Skylab Skylab was America’s first experimental space station. Some of Skylab’s program objectives were: To prove that humans could live and work in space for extended periods, and to expand our knowledge of solar astronomy well beyond Earth-based observations. Skylab made much use of Saturn and Apollo equipment. Through the use of a ‘dry’ third stage of the Saturn V rocket, the station was completely made as a workshop area before launch. Crews visited Skylab and returned to earth in the Apollo spacecraft.
THE FLIGHTSSkylab’s 1 st unmanned mission May 14, 1973 The station was launched into orbit by a Saturn V booster. Almost immediately, problems developed due to vibrations during lift-off. A critical meteoroid shield ripped off taking one of the craft’s two solar panels with it; a piece of the shield wrapped around the other panel keeping it from deploying. Skylab was maneuvered so its Apollo Telescope Mount (ATM) solar panels faced the Sun to provide as much electricity as possible. Because of the loss of the meteoroid shield, however, this positioning caused workshop temperatures to rise to 126 degrees F. The launch of Skylab 2 was postponed 10 days while NASA engineers developed procedures and trained the crew to make the workshop habitable.
At the same time, engineers ‘rolled’s skylab to lower the temperature of the workshop. Skylab’s 2 nd manned mission – May 25 th to June 22 nd Astronauts; Charles Conrad, Jr. Paul J. Weitz Joseph P. Kerwin The crew meats with Skylab on the fifth orbit.
The Essay on The Origin of the Solar System
1. What produced the iron in the Earths core and the heavier elements like gold and silver in the Earths crust? The production of iron in the earth’s mantle is like the production of iron in extremely massive stars. Shells of nuclear fusion happen in the core of the earth which produces iron, the end product of the fusion. The abundance of iron in the earth’s core is due to the fact that iron has ...
After making many repairs, including deployment of parasol sunshade which cooled the inside temperatures to 75 degrees F, by June 4 the workshop was in full operation. In orbit the crew conducted solar Earth resources experiments, medical studies, and five student experiments; 404 orbits and 392 experiment hours were completed; three EVAsthat totaled six hours, 20 minuets. Skylab’s 3 rd manned mission – July 28 th to September 25 th, 1973 Astronauts; Alan L. Bean Jack R. LousmaOwen K. GarriottContinued maintenance of the space station and extensive scientific and medical experiments.
Completed 858 Earth orbits and 1, 081 hours of solar and Earth experiments; three EVAs totaled 13 hours, 43 minuets. Skylab’s 4 th mission – November 16 th, 1973 to February 8 th 1974 Astronauts; Gerald P. Carr William R. Pogue Edward G. Gibson Last of the Skylab missions; included observation of the Comet Kohoutek among numerous experiments. Competed 1, 214 Earth orbits and four EVAs totaling 22 hours, 13 minuets.
Three -man crews occupied the Skylab workshop for a total of 171 days, 13 hours. It was the site of nearly 300 scientific and technical experiments. The empty Skylab spacecraft returned to Earth on July 11, 1979 scattering debris over the Indian Ocean and the sparsely settled region of Western Australia. The chances of being hit by Skylab’s debris were 1 in 600 billion.
