MOL Commemorative

Commemorating the Men and Mission of the Manned Orbiting Laboratory Program 

The Manned Orbiting Laboratory (MOL) was part of the United States Air Force (USAF) human spaceflight program in the 1960s. The project was developed from early USAF concepts of crewed space stations as reconnaissance satellites, and was a successor to the canceled Boeing X-20 Dyna-Soar military reconnaissance space plane. Plans for the MOL evolved into a single-use laboratory, for which crews would be launched on 30-day missions, and return to Earth using a Gemini B spacecraft derived from NASA's Gemini spacecraft and launched with the laboratory. The seventeen military pilots chosen had trained for a series of two-man missions between 1970 and 1975. 

As the 1960s progressed, the Vietnam War competed with the MOL for funds, and resultant budget cuts repeatedly postponed its first operational flight. At the same time, automated systems rapidly improved, narrowing the benefits of a crewed space platform over an automated one. A single uncrewed test flight of the Gemini B spacecraft was conducted on 3 November 1966, but the MOL was canceled in June 1969 without any crewed missions being flown.

The men younger than 36 years of age were given the opportunity to transfer to NASA, becoming astronaut candidates in 1969 as Astronaut Group 7. They served in support roles during Skylab and Apollo-Soyuz and all went on to fly in the early Space Shuttle Program.

Patch Description:

The pentagon shape of the patch represents this as a Department of Defense program executed by the Air Force, hence the Air Force insignia at the top and patriotic color theme.

The central motif shows the MOL in orbit to spy on our adversaries. An American Bald Eagle is keeping watch over the MOL in flight. In addition, Air Force and Navy wings represent the branches of the U.S. Armed Forces in which the men served.

Encircling the central motif are three groups of stars on a blue border, representing the 17 astronauts selected for the MOL program. The names outside the border are the astronauts of NASA Group 7 and are represented by gold stars.

Their names are listed in chronological order of their first flight. 

The MOL Astronauts we honor are:

Group 1 - November 1965:

• Michael J. Adams* killed in a crash of the X-15 spaceplane
• Albert H. Crews
• John L. Finley
• Richard E. Lawyer
• Lachlan Macleay
• Francis G. Neubeck
• James M. Taylor
• Richard H. Truly

Group 2 - June 1966:

• Karol J. Bobko
• Robert L. Crippen
• Charles G. Fullerton
• Henry W. Hartsfield
• Robert F. Overmyer

Group 3 - June 1967:

• James A. Abrahamson
• Robert T. Herres
• Robert H. Lawrence * killed in a crash of a F-104 jet while as an instructor pilot
• Donald H. Peterson

-Tim Gagnon