Space Rocket History Podcast

Skylab had three bedrooms or sleep compartments, one for each astronaut aboard. To save space, the beds were arranged vertically in the quarters.

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As a crew would approach Skylab in their Apollo Command Module, they would see its docking port that was called the Multiple Docking Adapter or MDA.

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During 1970-1972, a possible fourth “new” docking mission with Skylab was considered. This new mission would not be just another Apollo docking, instead it was a radically different idea.

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On February 1970, Nasa announced that the AAP had been renamed. America’s first space station would enter the history books as Skylab.

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The Apollo Applications Program (AAP) was created in 1966 by NASA headquarters to develop science-based human spaceflight missions using hardware developed for the Apollo program.

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On June 7th 1969, General Stewart ordered all work on Gemini B, the Titan IIIM and the MOL spacesuit, to cease and to cancel or curtail all other contracts. The official announcement that the MOL had been canceled was made … Continue reading →

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A planning document depicted 12-man and 40-man stations, both with self-defense capability. It described the 40-man, Y-shaped station as a “spaceborne command post” in synchronous orbit. The key requirement was “post attack survivability”, the station would be capable of “Strategic/tactical … Continue reading →

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Strangely enough the MOL astronauts only knew of the cover story that the program would be a space laboratory for military experiments and did not learn of the reconnaissance role until after selection.

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NASA feasibility studies determined that a research space laboratory could be placed in orbit by 1967. However, to fund such a project it had to be justified by achieving a national goal, or an important science goal, or test of … Continue reading →

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A scant five months after Apollo 17 splashed down in the Pacific Ocean in December of 1972, NASA launched Skylab to begin a new phase of American manned spaceflight – space station operations.

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