Skylab 2
Operator | NASA |
---|---|
COSPAR ID | 1973-032A |
SATCAT no. | 6655 |
Mission duration | 28 days, 49 minutes, 49 seconds |
Distance travelled | 18,500,000 kilometers (10,000,000 nautical miles) |
Orbits completed | 404 |
Spacecraft properties | |
Spacecraft | Apollo CSM-116 |
Manufacturer | North American Rockwell |
Launch mass | 19,979 kilograms (44,046 lb) |
Crew | |
Crew size | 3 |
Members | |
Start of mission | |
Launch date | May 25, 1973 |
Rocket | Saturn IB SA-206 |
Launch site | Kennedy LC-39B |
End of mission | |
Recovered by | USS Ticonderoga |
Landing date | June 22, 1973, 13:49:48 | UTC
Landing site | 24°45′N 127°2′W / 24.750°N 127.033°W |
Orbital parameters | |
Reference system | Geocentric |
Regime | Low Earth |
Perigee altitude | 428 kilometers (231 nautical miles) |
Apogee altitude | 438 kilometers (237 nautical miles) |
Inclination | 50.0 degrees |
Period | 93.2 minutes |
Epoch | June 4, 1973[1] |
Docking with Skylab | |
Docking port | Forward |
Docking date | May 26, 1973, 09:56 UTC |
Undocking date | May 26, 1973, 10:45 UTC |
Time docked | 49 minutes[2] |
Docking with Skylab | |
Docking port | Forward |
Docking date | May 26, 1973, 15:50 UTC[2] |
Undocking date | June 22, 1973, 08:58 UTC[3] |
Time docked | 26 days, 11 hours, 2 minutes |
Due to a NASA management error, crewed Skylab mission patches were designed in conflict with the official mission numbering scheme. L–R: Kerwin, Conrad, and Weitz Skylab program |
Skylab 2 (also SL-2 and SLM-1
The crewed Skylab missions were officially designated Skylab 2, 3, and 4. Miscommunication about the numbering resulted in the mission emblems reading "Skylab I", "Skylab II", and "Skylab 3" respectively.[4][6]
Crew
Position | Astronaut | |
---|---|---|
Commander | Charles "Pete" Conrad, Jr. Fourth and last spaceflight | |
Science Pilot | Joseph P. Kerwin Only spaceflight | |
Pilot | Paul J. Weitz First spaceflight |
Kerwin became the first medical doctor in space. NASA chose a doctor as the first Skylab scientist to better understand the effect of spaceflight on the human body during a long-duration mission.[7]
Backup crew
Position | Astronaut | |
---|---|---|
Commander | Russell L. Schweickart | |
Science Pilot | F. Story Musgrave | |
Pilot | Bruce McCandless II |
Support crew
- Robert L. Crippen
- Henry W. Hartsfield, Jr
- William E. Thornton
- Richard H. Truly
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
- Soft dock: May 26, 1973 – 09:56 UTC
- Undocked: May 26, 1973 – 10:45 UTC
- Time docked: 49 minutes
- Hard dock: May 26, 1973 – 15:50 UTC
- Undocked: June 22, 1973 – 08:58 UTC
- Time docked: 26 days, 17 hours, 2 minutes
Space walks
- Weitz — EVA 1 (stand up EVA — CM side hatch)
- Start: May 26, 1973, 00:40 UTC
- End: May 26, 01:20 UTC
- Duration: 40 minutes
- Conrad and Kerwin — EVA 2
- Start: June 7, 1973, 15:15 UTC
- End: June 7, 18:40 UTC
- Duration: 3 hours, 25 minutes
- Conrad and Weitz — EVA 3
- Start: June 19, 1973, 10:55 UTC
- End: June 19, 12:31 UTC
- Duration: 1 hour, 36 minutes
Mission highlights
Mission |
|
---|---|
Skylab 2 | 28
|
Skylab 3 | 60
|
Skylab 4 | 84
|
The
On May 25, Skylab 2 lifted from LC-39B, the first
The crew then attempted to perform the hard dock to Skylab, but the capture latches failed to operate. After eight failed attempts, they donned their pressure suits again and partially dis-assembled the CSM's docking probe; the next attempt worked. Once inside the station, the crew deployed a collapsible parasol through the small scientific airlock to act as a sunshade. (This approach was suggested and designed by NASA's "Mr. Fix It" Jack Kinzler, who was awarded the NASA Distinguished Service Medal for the effort.) Successful deployment of the sunshade dropped inside temperatures to sustainable levels.[12]
