Skylab 3 (also SL-3 and SLM-2) was the second crewed mission to the first American space station,

Skylab Skylab was the United States' first space station, launched by NASA, occupied for about 24 weeks between May 1973 and February 1974. It was operated by three trios of astronaut crews: Skylab 2, Skylab 3, and Skylab 4. Skylab was constructe ...

. The mission began on July 28, 1973, with the launch of NASA astronauts Alan Bean, Owen Garriott, and Jack Lousma in the

Apollo command and service module The Apollo command and service module (CSM) was one of two principal components of the United States Apollo (spacecraft), Apollo spacecraft, used for the Apollo program, which landed astronauts on the Moon between 1969 and 1972. The CSM functi ...

on the

Saturn IB The Saturn IB (also known as the uprated Saturn I) was an American launch vehicle commissioned by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) for the Apollo program. It uprated the Saturn I by replacing the S-IV second stage (, 43,3 ...

rocket, and lasted 59 days, 11 hours and 9 minutes. A total of 1,084.7 astronaut-utilization hours were tallied by the Skylab 3 crew performing scientific experiments in the areas of medical activities, solar observations, Earth resources, and other experiments. 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.

Crew

Backup crew

Support crew

* Robert L. Crippen * Henry W. Hartsfield Jr * Karl G. Henize * F. Story Musgrave * William E. Thornton * Richard H. Truly

Mission parameters

*Mass: about *Maximum Altitude: 440 km *Distance: 24.5 million miles (39.4 million km) *Launch Vehicle:

SA-207 *Spacecraft:

Apollo CSM The Apollo command and service module (CSM) was one of two principal components of the United States Apollo (spacecraft), Apollo spacecraft, used for the Apollo program, which landed astronauts on the Moon between 1969 and 1972. The CSM functi ...

-117 *

Perigee An apsis (; ) is the farthest or nearest point in the orbit of a planetary body about its primary body. The line of apsides (also called apse line, or major axis of the orbit) is the line connecting the two extreme values. Apsides perta ...

: 423 km *

Apogee An apsis (; ) is the farthest or nearest point in the orbit of a planetary body about its primary body. The line of apsides (also called apse line, or major axis of the orbit) is the line connecting the two extreme values. Apsides perta ...

: 441 km *

Inclination Orbital inclination measures the tilt of an object's orbit around a celestial body. It is expressed as the angle between a reference plane and the orbital plane or axis of direction of the orbiting object. For a satellite orbiting the Eart ...

: 50° * Period: 93.2 min

Docking

*Docked: July 28, 1973 – 19:37:00 UTC *Undocked: September 25, 1973 – 11:16:42 UTC *Time Docked: 58 days, 15 hours, 39 minutes, 42 seconds

Space walks

;''Garriott and Lousma'' – EVA 1 :Start: August 6, 1973, 17:30 UTC :End: August 6, 23:59 UTC :Duration: 6 hours, 29 minutes ;''Garriott and Lousma'' – EVA 2 :Start: August 24, 1973, 16:24 UTC :End: August 24, 20:54 UTC :Duration: 4 hours, 30 minutes ;''Bean and Garriott'' – EVA 3 :Start: September 22, 1973, 11:18 UTC :End: September 22, 14:03 UTC :Duration: 2 hours, 45 minutes

Mission highlights

While approaching Skylab a propellant leak developed in one of the

Apollo Service Module The Apollo command and service module (CSM) was one of two principal components of the United States Apollo spacecraft, used for the Apollo program, which landed astronauts on the Moon between 1969 and 1972. The CSM functioned as a mother ship ...

's reaction control system thruster quads. The crew was able to safely dock with the station, but troubleshooting continued with the problem. Six days later, another thruster quad developed a leak, creating concern amongst Mission Control. For the first time, an Apollo spacecraft was rolled out to Launch Complex 39 for

Skylab Rescue The Skylab Rescue Mission (also SL-R)Mission Requirements, Skylab Rescue Mission, SL-R NASA, 24 August 1973. was an unflown rescue mission, planned as a contingency plan, contingency in the event of astronauts being stranded aboard the American S ...

