The Fifty-First Star, Part 2 (Armchair Astronaut, Aug. 2011)

Launch of Skylab I, with crew of
Pete Conrad, Paul Weitz, and Joe Kerwin

What's happening: America's first space station, Skylab, has just been launched. However, during launch and ascent into orbit, major problems have occurred with the currently unmanned spacecraft. The heat shield has disappeared and one of the two solar panels is nonworking. The other panel is only giving a trickle of the power that it should be producing. NASA must fix these problems, or Skylab (and its' planned manned crews) will become space junk and history.

Just like they had three years previous, NASA and its contractors came together again with ingenuity and teamwork, trying to fix this problem which could be called the sequel to Apollo 13. Amazingly, marvelously, miraculously, after ten days the Agency finally figured out ways to temporarily fix Skylab so that Skylab I could launch, and fix the rest of the problems once it arrived.

On May 24, 1973, Pete Conrad, Paul Weitz, and Joe Kerwin soared into the skies, bound for America's first station. As they roared into orbit, Conrad radioed that the "We Fix Anything" crew was on the radio. Mission Control appreciated that, as they certainly did need some encouragement. Skylab still wasn't totally livable, and the Skylab I crew would have to change that during their four-week stay. As Conrad and crew approached the station, Mission Control estimated that the inside temperature was 160 degrees Fahrenheit.

The Skylab I capsule today,
as it resides in Pensacola, Florida

It took the crew a little while to get rolling, but throughout the four weeks both the crew and Mission Control started learning how much work to assign a crew, how to do it, and when. Skylab I also focused big-time on getting that other solar panel to work, the job even including a spacewalk by Conrad and Kerwin.

On June 22, 1973, however, it was time for this first and very successful Skylab mission to come to a close. Conrad, Weitz, and Kerwin once again entered their Apollo command module, and splashed down in the Pacific Ocean. Soon the crew and capsule were picked up and hoisted aboard the USS Ticonderoga. At the time, the entire crew set several space endurance records. Later Conrad, Weitz, and Kerwin were privileged to meet President Nixon and Soviet leader Leonid Brezhnev at the same time.

Skylab I's records were broken almost as soon as they were set! On July 28, 1973, the Cape once again echoed with the sound of a launching rocket as Skylab II took to the skies. Veteran commander Alan Bean and rookies Owen Garriott and Jack Lousma were on board, and their flight was one for the history books. Almost as soon as they launched, one of their four thruster quads came loose, and floated past their windows.  This was a serious problem; thrusters were vital to navigation, and if they didn't have all four....well, they all got to Skylab fine, but a few days later they found that a second thruster quad had left them. Mission Control seriously thought about sending up a rescue mission, but after some thought they decided to proceed with the flight plan as it originally stood.

Arabella, one of the first "spiders in space"
who flew aboard Skylab II

But thrusters weren't the only problem. Soon after arriving at Skylab, the entire crew got sick. Naturally, that put them quite a bit behind in their schedule of science to perform and other various duties. About two weeks into their flight, Skylab II asked Mission Control how far behind they were. When Mission Control told them, the entire crew was appalled. They were way far behind. From then on, two key words ruled the flight: high performance. Schedules were changed, adjusted so the crew could not only catch up, but exceed their flight plan's objectives. A month after launch, it wasn't the astronauts who were doing the catch up. It was Mission Control! Scientists were scrambling to find experiments to send up to the crew!

One of the more popular experiments aboard Skylab II were two spiders named Arabella and Anita. Regular TV shows were broadcast to Earth featuring these two "spiders in space". The two creatures captured the public's imagination, and Jack Lousma bemoaned that the public was more interested in what the spiders were up to more than what the astronauts were up to!

Skylab II recovery

After fifty-nine very productive days in space, Bean, Garriott, and Lousma returned to their spacecraft and headed home. On September 25, 1973, Skylab II came to an end as crew and capsule plopped into the Pacific Ocean. For Alan Bean, splashdown was one of the proudest moments of his life. Bean was even more proud of his flight and crew the next month, when a NASA newsletter proclaimed that his crew was the first "Supercrew" ever, completing 150% of mission goals. For example, thousands of photos were taken. Tropical storm "Christine" was observed, as well as the sun's corona. And, of course, Arabella and Anita!

While all the Skylab missions were record-making, Skylab III was the flight that would out-do them all. And this flight was manned by an all-rookie crew! Commander Jerry Carr and his crewmates Bill Pogue and Ed Gibson were all making their first trip into space as they launched on November 16, 1973. While nothing was certain, it was possible that Skylab III would inhabit America's first space station for up to 84 days.

Jerry Carr and Bill Pogue have fun
in space!

Coming off of Alan Bean's Skylab II, mission planners stuffed way too many experiments into the Skylab III flight plan. Problem was, the entire Skylab III crew got sick, and there was just too much work to do. Skylab III wasn't Skylab II. Carr, Pogue, and Gibson were in the dumps, and even pushing their boundaries a bit. Finally, Commander Carr called a halt. Frankly and openly he told Mission Control what it was like, and how everything needed to change. Mission Control talked too, and a good compromise was soon met. While science was achieved on Skylab III, the true gain was learning how to schedule time in space.

Not to say that science wasn't a huge factor on the flight. Over the Christmas holidays two successful spacewalks occurred, but holiday festivities certainly weren't forgotten. The crewmen gave a holiday TV conference, and proudly showed off their food-can-liner-made Christmas tree, complete with ornaments and a star, in honor of the comet (Kohoutek) they would observe a few days later.

On February 8, 1974, Skylab III splashdown occurred. Skylab III's endurance record of 84 days would not be broken for over twenty years, until Norm Thagard's stay aboard the Russian space station Mir. For their exemplary performance, each Skylab III astronaut received $199.92 in extra pay!

Skylab III brought the Skylab program to a very successful finish.  Much science had been done, as well as vital lessons in scheduling. Before learning about Skylab, I thought it was just a program to fill in between the moon and the shuttle. But now I know better. America having a space station--a successful space station--was vital to its' continued presence in space.

In front of Congress, Skylab I's Joe Kerwin talked of how space was a territory that needed to be homesteaded and settled. And just like territories become states, he hoped that one day space would become the fifty-first star on America's flag.  I'm sure you have seen my love for Skylab through this edition of Armchair Astronaut. I don't think I need to tell you, but if you ever want to learn more about America's first space station, read Homesteading Space: The Skylab Story!