#skylab 3

Portraits of all three Skylab Astronaut crews.

"A ground-level view of Pad B, Launch Complex 39, Kennedy Space Center, Florida, showing the Skylab 3/Saturn IB (CSM-117/SA-207) space vehicle during prelaunch preparations. The launch vehicle is venting liquid oxygen during pre-final countdown cryogenic loading."

Date: July 20, 1973

Skylab 3 (although miscommunication regarding the missions resulted in a “Skylab II” insignia) was the 2nd manned mission to the Skylab space station, and began its 59-day mission on 28 July 1973.

July 28th, 1973 - The launch of Skylab II brings the  astronauts Alan Bean, Owen Garriott, and Jack Lousma to the United States’ first space station, Skylab.

Technically the third launch of a Skylab mission (following the launch of Skylab itself and it’s first manned crew), Skylab II would last over 59 days in orbit. This mission included a comprehensive program of medical research on the body during long-duration spaceflight, study of live animal and microbiology in micro-gravity, and assessments of the crew quarters and equipment wear and tear.

"A close-up view of the Skylab space station cluster photographed against a black sky background from the Skylab 3 command module during the 'fly around' inspection prior to docking.

Note the one solar array system wing on the Orbital Workshop (OWS) which was successfully deployed during EVA on the first manned Skylab mission. The primary docking part at the forward end of the Multiple Docking Adapter (MDA) is visible below the Apollo Telescope Mount (ATM)."

Date: July 28, 1973

*

"These three men are the prime crewmen for the Skylab 3 mission. Pictured in the one-G trainer Multiple Docking Adapter (MDA) at the Johnson Space Center (JSC) are, left to right, scientist-astronaut Owen K. Garriott, science pilot; and astronauts Jack R. Lousma and Alan L. Bean, pilot and commander, respectively."

Mission Duration: July 28 - September 25, 1973

Time Duration: 58 days, 15 hours, 39 minutes, 42 seconds

"The Skylab 3 mission started out as routine, but was not without in-flight high drama of its own. Shortly after docking and entering the Orbital Workshop (OWS), all three crew members experienced motion sickness, delaying the activation of OWS on-board equipment.

A more serious concern was raised on Mission Day-5 (MD-5). An apparent failure of two of the four thruster quadrants of the Command Service Module (CSM) reaction control system was detected.

Not only could an actual failure like this create an early end to the mission, it also could conceivably render the CSM incapable of supporting a safe return of the astronauts to Earth.

Launch crews at the Kennedy Space Center were placed on a 24-hour per-day, seven day per-week work schedule to prepare the Skylab 4 Saturn IB launch vehicle for flight in case an early launch was needed for a rescue operation."

The Skylab 4 Saturn IB (CSM-118/SA-208) launch vehicle is rolled to Launch Complex 39, Pad B.

"A decision was made to continue the mission, and although the Skylab 4 launch vehicle had been rushed to flight-readiness, the CSM performed flawlessly during re-entry operations.

On August 6, 1973 astronauts Garriott and Lousma performed a spacewalk which lasted 6 hours, 31 minutes. During this spacewalk, the astronauts were able to extend an external twin-pole thermal shield to replace the parasol thermal shield installed by the Skylab 2 crew. They also retrieved and replaced film from solar telescopes housed outside the OWS.

A second spacewalk by astronauts Garriott and Lousma was conducted on August 24, 1973. This one lasted 4 hours, 31 minutes. During this spacewalk, the astronauts retrieved and replaced film from solar telescopes housed outside the OWS and installed a cable for a new rate gyro package. They also performed some maintenance activities.

The third and final spacewalk of the mission was conducted on September 22, 1973. This one was conducted by astronauts Bean and Garriott and lasted 2 hours, 41 minutes. During this spacewalk, the astronauts retrieved and replaced film from solar telescopes housed outside the OWS and performed maintenance activities on other external experiment packages.

Scientific experiments, including the observation of unanticipated dynamic solar activity, continued for much of the 59-day mission. The crew participated in classroom-oriented educational demonstrations regarding weightlessness.

The Skylab 3 crew set a new manned space flight endurance record. Their in-flight health fared markedly better than the Skylab 2 crew, with the exception of the amount of bone calcium loss.

A significant demonstration of long-term space flight and the long-term viability of the OWS was successfully achieved."

* Due to a NASA management error, crewed Skylab mission patches were designed in conflict with the official mission numbering scheme.

An interesting side note, the wives created their version of the patch. I've covered the NSFW bits just so the Tumblr staff doesn't mark my blog as NSFW.

"The main feature on the second Skylab crew patch was Leonardo da Vinci's universal man, slightly retouched to make it 'G-rated'! Without their husbands knowledge, the astronaut wives also had a patch made which was a joke version of the official crew patch. The universal man figure had been replaced by a 'universal woman'. Instead of the astronauts names; Bean, Garriott and Lousma, their wives first names were shown: Sue, Helen-Mary and Gratia. The crew first became aware of the wives patch when they found stickers of them in their lockers on board Skylab."

source, source