Skylab 2
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| Mission Insignia | |
|---|---|
Missing image Skylab1-Patch.jpg Skylab 2 insignia | |
| Mission Statistics | |
| Mission Name: | Skylab II |
| Call Sign: | Skylab 2 |
| Number of Crew: | 3 |
| Launch: | May 25, 1973 13:00:00 UTC Kennedy Space Center LC 39B |
| Apogee: | 438 km |
| Perigee: | 428 km |
| Period: | 93.2 min |
| Inclination: | 50 deg |
| Station visit length: | 26d 21h 52min 7s |
| Station EVA length: | 6h 20min |
| Landing: | June 22, 1973 13:49:48 UTC Template:Coor dm |
| Duration: | 28 days 0 h 49 min 49 s |
| Number of Orbits: | 404 |
| Distance Traveled: | ~11,500,000 mi (~18,500,000 km) |
| Mass: | CSM 19,979 kg |
| Crew Picture | |
 Skylab 2 crew portrait (L-R: Kerwin, Conrad and Weitz) | |
| Skylab 2 Crew | |
Skylab 2 or SL-2 was the first human spaceflight mission to Skylab, the first U.S. orbital space station. The mission was launched on a Saturn IB rocket. The name also refers to the vehicle used for that mission. Skylab 2 established a record for human spaceflight duration. (Skylab 2 was sometimes called Skylab 1, but this name properly refers to the unmanned launch of the space station itself.)
| Contents |
Crew
- Pete Conrad (flew on Gemini 5, Gemini 11, Apollo 12, & Skylab 2)
- Paul Weitz (flew on Skylab 2 & STS-6), pilot
- Joseph Kerwin (flew on Skylab 2), science pilot
Backup Crew
Support Crew
Mission Parameters
- Mass: 19,979 kg
- Maximum Altitude: 440 km
- Distance: 18,536,730.9 km
- Launch Vehicle: Saturn IB
- Perigee: 428 km
- Apogee: 438 km
- Inclination: 50°
- Period: 93.2 min
- Docked: May 26, 1973 - 21:56:00 UTC
- Undocked: June 22, 1973 - 19:48:07 UTC
- Time Docked: 26 days, 21 hours, 52 minutes, 7 seconds,
Space walks
- Weitz - EVA 1 - (stand up EVA - CM side hatch)
- EVA 1 Start: May 26, 1973, 00:40 UTC
- EVA 1 End: May 26, 01:20 UTC
- Duration: 40 minutes
- Conrad and Kerwin - EVA 2
- EVA 2 Start: June 7, 1973, 15:15 UTC
- EVA 2 End: June 7, 18:40 UTC
- Duration: 3 hours, 25 minutes
- Conrad and Weitz - EVA 3
- EVA 3 Start: June 19, 1973, 10:55 UTC
- EVA 3 End: June 19, 12:31 UTC
- Duration: 1 hour, 36 minutes
See also
Mission Highlights
Saturn_IB_S-IVB-206.jpg
Launched on May 25, 1973 the first Skylab crew's main job first was to repair the space station. Skylab's meteorite and sunshield and one of its solar arrays had torn loose during launch, and the remaining primary solar array was jammed. Due to concerns that high temperatures inside the workshop — the result of no sunshield — would release toxic materials and ruin on-board film and food, the crew had to work fast.
After a failed attempt to deploy the stuck solar panel, they set up a "parasol" as a replacement sunshade. The "fix" worked, and temperatures inside dropped low enough that the crew could enter. Two weeks later Conrad and Kerwin conducted a space-walk, and after a struggle, were able to free the stuck solar panel and begin electricity flowing to their new "home."
For nearly a month they made further repairs to the workshop, conducted medical experiments, gathered solar and Earth science data and returned some 29,000 frames of film with a total of 392 hours of experiments. The Skylab 2 astronauts spent 28 days in space, which doubled the previous U.S. record.
The mission lasted until June 22, 1973. Skylab 2 splashed down in the Pacific Ocean 9.6 km from the recovery ship, USS Ticonderoga.
The mission set the records for the longest duration manned spacelight, greatest distance travelled, greatest mass docked in space and Conrad set the record for most time in space for an astronaut.
Relics
The command module they flew to the station in is displayed at the Naval Aviation Museum, Pensacola, Florida.
Reference
- Skylab: Command service module systems handbook, CSM 116 - 119 (PDF) April 1972 (http://ntrs.nasa.gov/archive/nasa/casi.ntrs.nasa.gov/19720067844_1972067844.pdf)
- Skylab Saturn 1B flight manual (PDF) September 1972 (http://ntrs.nasa.gov/archive/nasa/casi.ntrs.nasa.gov/19740021163_1974021163.pdf)
- NASA Skylab Chronology (http://history.nasa.gov/SP-4011/contents.htm)
- Marshall Space Flight Center Skylab Summary (http://history.nasa.gov/SP-4011/app2.htm)
- Skylab 2 Characteristics SP-4012 NASA HISTORICAL DATA BOOK (http://history.nasa.gov/SP-4012/vol3/table2.49.htm)