Skylab
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NASA
Observing Storms from Skylab
Skylab 3 astronauts witnessed many spectacular sights during their 858 orbital trips around the Earth in the summer of 1973. One involved watching powerful Hurricane Ellen take shape off the West African coast. “There’s a nice storm down there. She looks pretty big. She’s got a lot of clouds,” said astronaut Alan L. Bean upon viewing the storm from Skylab’s low-Earth orbit. Knowing…
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NASA
45 Years Ago: Skylab Reenters Earth’s Atmosphere
A few days before they left Skylab on Feb. 8, 1974, the final crew to occupy the station raised its altitude, hoping to keep it in orbit until a future space shuttle could revisit it. But higher than predicted solar activity caused the Earth’s atmosphere to expand, increasing drag on the large vehicle, causing its orbit to decay faster than…
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Press Releases
Skylab 4 Recovery Ends Program
The crewmen of the third and final manned Skylab mission relax on the USS New Orleans, prime recovery ship for their mission, about an hour after their Command Module splashed down at 10:17 a.m. (CDT), Feb. 8, 1974. The splashdown, which occurred 176 statute miles from San Diego, ended 84 record-setting days of flight activity aboard the Skylab space station cluster in…
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NASA
50 Years Ago: Skylab 4 Astronauts Return From Record-Breaking Spaceflight
The longest spaceflight up to that time ended on Feb. 8, 1974, when Skylab 4 astronauts Gerald P. Carr, Edward G. Gibson, and William R. Pogue splashed down in the Pacific Ocean after their 84-day mission aboard Skylab, America’s first space station. During their stay, they carried out a challenging research program, including biomedical investigations on the effects of long-duration space flight on the…
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NASA
50 Years Ago: Skylab 4 Astronauts Push Past the One-Month Mark
In December 1973, Skylab 4 astronauts Gerald P. Carr, Edward G. Gibson, and William R. Pogue passed the one-month mark of the third and final mission aboard the Skylab space station. Launching on Nov. 16, they began a planned 56-day flight that mission managers fully expected to extend to 84 days. They continued the science program begun by the previous two Skylab crews, including biomedical studies…
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NASA
Spacelab 1: A Model for International Cooperation
Forty years ago, in 1983, the Space Shuttle Columbia flew its first international spaceflight, STS-9. The mission included—for the first time—the European Space Agency’s Spacelab pressurized module and featured more than 70 experiments from American, Canadian, European, and Japanese scientists. Europeans were particularly proud of this “remarkable step” because “NASA, the most famous space agency on the globe,” included the laboratory…
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NASA
Thanksgiving Celebrations in Space
The Thanksgiving holiday typically brings families and friends together in a celebration of common gratitude for all the good things that have happened during the previous year. People celebrate the holiday in various ways, with parades, football marathons, and attending religious services, but food remains the over-arching theme. For astronauts embarked on long-duration space missions, separation from family and friends…
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NASA
50 Years Ago: Launch of Skylab 4, The Final Mission to Skylab
The third and final crewed mission to the Skylab space station, Skylab 4, got underway on Nov. 16, 1973, with a thunderous launch from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center (KSC) in Florida. Docking eight hours later, astronauts Gerald P. Carr, Edward G. Gibson, and William R. Pogue began a planned 56-day mission that program managers extended to a record-breaking 84 days. During their first month, as they…
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NASA
A View Through Skylab
Astronaut William R. Pogue, Skylab 4 pilot, recorded this wide scene of his crewmates, astronauts Edward G. Gibson (left), science pilot, and Jerry P. Carr (right), commander, on the other end of the orbital workshop on Feb. 1, 1974. Also in the frame are parts of three spacesuits, used on several EVA sessions during the third and final mission on the Skylab…
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NASA
60 Years Ago: NASA Selects Its Third Group of Astronauts
On Oct. 18, 1963, NASA announced the selection of its third group of astronauts. Chosen from 720 military and civilian applicants, the newest group of 14 astronauts comprised the best educated class up to that time. Seven represented the U.S. Air Force, four the U.S. Navy, one the U.S. Marine Corps, and two were civilians. NASA selected them to fly…
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