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 →

The post Space Rocket History #405 – Skylab – What Went Wrong and How Do We Fix It? first appeared on Space Rocket History Podcast.

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 →

The post Space Rocket History #404 – Skylab – The Launch of Skylab 1 first appeared on Space Rocket History Podcast.

This SMEAT crew would test out various elements of the Skylab equipment and procedures in a series of trials, ending in a full-scale simulation that was set at 56 days.

The post Space Rocket History #403 – Skylab – S.M.E.A.T. – Skylab Mission 0 first appeared on Space Rocket History Podcast.

The backup crew and some support crew participated in an interesting rescue scenario with 2 astronauts flying to Skylab to take back the crew of 3 onboard Skylab. This would mean 5 astronauts returning to earth in the command module.

The post Space Rocket History #402 – Skylab – Training Part 2 first appeared on Space Rocket History Podcast.

Aside from physically training for the longest crewed missions that the United States had ever attempted, the actual training program was developed simultaneously with the hardware and experiments for the mission.

The post Space Rocket History #401 – Skylab – Training Part 1 first appeared on Space Rocket History Podcast.

Bill Pogue served with the Thunderbirds as an aerobatics pilot from 1955 to 1957.

The post Space Rocket History #400 – Skylab – The Astronauts Part 5 – Pogue & Weitz first appeared on Space Rocket History Podcast.

Carr was in the likely crew rotation position to serve as lunar module pilot for Apollo 19 and walk on the Moon before the mission was canceled by NASA in 1970.

The post Space Rocket History #399 – Skylab – The Astronauts Part 4 – Lousma & Carr first appeared on Space Rocket History Podcast.

“Farewell, Aquarius, and we thank you.” Joe Kerwin

The post Space Rocket History #398 – Skylab – The Astronauts Part 3 – Kerwin & Lousma first appeared on Space Rocket History Podcast.

“I started out being president of my first grade class, two years in a row.” Ed Gibson

The post Space Rocket History #397 – Skylab – The Astronauts Part 2 – Garriott & Gibson first appeared on Space Rocket History Podcast.

“Pete wanted to do Skylab and we both felt that we did not want the moon program to get crowded, other people deserved chances too.” Al Bean

The post Space Rocket History #396 – Skylab – The Astronauts Part 1 first appeared on Space Rocket History Podcast.