
dreams, ambitions were suddenly disrupted. The
Associate Contractors, immediately affected, were faced
with the distasteful task of shutting down their MOL
operations and laying off workers * . MOL’s termination
sent employees scurrying around to find new work as
following letter, from a young high school girl in California,
Susan Kasparian, written to the Secretary of Defense on
12 June, notes. Miss Kasparian wrote:
The MOL program has been discontinued.
I don’t understand why and how the
government can do something like
that—cancel something which has
taken years to start, that has taken
so much money to continue and time
from men who could have been more
secure in another area of work. The
past four years have been a waste
to every man involved in the MOL
program. How can the government say—
all right, no more, find something
else to do? I don’t notice anyone
cancelling the government.
It’s not a very pleasant experience
to be out of a job. There’s so
much to worry about. My father is
now looking for a job, we may move,
because of the now extinct MOL
program. He got up every morning at
6:30, sat behind a desk working for
the government, came home at 5:30 and
started the cycle again the next day.
For what? Nothing, nothing at all.
He has wasted his time, his effort
and his intelligence on a whim of
the government. Every single man and
woman is like my father. What are
they getting in return for this. The
satisfaction of completing a job? The
guarantee of another job in the same
area. No, nothing—I don’t understand
what happens to all these people?
* The grim news produced a headline in the Wall Street Journal : “Mass
Layoff Likely at McDonnell Douglas Over MOL Cancellation.”
...I can’t ask you to change your
decision, so I’m just asking you—
why? 1
As Colonel Hermann of the MOL Program Office began
drafting a reply explaining the government’s need to
reduce federal expenditures, portions of the project
were already shut down. On 10 and 24 June, McDonnell
Douglas halted all Gemini B and laboratory vehicle work
at its St. Louis and Huntington Beach plants. On the 30th
General Electric terminated work on the tracking mirror
drive, camera controls, simulator, and other equipment.
Eastman Kodak halted sensor R&D activity on the 30th † .
The Martin-Aerojet General-United Technology Center
group closed out all Titan IIIM work on 18 July.
By summer’s end, contractor personnel assigned to
MOL had been drastically reduced. From 6,263 personnel
on 10 June, McDonnell Douglas cut its MOL staff to 369
by 30 September. General Electric went from 2,628 to
304 workers, Eastman Kodak from 1,684 to 84, and the
Titan IIIM group from 2,391 to 140. Military and civilian
personnel in the MOL Systems Office declined from 266
to 26. Eight of the MOL astronauts were subsequently
reassigned to NASA, seven in crew duty; the others
returned to their services. In Washington, the MOL
Program Office at the end of December 1969 consisted of
two officers one airman, and two secretaries, down from
25 personnel in June. 2 Colonel Ford, named assistant
to Dr. Seamans for MOL to handle final termination and
close-out activities, took charge of the Program Office
after General Stewart was reassigned to Headquarters
AFSC as Deputy Chief of Staff/Systems.
MOL Program Costs
On 10 June 1969, the day MOL was publicly
terminated, General Stewart appeared before a House
subcommittee to discuss costs of the program since
engineering development began in September 1966. He
reported that $1.3 billion had been expended for MOL
RDT&E and another $46 million was used to purchase
Sudden Ranch and build various facilities at Vandenberg
AFB. In addition, he informed the committee that the Air
Force would require an estimated $125 million in fiscal
† On 1 September 1969 the EK contract and related activity were transferred
to the Directorate of Special Projects.