Pressure Gradient

San Francisco Giants third baseman Matt Chapman is just being open about his relationship with outfielder Drew Gilbert. Not even a veneer of deniability anymore.

Monday, May 14, 1973: Skylab, America’s first space station, is launched into orbit from the Kennedy Space Center.

Skylab was a reconfigured Saturn third stage, filled not with fuel and oxidizer, but with living quarters and scientific work areas. Its launch was the final voyage for the reliable Saturn V launch vehicle. Its like would not be seen again in the 20th century as the U.S. severely curtailed its space exploration efforts.

The three major television networks — ABC, CBS and NBC — televised Skylab’s launch live. A little more than a minute after liftoff, unseen by cameras because of cloud cover, a major problem struck the space station. A massive metal sheet that made up Skylab’s meteoroid and thermal shield was violently torn from the vehicle as the Saturn booster pushed the spacecraft through the atmosphere. The loss of the shield, noticed only after Skylab reached orbit, threatened the station’s habitability, and therefore the entire project.