NRO-MOL_2015

76 The Dorian Files Revealed: a Compendium of the NRO’s Manned Orbiting Laboratory Documents
the system will produce poorer average
resolution without a man depends on
how well some of the ideas for such
functions as automatic focusing and
adjustment, automatic navigation
and image motion compensation work
out. But in any event, it is agreed
that the man’s ability to select
targets, to override the automatic
controls when they function less
well than expected, to choose
data for prompt transmission, will
improve the overall utility of the
data.. Furthermore, the presence of
man in the development phase can be
expected to shorten the development
and improve the capability of the
unmanned version of the system. 17
The President’s Decision and Public
Reaction
McNamara’s recommendation to the President, it
should be noted, was made against the backdrop of
six months of U.S. achievements which clearly proved
that man would be able to function effectively in space.
On 23 March, NASA launched its first two-man Gemini,
successfully recovering the spacecraft and astronauts
after three orbits of the earth. On 3-7 June, during its
second Gemini flight, Air Force Maj Edward H. White
became the first American to maneuver outside his space
vehicle. White’s 22-minute “space walk” exceeded that by
Soviet Cosmonaut Leonov of the previous March. Finally,
on 21 August 1965, NASA launched its third Gemini into
a flight which shattered all existing orbital endurance
records (astronauts L. Gordon Cooper, Jr., and Charles
Conrad spent nearly eight days in a weightless state).
On 24 August—the same day McNamara made his MOL
recommendation to the President—Cooper and Conrad
performed a number of military experiments which
included sighting and photographing a Minuteman ICBM
launched from Vandenberg AFB.
There was little doubt the President would accept
the Secretary’s recommendation. President Johnson
decided, however, that he would personally make
the announcement. The following day, 25 August, he
opened a televised White House press conference with
the following statement:
After discussion with Vice President
Humphrey and members of the Space
Council as well as Defense Secretary
McNamara, I am today instructing the
Department of Defense to immediately
proceed with the development of a
manned orbiting laboratory.
This program will bring us new
knowledge about what man is able to
do in space. It will enable us to
relate that ability to the defense of
America. It will develop technology
and equipment which will help
advance manned and unmanned space
flight and it will make it possible
to perform very new and rewarding
experiments with that technology and
equipment...
The Titan 3C booster will launch the
laboratory into space and a modified
version of the NASA Gemini capsule
will be the vehicle in which the
astronauts return to earth...
We believe the heavens belong to
the people of every country. We
are working and we will continue
to work through the United States—
our distinguished Ambassador, Mr.
[Arthur] Goldberg is present with
us this morning—to extend the rule
of law into outer space.
We intend to live up to our
agreement not to orbit weapons
of mass destruction ** and we will
continue to hold out to all nations,
including the Soviet Union, the hand
of cooperation in the exciting years
of space exploration which lie ahead
for all of us. 18
The initial press reaction to the President’s
announcement was critical. The New York Times,
after commenting that the Presidential decision was “a
fantastic, terrifying” measure of arms preparation, several
days later editorialized that it had spread “disquiet across
the world... Assuming that Russia has similar technical
capacity to produce orbiting laboratories, outer space
from 1968 onward could be full of manned spaceships
with awesome potential.” The Washington Post worried
about assignment of the project to the Air Force which
it said was committed to “total secrecy.” Such secrecy,
** Both Moscow and Washington agreed to abide by a U.N. resolution,
adopted 13 December 1963, which called upon all states to refrain from
orbiting nuclear weapons or any other kinds of weapons of mass destruction.