NRO-MOL_2015

56 The Dorian Files Revealed: a Compendium of the NRO’s Manned Orbiting Laboratory Documents
The results of the above simulations were briefed to
the Reconnaissance Panel of the President’s Science
Advisory Committee (PSAC) on 21 October 1964. Among
those in attendance, besides Prof. E. M. Purcell, Panel
Chairman, were: Drs. Hornig, E. H. Land, H. F. York
(formerly DDR&E), N.F. Golovin, D. H. Steininger, Prof.
Sidney Drell, and Mr. Willis Shapley, a representative of
the Bureau of the Budget.
After this briefing, Professor Drell was dispatched to
Lockheed on 11 November to get a first-hand look at
the equipment used for the simulations. Over a fourhour
period, he was given a complete briefing and
demonstration together with some operational time in
the simulator. He emerged from the session apparently
convinced that the numbers which had been reported
to the Panel as representing man’s ability were indeed
valid and that the pilot was consistently performing the
IMC task to an order of magnitude better than results
obtained from existing unmanned systems. 24
As the “black” studies and simulations contributed to
the decision to proceed with MOL, so did the conclusions
of the various “white” study contractors, whose pre-
Phase I reports began flowing into the Air Force late in
the year. Copies also were made available, at DDR&E
request, to the Institute of Defense Analysis (IDA) for
review and evaluation. 25
An analysis of the studies and reports of simulation test it
received led SSD to conclude that the basic MOL concept
and the value of employing man to perform specific military
tasks in space had been confirmed. It reported that the
results of studies of MOL experiments P-1, -2, and -3 and
contractor simulation tests demonstrated “that man can
accomplish IMC to better than .2% consistently and was
limited only by the quality and magnification of the optics
and the inherent stability of the vehicle.” Extensive B-47
flights conducted with a modified bombsight and using
two cameras also had verified that man had the ability
“to acquire unknown targets as small as trucks and trains
and make an accurate count of the total present.” 26
In the area of electromagnetic signal detection, a test
employing a KC-135 confirmed that man was able to
discriminate false alarm signals, select signal bands
of interest, and assess and classify the signals within
seconds after receipt. Tests to determine in-space
maintenance (Experiment P-5) capabilities, using the Air
Force’s zero “g” KC-155 and submersible tests, proved
that man had “the inherent potential to accomplish any
level of maintenance and repair conceivable, being
constrained only by the time available, the fineness of
the task, and the presence of a pressurized suit.”
The Division reported other test and study results were
equally encouraging. During exercises in the zero “g” KC-
135, it was demonstrated that man could stabilize and
Maneuver himself in AMU and similarly could effectively
operate an RMU by TV or direct viewing (Experiments
P-6 and -7). In the autonomous navigation and geodesy
area (Experiment P-8), simulations were performed
which indicated that, with small fields of view, man
could acquire and point at identifiable landmarks within
15 arc seconds. In another experiment (P-10) involving
multiband spectral observations, four men operating
radiometric and calibration instruments and automatic
trackers installed in a KC-135 demonstrated their ability
to calibrate, point, monitor displays, change plans, and
assist in data interpretation. 27
The IDA review and assessment of the pre-Phase
I studies also tended to support the basic validity of
the MOL concept. IDA reported, among other things,
that there appeared to be no known insurmountable
problems to providing life support and environment
control systems for 30-45 days and that attitude control
systems for specified attitude holding and slewing of
the MOL were within the technological state of the art.
It also concluded that the ground support network for
MOL appeared adequate but only for initial flights (other
facilities would be needed for MOL follow-on systems)
and that the three OSS studies contained “general
operational concepts of value” to the MOL project. 28
In a separate analysis of the simulation aspects of the
MOL experiments, IDA reported that many aerospace
firms had installed equipment to simulate the critical
photo reconnaissance mission. Their preliminary results,
IDA said, indicated that “man will be able to contribute
to the task of pointing a high resolution camera and
tracking a target with the rate accuracy of -3 arc/sec
necessary to achieve very high resolution photography
(-1ft).” However, IDA cautioned that important inputs
such as stabilization and attitude control parameters
and realistic navigation errors needed to be included
in the simulations before final conclusions could be
reached about system tracking accuracy. 29