, made possible by the ability for the station to have two Apollo CSMs docked at the same time. It was eventually determined that the CSM could be safely maneuvered using only two working thruster quads, and the rescue mission was never launched. After recovering from space sickness the crew, during their first EVA, installed the twin-pole sunshade, one of the two solutions for the destruction of the micrometeoroid shield during Skylab's launch to keep the space station cool. It was installed over the parasol, which was originally deployed through a porthole airlock during Skylab 2. Both were brought to the station by Skylab 2. Skylab 3 continued a comprehensive medical research program that extended the data on human physiological adaptation and readaptation to space flight collected on the previous Skylab 2 mission. In addition, Skylab 3 extended the astronauts' stay in space from approximately one month to two months. Therefore, the effects of flight duration on physiological adaptation and readaptation could be examined. A set of core medical investigations were performed on all three Skylab crewed missions. These core investigations were the same basic investigations that were performed on Skylab 2, except that the Skylab 3 inflight tests were supplemented with extra tests based on what researchers learned from the Skylab 2 science results. For example, only leg volume measurements, preflight and postflight stereophotogrammetry, and in-flight maximum calf girth measurements were originally scheduled for all three Skylab missions. In-flight photographs from Skylab 2 revealed the "puffy face syndrome" which prompted the addition of in-flight torso and limb girth measurements to gather more data on the apparent headward fluid shift on Skylab 3. Other additional tests included arterial blood flow measurements by an occlusive cuff placed around the leg, facial photographs taken before flight and during flight to study the "puffy face syndrome", venous compliance, hemoglobin, urine specific gravity, and urine mass measurements. These inflight tests gave additional information about fluid distribution and fluid balance to get a better understanding of the fluid shift phenomena. The Skylab 3 biological experiments studied the effects of microgravity on mice, fruit flies, single cells and cell culture media. Human lung cells were flown to examine the biochemical characteristics of cell cultures in the microgravity environment. The two animal experiments involved the chronobiology of little pocket mice and

circadian rhythm A circadian rhythm (), or circadian cycle, is a natural oscillation that repeats roughly every 24 hours. Circadian rhythms can refer to any process that originates within an organism (i.e., Endogeny (biology), endogenous) and responds to the env ...

in vinegar gnats. Both experiments were unsuccessful due to a power failure 30 hours after launch, which killed the animals. High school students from across the United States participated in the Skylab missions as the primary investigators of experiments that studied astronomy, physics, and fundamental biology. The student experiments performed on Skylab 3 included the study of libration clouds, X-rays from Jupiter, in-vitro immunology, spider web formation, cytoplasmic streaming, mass measurement, and neutron analysis. The crew's health was assessed on Skylab by collecting data on dental health, environmental and crew microbiology, radiation, and toxicological aspects of the Skylab orbital workshop. Other assessments were made of astronaut maneuvering equipment and of the habitability of the crew quarters, and crew activities/maintenance experiments were examined on Skylab 2 through 4 to better understand the living and working aspects of life in space.

S150 Galactic X-Ray Mapping

The S150 X-ray experiment was sent up with Skylab 3. The 1,360 kg X-ray astronomy satellite experiment was designed to look for soft galactic x-rays. Short missions had been done before, and S150 would be a longer project. S150 had a large soft x-ray detector, and was mounted atop the Saturn S-IVB upper stage. When released, S150 flew behind and below Skylab on 28 July 1973. The S150 experiment deployed after the Apollo capsule separated from the S-IVB stage. S150 had its own protective housing for the flight. The experiment on S150 ran for 5 hours, as its batteries allowed S150 to measure half of the sky. Experiment data was recorded on

tape recorder An audio tape recorder, also known as a tape deck, tape player or tape machine or simply a tape recorder, is a sound recording and reproduction device that records and plays back sounds usually using magnetic tape for storage. In its present ...

and sent to ground stations when available. S150 was designed by

University of Wisconsin A university () is an institution of tertiary education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. ''University'' is derived from the Latin phrase , which roughly means "community of teachers and scholars". Uni ...

scientists Dr. William L. Kraushaar and Alan Bunner. S150 could detect 40–100 angstrom photons.

Spider web experiment

Spider webs were spun by two female European garden spiders (cross spiders) called Arabella and Anita, as part of an experiment on Skylab 3. The aim of the experiment was to test whether the two spiders would spin webs in space, and, if so, whether these webs would be the same as those that spiders produced on Earth. The experiment was a student project of Judy Miles of

Lexington, Massachusetts Lexington is a suburban town in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States, located 10 miles (16 km) from Downtown Boston. The population was 34,454 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. The area was originally inhabited by ...

. After the launch the spiders were released by astronaut Owen Garriott into a box that resembled a window frame. The spiders proceeded to construct their web while a camera took photographs and examined the spiders' behavior in a zero-gravity environment. Both spiders took a long time to adapt to their weightless existence. However, after a day, Arabella spun the first web in the experimental cage, although it was initially incomplete. The web was completed the following day. The crew members were prompted to expand the initial protocol. They fed and watered the spiders, giving them a house fly. The first web was removed on August 13 to allow Arabella to construct a second web. At first, she failed to construct a new web. When given more water, she built a second web. This time, it was more elaborate than the first. Both spiders died during the mission, possibly from

dehydration In physiology, dehydration is a lack of total body water that disrupts metabolic processes. It occurs when free water loss exceeds intake, often resulting from excessive sweating, health conditions, or inadequate consumption of water. Mild deh ...

