European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - October 15, 1967, Darmstadt, Hesse                                A decade in space naming of four More military astronauts to air Force manned orbiting Laboratory team gave new life to program which already had 12 men due to ride in space. Of continued from Page 15 Kwajalein Island and Thor missiles on Johnson Island in the Pacific Ocean but these Early systems Are limited and defense officials have been studying follow on program for two years. Until recently most satellites had a predictable path determined by Orbital mechanics. However both the . And soviet Union now have Maneu Merable satellites that could easily elude present anti satellite defences. Systems under study by the  in clude Maneu Merable nuclear attack ships that would Fly directly at a target and satellites that would Fly alongside an enemy payload. By electronic Means the latter could learn the contents of the suspected satellite and if necessary destroy it. Defense officials report the us Al ready can determine whether an enemy has placed a nuclear bomb in orbit however they say it is unlikely i the near future that an orbiting bomb could match the accuracy or reliability of ground based  protect . Satellites from pos sible attack this country is developing covers of satellite decoys to confuse Page 16 trackers and  extensive research is the pos sible use of powerful laser or radiation beams which could concentrate enough Energy in a Pencil thin line to obliterate either warheads or satellites. At Edwards air Force base Calif.,12 unheralded american astronauts Are preparing for Orbital missions that will determine whether Man has a military role in space and whether space could become a Battlefield. They be waited Many months a times Uncertain whether they d Ever take a space trip. But the air Force scanned orbiting Laboratory Mol program finally appears to be on solid footing after years of debate Over whether it was necessary. Much of the opposition stemmed froma belief that the program might duplicate Many experiments scheduled for space stations planned by the National aeronautics and space administration. The defense department now is con Vinced that space military experiments Are unique and should no longer hitch aride on a Nasa ship. The program received its biggest boost in May when the air Force awarded contracts totalling $885 million for development work on the Mol spaceship. In another Forward move the air Force on june 30 named four new astronauts to join the original 12 in the training program. Included was this nation s first negro  Date for the first manned Mol launching is 1970, nearly three years be Hind the original schedule. Five flights Are planned each with a two Man Crew. What these flights learn will deter mine whether there will be further Mili tary Man in space projects. The 16 military astronauts Are Notas Well known As Nasa s spacemen. That s the Way the defense department wants it. Much of the Mol program is secret. It also is a sensitive thing to Send men into space on military assign ments when the . Has preached peaceful pursuits. He launching will be conducted behind High Hills at Vandenberg air Force base Calif. From Vandenberg Mol can be launched into North South Polar orbit a path on which it can Over Fly every area of the Globe a necessity for military operations. Under present plans there will be Olive television coverage. Officials say that pictures of the shape of the rocket and spacecraft might Compromise some experiments. Only a handful of selected newsmen May be permitted to watch the liftoff. The two astronauts will Man a Modi fied gemini capsule perched atop a 41 foot 19,000-Pound Laboratory. The boost or will be the air Force s powerful and versatile Titan 3m rocket. Once in orbit the pilots will crawl through a Hatch into the Laboratory doff their space suits and work in a shirt sleeve atmosphere. At the end of the journey the men will re enter gemini detach it and Fly Back to Earth. Each of the five Crews plans to stay aloft about 30 Days. In space the astronauts will determine whether Man is More effective at per forming communications reconnaissance surveillance navigation and map Ping tasks now done by unmanned satellites. They will work with laser beams which could be developed As communications tools or death rays. They Llma never outside their space ship and May test devices for escaping from disabled ship. These ejection capsules could wait in orbit until Rescue came from Earth or they might be designed to survive atmospheric re entry and Flyback to Earth. Advocates of a Strong military space program believe that in most assignments Man can out perform unmanned satellites. They note that Many of America s Mercury and gemini the stars and stripes flights would have been terminated Earl if astronauts had not been aboard to Correct  contend a Man could spot and aim a knockout weapon at an enemy missile with greater accuracy than a computer. He also could direct sensor sat Likely reconnaissance targets and could sift out and relay important data to Earth with interpretation. Home air Force officials foresee the Day when America s global striking Force May be controlled from a  command Post in space. An Active test program is underway on developing a so called lifting body space vehicle that could return from orbit Man Euver through the atmosphere and land at an Airport of the Pilot s choosing. Such a vehicle which could be Rock eted Over and Over again into space could ferry Crews and supplies to an from space stations. The lifting body has a lot of attractive features a defense official said. But if we re going to justify a follow on program it will have to involve Man going up repeatedly. Mol will deter mine  under Low key study is an aerospace plane a manned ship with a tremendous Power Plant that would permit it Tolly directly off an air Field into orbit with no rocket  Well Ever see such a machine As the aerospace plane is some thing we can t foresee right now a defense planner said. But who know what lies ahead Man has moved from the Earth atmosphere into space in an instant of time. We who have witnessed this scientific Miracle must acknowledge that it could Lead to developments that we cannot now define. Who could foresee what the first automobile the first air plane would bring every time we have found a new Way of doing something it has had a military  sunday october 15, 1967