Skylab 2
| Mission 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 24° 45' N - 127° 2' W |
| 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 | |
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.)
Crew
- Pete Conrad (4), commander
- Paul Weitz (1), pilot
- Joseph Kerwin (1), science pilot
(1) number of spaceflights each crew member has completed, including this mission.
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
The first crew to visit the Skylab space station started their mission with home repairs. Skylab's meteorite and sunshield had torn loose during launch, and one of its two remaining solar panels was jammed. Due to concerns that high temperatures inside the workshop- the result of no sunshield-would release toxic materials and ruin onboard 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. The Skylab 2 astronauts spent 28 days in space, which doubled the previous U.S. record.
On May 25, 1973, a crew was sent to the facility for maintenance and refit aboard an Apollo capsule. This mission used the command/service module only and not the Apollo lander. During the mission three EVA were conducted including the deployment of a sunshade to replace one torn off during launch of the station. In orbit the crew conducted solar astronomy and Earth resources experiments, medical studies, and five student experiments; 392 hours of experiments were completed.
The mission lasted until June 22, 1973. Skylab 2 splashed down in the Pacific Ocean 9.6 km from the recovery ship, U.S.S. 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
- Skylab Saturn 1B flight manual (PDF) September 1972
- NASA Skylab Chronology
- Marshall Space Flight Center Skylab Summary
- Skylab 2 Characteristics SP-4012 NASA HISTORICAL DATA BOOK
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