Two weeks later, Conrad and Kerwin performed a second EVA, finally freeing the stuck solar panel and increasing the electrical power to the workshop. They had prepared for this repair by practicing in the Neutral Buoyancy Simulator at the Marshall Space Flight Center. Without power from the panel, the second and third Skylab missions would have been unable to perform their main experiments, and the station's critical battery system would have been seriously degraded.[8]: 271–276 During this EVA, the sudden deployment of the solar panel structure caused both astronauts to be flung from the station's hull, testing their nerves as well as the strength of their safety tethers. After recovering their composure, both astronauts returned to their positions on the station and completed the EVA.[13]
For nearly a month they made further repairs to the workshop, conducted medical experiments, gathered solar and Earth science data, and performed a total of 392 hours of experiments. The mission tracked two minutes of a large solar flare with the Apollo Telescope Mount; they took and returned some 29,000 frames of film of the sun.[8]: 291 The Skylab 2 astronauts spent 28 days in space, which doubled the previous U.S. record. The mission ended successfully on June 22, 1973, when Skylab 2 splashed down in the Pacific Ocean 9.6 km from the recovery ship USS Ticonderoga. Skylab 2 set the records for the longest duration crewed 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 1 patch was designed by
Gallery
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Kerwin blows water droplets from a straw.
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Weitz assists Kerwin with a blood pressure cuff.
Spacecraft location
The Skylab 2 command module is displayed at the
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Skylab 2 CM
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Skylab 2 CM
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Skylab 2 CM interior
See also
- Extra-vehicular activity
- List of spacewalks
- Splashdown
- Timeline of longest spaceflights
References
- ^ McDowell, Jonathan. "SATCAT". Jonathan's Space Pages. Retrieved March 23, 2014.
- ^ a b "PART III: Skylab Development and Operations: February 1970-November 1974 (continued)". Skylab: A Chronology. NASA. Retrieved March 26, 2023.
- ISBN 0-02-542820-9.
- ^ a b "Skylab Numbering Fiasco". Living in Space. William Pogue Official WebSite. 2007. Archived from the original on February 2, 2009. Retrieved February 7, 2009.
- ^ "Skylab 2 (1973)". Texas Archive of the Moving Image. Retrieved November 29, 2019.
- ^ Pogue, William. "Naming Spacecraft: Confusion Reigns". collectSPACE. Retrieved April 24, 2011.
- OCLC 756509282.
- ^ a b c d Benson, Charles Dunlap and William David Compton. Living and Working in Space: A History of Skylab. NASA publication SP-4208.
- ^ Skylab: A Chronology, May 14
- ^ Day, Dwayne (May 20, 2013). "Those magnificent spooks and their spying machine: The spies help rescue Skylab". The Space Review. Retrieved July 10, 2020.
- ^ "NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)" (PDF). ntrs.nasa.gov. July 23, 1973.
- ^ "SP-400 Skylab, Our First Space Station". NASA. 1977. Retrieved May 8, 2013.
- ^ David J. Shayler, FBIS, Walking in Space, 2004, p. 213, Praxis Publishing Ltd.
External links
- Skylab: Command service module systems handbook, CSM 116 – 119 (PDF) April 1972
- Skylab Saturn 1B flight manual (PDF) September 1972
- NASA Skylab Chronology
- Marshall Space Flight Center Skylab Summary
- Skylab 2 Characteristics SP-4012 NASA HISTORICAL DATA BOOK
- Analog interview with Frank Kelly Freas
Multimedia
Media related to Skylab 2 at Wikimedia Commons