Life on Skylab
The food's not great, but it's a hell of a view.
Alex Q. Arbuckle
1973-1974
Decades before the moon landing, an orbital space station was considered a natural early step in space exploration. Initial concepts envisioned massive rotating stations with dozens of personnel for terrestrial surveillance, but advances in solar power and communications technology made it possible for robotic satellites to perform such tasks.Throughout the 1960s, several concepts were explored for smaller stations that could fit inside a Saturn V rocket stage rather than be assembled in orbit, including a “wet workshop” design, where a fuel tank would be emptied once in orbit and converted into a spacious living area. The cancellation of several moon missions freed up the resources to launch a “dry workshop” station with the interior already assembled.That interior, in contrast to the cramped capsules of previous spacecraft, had to be comfortable and habitable enough for a crew of three to thrive for extended mission durations. One of the proposed amenities most hotly debated among the engineers was one of the most simple: a window for the astronauts to see outside. Further debate was given to the relative merits of zero-G sponge baths versus showers. Improving the quality of the food was a top priority.The final design, in addition to an Apollo Telescope Mount (ATM) for celestial observations and a workshop for experiments, included creature comforts such as small private sleeping cubbies, lockers, a shower, a toilet and a dart set.
On May 14, 1973, the space station — Skylab — was launched into orbit atop a modified Saturn V rocket. The launch did not go well. Vibrations caused a critical meteoroid shield to break off, taking one of the station’s solar panels with it. Part of the shield wrapped around the other solar panel, preventing its deployment and drastically cutting the power supply. The first crewed mission to the station, designated SL-2, was immediately focused on repairs. The loss of the thermal shield had raised the internal temperature beyond habitable levels and released toxic materials into the atmosphere. The crew deployed a collapsible parasol to shade the station and make it habitable, and later performed a spacewalk to free the remaining solar panel.
In the course of the three crewed missions to Skylab conducted between May 25, 1973 and Feb. 8, 1974, crews set records for time in orbit, living aboard the station for 28, 59 and 84 days. Astronauts completed around 2,000 hours of experiments and captured tens of thousands of photographs.
For missions of four to eight weeks, management at Houston believed the crews should be pampered, and good food was one way to make long missions tolerable — or perhaps more accurately, bad food was a sure way to make them intolerable. - Charles Benson & William Compton, "LIVING AND WORKING IN SPACE: A HISTORY OF SKYLAB"
Crew preferences tended strongly toward reading and recorded music — provided everyone could have his own private tape player; musical tastes were quite disparate. As it turned out, this was about as much entertainment as anyone wanted, or had time for. Amusing themselves in off hours was no problem for any of the crews. - Charles Benson & William Compton, "LIVING AND WORKING IN SPACE: A HISTORY OF SKYLAB"
When the last astronauts departed in February 1974, they left the hatch unlocked for later potential visitors. Numerous studies were conducted about possible future uses for the station, but none came to fruition. As Skylab’s orbit decayed, re-entry was initiated on July 11, 1979, with NASA aiming for a breakup over the southern Indian Ocean. Due to a calculation error, a significant amount of debris landed in southwestern Australia, for which the local government playfully fined NASA $400 for littering.
Visit Premier Exhibitions at 417 5th Avenue to see the past become present again at "Retronaut's New York." This pop-up exhibition of extraordinary, digitally restored photographs captures New York City at the turn of the 20th century. It's only open until May 15, so be sure to get down there before it’s gone.