The ***Official*** Singles Thread: Remembering SkyLab

10 November 2006 | Army Air Corps

[Army Air Corps]

SkyLab

America's First Space Station

Skylab is "cool" for a variety of reasons.  First, it is a manned space exploration subject.  Second, it was a spin-off of the Apollo Programme.  Third, it is an example of how to make the most of what you have on hand.  Also, Skylab is a story of determination and missed opportunities.  In addition, there was a bit of hoopla surrounding Skylab.  There were commemorative medallions, bottles, stamps, and other items.  NASA intended for the Shuttle to operate with Skylab, but the Shuttle programme was about two years behind schedule.  Congressional cuts deprived NASA of the funds to boost Skylab into a higher orbit and replace failing gyroscopes - the station was allowed to re-enter the Earth's atmosphere on 11 July 1979. 

Skylab Launch: 14 May 1973.  Severe damage was sustained during launch, including the loss of the station's micrometeoroid shield/sun shade and one of its main solar panels. Debris from the lost micrometeoroid shield further complicated matters by pinning the remaining solar panel to the side of the station, preventing its deployment and thus leaving the station with a huge power deficit.

Skylab I: 25 May 1973.  Pete Conrad, Paul Weitz, and Joseph Kerwin.  The station underwent extensive repair during a spacewalk by the first crew.  Lasted 28.03 days.

Skylab II: 28 July 1973.  Alan Bean, Jack Lousma, and Owen Garriott.  Lasted 59.46 days.

Skylab III: 16 November 1973.  Gerald Carr, William Pogue, and Edward Gibson.  Lasted 84.05 days.

The three Skylab Crews                                                                                                                     Skylab Hardware and Facilities

Skylab as it was configured in the launch shroud

A Christmas Tree made by the Skylab Crew

[WFTR]

Thanks for the ping. I'm afraid that I won't do much tonight. I'm fighting a rough cold and have been in bed all day.

[rzeznikj at stout]

What's also interesting is that the towers on the crawlers were the ones used for the Saturn V (363 feet)--except they were permanently shortened for the Saturn IB (224 feet).

[DollyCali]

that could be it.. I know I have asked a couple times but it hasn't sunk in because I simply do NOT know the school

Hey I rescued a small snake on the path today.. had I left it there would have been smashed snake..HEAVY TRAFFIC

[darkangel82]

Sorry to hear that. Hopefully it will go away tomorrow.

[NCC-1701]

A little trivia. Even though he didn't fly aboard Skylab, Thomas K. Mattingly II was the last one from the Apollo spacecraft era to fly in space. Jack Lousma and Owen Garriott are the only Skylab crewmembers to have flown aboard the Space Shuttle. Lousma was the last one of those. He is also, technicaly, the youngest person to have ever flown in space. He was born on February 29th, 1936. If one was REALLY ticky about it, he was just over 9 years old when he went to Skylab.

[DollyCali]

Jason was at the OK School of Math & Science in OKC for two years & began his work on IA then. He graduated from HS with a boat load of college credits. He studied in S.Korea for one semester this past year,

Sarah was offered a spot at OKSMS also but wasn't interested. She is very bright also but simply wanted to enjoy her last two years of HS & not work that hard. She is majoring at this point in interior decorating

[rzeznikj at stout]

And we can't forget about the Apollo-Soyuz mission...

[DollyCali]

Hope you feel better..colds are the pits! I am crashing now also. Not sure what the little snake was. About a foot long. Pencil width

[cibco]

I'll have to get off the ping list Dolly. I'm getting married April 28th. Won't have the time now. {;0)

[Mr. Blonde]

A girl from my high school went there, and is at the Naval Academy now. Even if I was good at math I don't think I could handle OSSMS. Required study hours with no music every night would break me pretty quickly. And by pretty quickly I mean about 3 minutes in to the first night of it.

[DollyCali]

Well, congrats! we can take you off or keep you on.. your choice. We have some married participants. it is for singles & THEIR FRIENDS... but I can understand a new spouse NOT being particularly happy with one's wife or hubby participating with a singles thread

lol

[DollyCali]

dont know about the music situation. I was in Jason's suite.. they had all sort of music equipement/players INCLUDING real instruments. J plays guitar

[Mr. Blonde]

I was told during studying they can't play music, I'm sure at all other times it is ok. I have to listen to music to study, otherwise I go insane.

[Dmitry Vukicevich]

I saw your homepage, big Broncos fan, Defeat may better be associated with your Raiders at this point(just some good old fashioned AFC West Rivalry ribbing)the other two posters look accurate.

[Nowhere Man]

Cool! I have some Skylab stickers my father gave me. We were down in Florida in 1974 and that's when he got them. My uncle worked for NASA from the time of Mercury or Gemini to 2001. His wife passed away soon thereafter and he's thinking about going back part time if they will have him even though he'll be 69.

Here's the front:



... And the back with descriptions

[Dmitry Vukicevich]

1 part ABSOLUT VODKA

Now you are speaking my langauge, I guess it is the Serbian in me.

[Dmitry Vukicevich]

If that is a picture of the snake you provided it is a garder snake.

[cibco]

Thanks Dolly. I met her on FR and now my FReeping time is going to be decreasing. Neither one of us planned on it. It all fell together naturally. We are soulmates. {:0)

[Nowhere Man]

Yes, I recall being aghast when I saw teh movie Apollo 13 & learned how small the computer was that ran the entire craft

They say that today's cars have many more computers than even the Apollo spacecraft. Still though, it is amazing what they accomplished with the same amount of memory (4K) that an early personal computer or a run of the mill Atari 2600 cartridge had although in that case, the cartridge was ROM memory. I was quite amazed at Atari programming "Adventure" in 4K but when you think that the same amount of RAM was used to go to the moon, that is many times even more spetacular. Come to think of it, the Apollo's computer ran almost half the speed as an Apple ][+ or //e.

Read about it here: Wikipedia on the Apollo CSM Computer

[Nowhere Man]

Most of the Aqua Teen episodes are great although they have been uneven lately. I'm holding out hope that the movie will be great.

I love ATHF. One of my favorite episodes is where Carl and Master Shake deep fry a cow and dump the used oil in the woods. Well a few days later, Shake get s notice from The Woods that they are putting him, and Carl, on trial. I thought it was so funny where the trees kept pulling skin off of poor Carl to use as scratch paper and they appointed a shrub to be their defense attoney. "Guilty!!!! Guilty!!!!" Of course, Frylock had to take over.