This crew was the first to celebrate a new year in space 17 times as they orbited the earth and moved through the time zones.

“We and everybody on the ground thought that it was going to be a beautiful, brilliant comet. It turned out to be beautiful all right, but it was so faint that we really had to work to find it. Once … Continue reading →

“Nothing was outside, three times I went out that hatch into the ‘truly great outdoors.’ When I was out there, it was a silent world, except for the whispers of my own breath. Sometimes I felt totally alone, like the … Continue reading →

“There was no strike in space by any stretch of the imagination. What could we threaten to do, go live on the moon? If any of these writers had gotten their information from just one of us, the crew or … Continue reading →

One stowaway was on the bicycle ergometer, another was in the LBNP (lower body negative pressure device), and the third was sitting on the toilet in the waste management compartment.

“As we rode, the big blue eyes of Al Shepard bored into each of us looking for any sign of weakness, any indication that one of these rookies was not ready to go. I looked back with a defiant smile, … Continue reading →

In space, on the day the second crew left Skylab, which was September 25, 1973, the orbital workshop began it’s third unmanned period.

“I felt like that mission was from my viewpoint the highlight of my career, as being the best astronaut that I could be. I felt like our crew was the best crew we could be because we had done the … Continue reading →

“The thing I remember about reentry was not positioning some RCS switches correctly. We got behind and Owen could not read my notes in the checklist because of the limited space (and my ‘unique’ penmanship). I said, ‘Give me the … Continue reading →

“Hello Houston. Roger. Well I, haven’t talked with you for a while. Isn’t that you down there. Bob? This is Helen, here in Skylab. The boys hadn’t had a good home cooked meal in so long, I  thought I’d bring … Continue reading →

On mission day 28, August 24th 1973, it was time to perform the 2nd EVA.  Garriott and Lousma once again stepped outside the orbital workshop for a 4 and ½ hour spacewalk.

Finally, the crew became efficient enough to get all of the work done that was scheduled for a given day. But, that did not make up for the time lost at the beginning of the mission.  Reaching 100 percent efficiency … Continue reading →

“I had to connect eleven five-foot sections of aluminum poles, twice, forming two long poles. These were then extended to Jack some forty or fifty feet away, where the poles were mounted in a ‘V’, and a large ‘sail’ pulled … Continue reading →

“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 →

“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 →

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 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.

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.

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.

“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

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 →

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 →

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.

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 →

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 →