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On June 7th 1969, General Stewart ordered all work on Gemini B, the Titan IIIM and the MOL spacesuit, to cease and to cancel or curtail all other contracts. The official announcement that the MOL had been canceled was made on June 10th.
SLC 6 Under Construction
MOL Hardware Under Construction
Apollo X in 1964. Credit Shayler
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A planning document depicted 12-man and 40-man stations, both with self-defense capability. It described the 40-man, Y-shaped station as a “spaceborne command post” in synchronous orbit. The key requirement was “post attack survivability”, the station would be capable of “Strategic/tactical decision making” during a general war.
MOL Spacesuit
Launch of MOL Test Flight
Future MOL Command Post
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Strangely enough the MOL astronauts only knew of the cover story that the program would be a space laboratory for military experiments and did not learn of the reconnaissance role until after selection.
Manned Orbiting Laboratory
Mockup of MOL
Gemini B Heat Shield with Hatch
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NASA feasibility studies determined that a research space laboratory could be placed in orbit by 1967. However, to fund such a project it had to be justified by achieving a national goal, or an important science goal, or test of technology.
X-20 Dyna-Soar
MOL Configuration
Gemini B
