Skylab 2

Infobox Space mission
mission_name = "Skylab I"
insignia = Skylab1-Patch.png sign = Skylab 2
crew_members = 3
launch_pad = Kennedy Space Center, Florida
LC 39B
launch = May 25, 1973
13:00:00 UTC
landing = June 22, 1973
13:49:48 UTC
coord|24|45|N|127|2|W|
mass = CSM: 19,979 kg
crew_photo = Skylab 2 crew.jpg
crew_caption = L-R: Kerwin, Conrad, and Weitz
previous =
next =
duration = 28d/00:49:49
apogee = 438 km
perigee = 428 km
period = 93.2 min
inclination = 50.0°
orbits = 404
distance = ~18,500,000 km|

Skylab 2 (also SL-2 and SLM-1 [cite web | url = http://williampogue.com/skylab-numbering-mixup.html | title = Skylab Numbering Fiasco | publisher = williampogue.com] ) was the first manned mission to Skylab, the first U.S. orbital space station. The mission was launched on a Saturn IB rocket and carried a three-person crew to the station. The name Skylab 2 also refers to the vehicle used for that mission. The Skylab 2 mission established a record for human spaceflight duration and its crew were the first space station occupants ever to come home alive (since the Salyut 1 crew died during reentry).

Crew

Number in parentheses indicates number of spaceflights by each individual prior to and including this mission.
*Charles Conrad, Jr (4) - Commander
*Paul J. Weitz (1) - Pilot
*Joseph P. Kerwin (1) - Science Pilot

Backup Crew

*Russell L. Schweickart - Commander
*Bruce McCandless, II - Pilot
*F. Story Musgrave - Science Pilot

upport Crew

*Robert L. Crippen
*Richard H. Truly
*Henry W. Hartsfield, Jr
*William E. Thornton

Mission parameters

*Mass: 19,979 kg
*Maximum Altitude: 440 km
*Distance: 18,536,730.9 km
*Launch Vehicle: Saturn IB

*Perigee: 428 km
*Apogee: 438 km
*Inclination: 50°
*Period: 93.2 min
*Docked: May 26, 1973 - 21:56:00 UTC
*Undocked: June 22, 1973 - 19:48:07 UTC
*Time Docked: 26 days, 21 hours, 52 minutes, 7 seconds,

pace walks

* "Weitz" - EVA 1 - (stand up EVA - CM side hatch)
*EVA 1 Start: May 26, 1973, 00:40 UTC
*EVA 1 End: May 26, 01:20 UTC
*Duration: 40 minutes

* "Conrad and Kerwin" - EVA 2
*EVA 2 Start: June 7, 1973, 15:15 UTC
*EVA 2 End: June 7, 18:40 UTC
*Duration: 3 hours, 25 minutes

* "Conrad and Weitz" - EVA 3
*EVA 3 Start: June 19, 1973, 10:55 UTC
*EVA 3 End: June 19, 12:31 UTC
*Duration: 1 hour, 36 minutes

ee also

* Extra-vehicular activity
* List of spacewalks
* Splashdown

Mission highlights

Launched on May 25, 1973 the first Skylab crew's main job first was to repair the space station. Skylab's meteorite and sunshield and one of its solar arrays had torn loose during launch, and the remaining primary solar array was jammed. Due to concerns that high temperatures inside the workshop — the result of no sunshield — would release toxic materials and ruin on-board film and food, the crew had to work fast.

After a failed attempt to deploy the stuck solar panel, they set up a "parasol" as a replacement sunshade. The fix worked, and temperatures inside dropped low enough that the crew could enter. Two weeks later Conrad and Kerwin conducted a space-walk, and after a struggle, were able to free the stuck solar panel and begin electricity flowing to their new "home."

For nearly a month they made further repairs to the workshop, conducted medical experiments, gathered solar and Earth science data and returned some 29,000 frames of film with a total of 392 hours of experiments. The Skylab 2 astronauts spent 28 days in space, which doubled the previous U.S. record.

The mission lasted until June 22, 1973. Skylab 2 splashed down in the Pacific Ocean 9.6 km from the recovery ship, USS "Ticonderoga".

The mission set the records for the longest duration manned spaceflight, greatest distance traveled and greatest mass docked in space. Conrad set the record for most time in space for an astronaut.

Mission insignia

The Skylab Expedition 1 patch was designed by Frank Kelly Freas, a well-known artist highly regarded in the science fiction field, whose name was suggested to NASA by science fiction author and editor Ben Bova. The insignia features Skylab above the earth with the sun in the background. In an article for Analog Science Fiction/Science Fact magazine, Freas said, "Among the suggestions the astronauts had made was the idea of a solar eclipse as seen from Skylab. It soon became clear that this idea would solve several problems at once: it pointed up the solar study function of Skylab, it would give me the large circular shape of the Earth as counterpoint to the angularity of the cluster, and it would establish firmly the connection of Skylab to the Earth. In addition, it would give a chance to get the necessary high contrast for good visibility of the tiny finished patch. ... I made several studies of cloud patterns on the planet, reducing them finally to very conventionalized swirls. The Skylab cluster was simplified and simplified again, till it became simply a black form with a white edgelight to set it off."

pacecraft location

The command module they flew to the station in is displayed at the National Museum of Naval Aviation, Pensacola, Florida.

References

* [http://ntrs.nasa.gov/archive/nasa/casi.ntrs.nasa.gov/19720067844_1972067844.pdf Skylab: Command service module systems handbook, CSM 116 - 119 (PDF) April 1972]
* [http://ntrs.nasa.gov/archive/nasa/casi.ntrs.nasa.gov/19740021163_1974021163.pdf Skylab Saturn 1B flight manual (PDF) September 1972]
* [http://history.nasa.gov/SP-4011/contents.htm NASA Skylab Chronology]
* [http://history.nasa.gov/SP-4011/app2.htm Marshall Space Flight Center Skylab Summary]
* [http://history.nasa.gov/SP-4012/vol3/table2.49.htm Skylab 2 Characteristics SP-4012 NASA HISTORICAL DATA BOOK]
* [http://genedorr.com/patches/Patchwork.html Analog interview with Frank Kelly Freas]