MOL Symposium

Picture of the Day for 10/22/2015. I attended a symposium at the National Museum of the US Air Force in Dayton, Ohio about the secret Manned Orbiting Lab (MOL) project from the 1960s. Most of the details about this program have only recently been declassified by the National Reconnaissance Office (NRO). Essentially, the program was designed to send astronauts up into space with long-range cameras to track the Soviet Union.'s activities. The project never really got off the ground (literally and figuratively) and was canceled in 1969.

Several participants went on to be space shuttle astronauts. I was so excited to meet Robert Crippen who was in the MOL program and was the pilot for the first space shuttle mission ever in 1981. He was on my astronaut-to-meet bucket list. (Yes, I have an astronaut-to-meet bucket list which also includes Ken Mattingly of Apollo 16 and Harrison Schmitt from Apollo 17.) Crippen is pictured below on the right during a press conference held earlier today. The man to his left is 86-year-old Al Crews who I have met before. Crews also participated in the MOL program and happens to be quite a flirt! I know this from firsthand experience! 

So, my friends saved me a seat in the auditorium on the 2nd row right in the center. You would think I'd have a great view of the panel (pictured below).

Nope. Sure didn't. This is what I saw for the majority of the evening. Yep, the world's tallest man with the world's largest head. Sigh. I'm sure he's a lovely man, but still...

The NRO published 200-page compendium outlining the MOL project. Only very limited quantities were available and there were a ton of people in attendance. Not only did I manage to be first in line, a trick in and of itself since the booklets were being distributed at the entrance to the auditorium near the back row and I was near the front, but I also managed to snag four copies for myself and my friends. I tell you. It's amazing what I can do when I'm truly motivated.