. When scientists studied the webs they discovered that the space webs were finer than normal Earth webs, and although the patterns of the web were not totally dissimilar, variations were spotted, and there was a definite difference in the characteristics of the web. The webs were finer overall, and the space web had variations in thickness. This was unusual, because Earth webs have been observed to have uniform thickness. Later experiments indicated that having a light source could orient the spiders and enable them to build their normal asymmetric webs when gravity was not a factor.

Splashdown

The Skylab 3 mission returned to Earth with a splashdown in the Pacific Ocean at 22:20 UTC on September 25, 1973. The crew and command module were recovered by the USS ''New Orleans'', about 360 km (225 mi) off the Californian coast, southwest of

San Diego San Diego ( , ) is a city on the Pacific coast of Southern California, adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a population of over 1.4 million, it is the List of United States cities by population, eighth-most populous city in t ...

. At the time, the crew held several space endurance records including: most time in space at 59 days, 11 hours, and 9 minutes; as well as holding the most orbits of the Earth, by a crew, at 858. This was the last Skylab splashdown to be covered live by American broadcast television news media, as Skylab 4's splashdown was not covered.

Mission insignia

The circular crew patch was

Leonardo da Vinci Leonardo di ser Piero da Vinci (15 April 1452 - 2 May 1519) was an Italian polymath of the High Renaissance who was active as a painter, draughtsman, engineer, scientist, theorist, sculptor, and architect. While his fame initially rested o ...

's c. 1490 ''

Vitruvian Man The ''Vitruvian Man'' (; ) is a drawing by the Italian Renaissance artist and scientist Leonardo da Vinci, dated to . Inspired by the writings of the ancient Roman architect Vitruvius, the drawing depicts a nude man in two superimposed positions ...

'', representing the mission's medical experiments and retouched to remove the genitalia. In the background is a disk that is half Sun (including sunspots) and half Earth to represent the experiments done on the flight. The patch has a white background, the crew's names and "Skylab II" with a red, white and blue border. The wives of the crew secretly had an alternate graphic made of a 'universal woman' with their first names in place of the crew's. Stickers with this on them were put in lockers aboard the Command Module to surprise the crew.

Gallery

File:Showering on Skylab (9456594881).jpg, Jack Lousma takes a shower in the station's living quarters. Astronaut Alan Bean flies the Astronaut Maneuvering Equipment.jpg, Alan Bean flies a prototype of the

Manned Maneuvering Unit The Manned Maneuvering Unit (MMU) is an astronaut propulsion unit that was used by NASA on three Space Shuttle missions in 1984. The MMU allowed the astronauts to perform untethered Extravehicular activity, extravehicular spacewalks at a dist ...

. Owen Garriott at the Apollo Telescope Mount console.jpg, Owen Garriott operating the Apollo Telescope Mount Owen Garriott sleeping during SKylab 3.jpg, Garriott sleeps in his quarters, held down with straps to keep him secure in zero-G. Skylab 3 haircut.jpg, Garriott gives Bean a haircut. Skylab 3 meal.jpg, Garriott enjoying a meal in the station's wardroom Sl3-122-2587ellenfromskylab.jpg, Hurricane Ellen of 1973, as seen from Skylab

Spacecraft location

In 1977 the command module was transferred to the Smithsonian Institution by NASA. The command module was moved to the

Great Lakes Science Center The Great Lakes Science Center is a science museum, museum and educational facility in downtown Cleveland, Ohio, United States. The center's exhibits focus on STEM (science, technology, engineering, math) concepts. Opening in July 1996, the fac ...

Cleveland Cleveland is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located along the southern shore of Lake Erie, it is situated across the Canada–U.S. maritime border and approximately west of the Ohio-Pennsylvania st ...

, Ohio, in June 2010. It took a year to plan and US$120,000 to move the capsule. It is currently on display at the visitor's center of the NASA Glenn Research Center at the science center. Unlike earlier Apollo modules, Skylab ones had white paint on the sunward side to help with spacecraft thermal management.

References

{{Use American English, date=January 2014 1973 in spaceflight Extravehicular activity Human spaceflights Skylab program Spacecraft launched in 1973 Spacecraft which reentered in 1973 Spacecraft launched by Saturn rockets Alan Bean Saturn IB Successful space missions