Editing Vandenberg Space Force Base (section)

===== Early space exploration =====
The world's first polar orbit satellite, [[Corona (satellite)|Discoverer 1]], launched from Vandenberg on 28 February 1959. The launch vehicle for this mission consisted of a [[Thor-Agena]] combination.<ref name="vafbhistory"/> The Discoverer series of satellites provided other significant firsts for Vandenberg. For instance, in August 1960, the data capsule was ejected from [[Corona (satellite)|Discoverer XIII]] in orbit and recovered from the [[Pacific Ocean]] to become the first man-made object ever retrieved from space. A week later, on 19 August 1960, the descending capsule from [[Corona (satellite)|Discoverer XIV]] was snared by an aircraft in flight for the first air recovery in history.<ref name="vafbhistory"/> Shrouded in a cover story of scientific research, Discoverer was actually the cover name for CORONA, America's first photo reconnaissance satellite program. The publicized Discoverer series came to an end on 13 January 1962 after 38 launches (or launch attempts).<ref name="vafbhistory"/>

Over the years, satellites of every description and purpose, including international satellites, were placed in orbit from Vandenberg by a widening variety of boosters. Among the parade of newer space boosters are the [[Titan IV]] (March 1991), [[Taurus (rocket)|Taurus]] (March 1994), [[Pegasus (rocket)|Pegasus]] (April 1995), [[Delta II]] (February 1996), [[Atlas II|Atlas IIAS]] (December 1999), [[Minotaur (rocket family)|Minotaur]] (2000), and beginning in late 2005, the [[Falcon 1]], the [[Delta IV]], and [[Atlas V]] vehicles.<ref name="vafbhistory"/>

The most ambitious Air Force endeavors at Vandenberg were the [[Manned Orbiting Laboratory]] (MOL) and the Space Shuttle programs. The MOL vehicle consisted of a [[Titan III]] booster carrying a modified [[Gemini space capsule]] ([[Manned Orbiting Laboratory|Gemini B]]) attached to a space laboratory. Construction work for MOL began at Space Launch Complex-6 (SLC-6) on South Vandenberg in March 1966. President [[Richard Nixon]] canceled the estimated US$3 billion program in June 1969, as a result of cost overruns, completion delays, emerging new technologies, and the expense of fighting the [[Vietnam War]]. SLC-6 remained closed for the next decade.<ref name="vafbhistory"/>