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Declassified UFO / UAP Document

A darker shade of blue: The unknown Air Force manned space program

🏛 The Space Review 📄 article
US Air ForceManned SpaceflightNASACold WarSpace HistoryBlue GeminiMODSMOL

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AI-Generated Summary

TL;DR

The document chronicles the Air Force's efforts to maintain an independent manned spaceflight program in the 1960s through projects like MISS, MODS, and Blue Gemini, despite official restrictions. These efforts were frequently challenged by the Department of Defense and NASA, eventually leading to the Manned Orbiting Laboratory (MOL) program.

This article provides a historical overview of the United States Air Force's clandestine and overt efforts to establish a manned spaceflight capability during the 1960s, a period when such activities were officially restricted to NASA's civilian programs. The narrative begins in 1958 with the Man-In-Space-Soonest (MISS) project, which was canceled by President Eisenhower but continued in a limited capacity through contracts with Lockheed and Itek for the Samos E-5 reconnaissance satellite. The author argues that the Samos E-5 was intentionally designed to be large enough to carry a human, serving as a hedge against future policy changes.

Throughout the early 1960s, the Air Force continued to pursue manned spaceflight through various initiatives, including the Bioastronautical Orbital Space System (BOSS) and the Military Orbital Development System (MODS). MODS was envisioned as a long-duration military space station, which the Air Force attempted to justify through the need for testing satellite subsystems in a true space environment. When the Air Force realized that MODS would not be operational until the mid-1960s, they proposed 'Blue Gemini' in 1962—a series of Gemini flights intended to provide early spaceflight experience for Air Force personnel.

The article details the bureaucratic power struggle between the Air Force, NASA, and Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara. McNamara initially attempted to take over the Gemini program entirely, a move that was met with resistance from both NASA and the Air Force. Ultimately, McNamara rejected the Air Force's proposals for both MODS and Blue Gemini in early 1963, favoring a more limited role for the military in NASA's Gemini program. The article concludes by noting that the Air Force's ambition for an independent manned space program eventually evolved into the Manned Orbiting Laboratory (MOL), which struggled with cost and schedule issues before being canceled in 1969. The author emphasizes that the history of these programs remains largely unexplored and raises questions regarding the extent of high-level approval for these shadow programs and the true nature of McNamara's decision-making process.

As James Webb later explained it, this was a typical McNamara maneuver: “knock you down on the floor with a sledgehammer, and then, while you’re down, ask you to sign off on a particular decision.”

Official Assessment

The document details the history of the United States Air Force's efforts to maintain an independent manned spaceflight program during the early 1960s, despite official policy favoring NASA's civilian-led Mercury and Gemini programs. It highlights projects such as MISS, Samos E-5, BOSS, MODS, and Blue Gemini, which were often pursued as shadow programs or under the guise of reconnaissance to circumvent restrictions. These efforts ultimately culminated in the Manned Orbiting Laboratory (MOL) program, which was also eventually canceled.

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Military Units