Space Rocket History Podcast

“Near the end of our preparation period, management said; Well, we believe, we can do this, now let’s set about to see how we can get them down without expending the resources for a rescue mission. So just overnight we … Continue reading → The post Space Rocket History #415 – Skylab – Skylab 3 – Rescue Mission Part 2 first appeared on Space Rocket History Podcast .

“I think for me that was probably the low point of the mission because it threatened our ability to get our job done, and I wasn’t willing to come home. I’ve never been afraid of space, but that was a … Continue reading → The post Space Rocket History #414 – Skylab – Skylab 3 – Rescue Mission Part 1 first appeared on Space Rocket History Podcast .

Garriott was in the center couch and Lousma was on his right with a small window near his seat, Suddenly Jack announced, “Owen, there goes one of our thrusters floating by the window!” The post Space Rocket History #413 – Skylab – Skylab 3-Rendezvous, Docking & Vomit first appeared on Space Rocket History Podcast .

The crew complement for the Skylab 3 mission was 783 life forms (52 fish, 720 flies, 6 mice, 2 spiders and 3 humans), by far the largest crew yet. The post Space Rocket History #412 – Skylab – The Launch of Skylab 3 first appeared on Space Rocket History Podcast .

Before the astronauts could leave there was one final problem to solve. Skylab’s refrigeration system began warming up. Houston immediately went to work on finding a solution. Now, there was some concern that the crews return would be delayed. The post Space Rocket History #411 – Skylab – Skylab 2 – Splashdown first appeared on Space Rocket History Podcast .

On Mission day 25, the crew was informed that they had surpassed the Russian space endurance record set by Soyuz 11 on Salyut 1 in 1971. The post Space Rocket History #410 – Skylab – Skylab 2 – Days 24-28 first appeared on Space Rocket History Podcast .

“Houston, Skylab. I’d like you to be the first to know that the PLT is the proud father of a genuine flare.” Joe Kerwin The post Space Rocket History #409 – Skylab – Skylab 2 – Days 8-23 first appeared on Space Rocket History Podcast .

NASA’s first priority was to get Skylab back into solar inertial attitude. This was both the coolest attitude and would point the Apollo Telescope Mount (ATM) solar arrays directly at the sun. Thus the crew would have the most electrical … Continue reading → The post Space Rocket History #408 – Skylab – Skylab 2 – Days 2-7 & 10th Anniversary Celebration first appeared on Space Rocket History Podca...

During the stand up EVA, Kerwin held Weitz while he pulled at the debris several times which disturbed the stability of the Skylab station and caused the Skylabs gyros to compensate. This was a big problem because it nearly pulled … Continue reading → The post Space Rocket History #407 – Skylab – “We Can Fix Anything” first appeared on Space Rocket History Podcast .

At 07:00 hours Houston time, Skylab 2 roared off its Milk Stool from LC-39B; the first Saturn IB launch in almost five years and only the second launch from Pad 39B. The post Space Rocket History #406 – Skylab – The Launch of Skylab 2 first appeared on Space Rocket History Podcast .

Nasa concluded that the failure of the micrometeoroid shield 63 seconds into the flight caused the breaking of the solar array system. Furthermore, at 593 seconds into the flight the second stage retro rocket plume exhaust resulted in the ripping … Continue reading → The post Space Rocket History #405 – Skylab – What Went Wrong and How Do We Fix It? first appeared on Space Rocket History Podcast .

Having two rockets stacked on pads 39A and 39B at the same time made for quite a sight at the Kennedy Space Center. There were also two firing rooms at KSC’s Launch Control Center that would control the countdowns for … Continue reading → The post Space Rocket History #404 – Skylab – The Launch of Skylab 1 first appeared on Space Rocket History Podcast .

This SMEAT crew would test out various elements of the Skylab equipment and procedures in a series of trials, ending in a full-scale simulation that was set at 56 days. The post Space Rocket History #403 – Skylab – S.M.E.A.T. – Skylab Mission 0 first appeared on Space Rocket History Podcast .

The backup crew and some support crew participated in an interesting rescue scenario with 2 astronauts flying to Skylab to take back the crew of 3 onboard Skylab. This would mean 5 astronauts returning to earth in the command module. The post Space Rocket History #402 – Skylab – Training Part 2 first appeared on Space Rocket History Podcast .

Aside from physically training for the longest crewed missions that the United States had ever attempted, the actual training program was developed simultaneously with the hardware and experiments for the mission. The post Space Rocket History #401 – Skylab – Training Part 1 first appeared on Space Rocket History Podcast .

Bill Pogue served with the Thunderbirds as an aerobatics pilot from 1955 to 1957. The post Space Rocket History #400 – Skylab – The Astronauts Part 5 – Pogue & Weitz first appeared on Space Rocket History Podcast .

Carr was in the likely crew rotation position to serve as lunar module pilot for Apollo 19 and walk on the Moon before the mission was canceled by NASA in 1970. The post Space Rocket History #399 – Skylab – The Astronauts Part 4 – Lousma & Carr first appeared on Space Rocket History Podcast .

“Farewell, Aquarius, and we thank you.” Joe Kerwin The post Space Rocket History #398 – Skylab – The Astronauts Part 3 – Kerwin & Lousma first appeared on Space Rocket History Podcast .

“I started out being president of my first grade class, two years in a row.” Ed Gibson The post Space Rocket History #397 – Skylab – The Astronauts Part 2 – Garriott & Gibson first appeared on Space Rocket History Podcast .

“Pete wanted to do Skylab and we both felt that we did not want the moon program to get crowded, other people deserved chances too.” Al Bean The post Space Rocket History #396 – Skylab – The Astronauts Part 1 first appeared on Space Rocket History Podcast .

Skylab had three bedrooms or sleep compartments, one for each astronaut aboard. To save space, the beds were arranged vertically in the quarters. The post Space Rocket History #395 – Skylab – The Tour Part 2 first appeared on Space Rocket History Podcast .

As a crew would approach Skylab in their Apollo Command Module, they would see its docking port that was called the Multiple Docking Adapter or MDA. The post Space Rocket History #394 – Skylab – The Tour Part 1 first appeared on Space Rocket History Podcast .

During 1970-1972, a possible fourth “new” docking mission with Skylab was considered. This new mission would not be just another Apollo docking, instead it was a radically different idea. The post Space Rocket History #393 – Skylab – Soyuz Mission first appeared on Space Rocket History Podcast .

On February 1970, Nasa announced that the AAP had been renamed. America’s first space station would enter the history books as Skylab. The post Space Rocket History #392 – Skylab – Let’s Call it Skylab first appeared on Space Rocket History Podcast .

The Apollo Applications Program (AAP) was created in 1966 by NASA headquarters to develop science-based human spaceflight missions using hardware developed for the Apollo program. The post Space Rocket History #391 – Skylab – Pre-history – Apollo Applications Program first appeared on Space Rocket History Podcast .