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Skylab 4
Part of Skylab

Skylab

Skylab
Credit: NASA

Record flight duration. Final Skylab mission; included observation and photography of Comet Kohoutek among numerous experiments. Rebellion by crew against NASA Ground Control overtasking led to none of the crew ever flying again.

AKA: Skylab. Launched: 1973-11-16. Returned: 1974-02-08. Number crew: 3 . Duration: 84.05 days. Location: National Air and Space Museum (Smithsonian Institution), Washington, DC.

Final Skylab mission; included observation and photography of Comet Kohoutek among numerous experiments. Completed 1,214 Earth orbits and four EVAs totaling 22 hours, 13 minutes. Increased manned space flight time record by 50%. Rebellion by crew against NASA Ground Control overtasking led to none of the crew ever flying again. Biological experiments included two Mummichog fish (Fundulus heteroclitus).

The space vehicle consisted of a modified Apollo CSM and a Saturn IB launch vehicle. All launch phase events were normal, and the CSM was inserted into a 150.1- by 227.08-km orbit. The rendezvous sequence was performed according to the anticipated timeline. Stationkeeping was initiated about seven and one-half hours after liftoff, and hard docking was achieved about 30 minutes later following two unsuccessful docking attempts. Planned duration of the mission was 56 days, with the option of extending it to a maximum of 84 days.

SKYLAB STATISTICAL SUMMARY

ORBITAL
PARAMETERS  268.1 x 269.5 Miles
 
ORBITAL
INCLINATION  50 Degrees
 
ORBITAL
PERIOD       APP. 93 MINUTES
 
DISTANCE/
ORBIT        26,575 MILES
 
DISTANCE
TRAVELED/Miles  SL-2          SL-3          SL-4          TOTALS
(MANNED) 11.5 Million   24.5 Million  34.5 Million  70.5 Million Miles
 
MISSION
DURATION    28 DAYS        59 DAYS        84 DAYS          171 DAYS
            49 MIN      11 HRS 9 MIN    01 HR 16 MIN    13 HRS 14 MIN
 
NUMBER
OF
REVOLUTIONS
(MANNED)      404           858             1214            2476
 
______________________________________________________________________

Skylab-4     MANHOUR UTILIZATION
 
MEDICAL ACTIVITIES            366.7   "        6.1   "
SOLAR OBSERVATIONS            519.0   "        8.5   "
EARTH RESOURCES               274.5   "        4.5   "
OTHER EXPERIMENTS             403.0   "        6.7   "
SLEEP, REST & OFF
             DUTY            1846.5   "       30.5   "
PRE/POST SLEEP &
           EATING            1384.0   "       23.0   "
HOUSEKEEPING                  298.9   "        4.9   "
PHYSICAL TRAINING
& PERSONAL HYGIENE            384.5   "        6.4   "
OTHER (EVA) ETC               571.4   "        9.4   "
 
                    TOTAL:   6048.5   "       100    "
 
 
Skylab TOTALS FOR SL-2, SL-3 AND SL-4
 
MEDICAL ACTIVITIES            824.5   "         6.9  "
SOLAR RESOURCES               941.3   "         7.9  "
EARTH RESOURCES               569.4   "         4.8  "
OTHER EXPERIMENTS             712.0   "         6.0  "
SLEEP, REST & OFF
             DUTY            3746.6   "        31.5  "
PRE/POST SLEEP &
           EATING            2836.8   "        23.8  "
HOUSEKEEPING                  560.9   "         4.7  "
PHYSICAL TRAINING
& PERSONAL HYGIENE            642.9   "         5.4  "
OTHER (EVA) ETC              1083.6   "         9.0  "
 
                    TOTAL:  11918.0   "       100    "
 
======================================================================
 
EXPERIMENT PERFORMANCE
                        SL-2         SL-3        SL-4        TOTALS
                      HOURS   %    HOURS   %    HOURS  %    HOURS   %
SOLAR ASTRONOMY       117.2  29.9  305.1  28.2  519.0 33.2  941.3 31.0
EARTH OBSERVATIONS     71.4  18.2  223.5  20.6  274.5 17.6  569.4 18.8
STUDENT                 3.7   0.9   10.8   1.0   14.8  0.9   29.3  0.9
ASTROPHYSICS           36.6   9.4  103.8   9.6  133.8  8.5  274.2  9.0
MAN/SYSTEMS            12.1   3.1  117.4  10.8   83.0  5.3  212.5  7.0
MATERIALS SCIENCE       5.9   1.5    8.4   0.8   15.4  1.0   29.7  1.0
LIFE SCIENCE          145.3  37.0  312.5  29.0  366.7 23.5  824.5 27.2
KOHOUTEK              -----  ----  -----  ----  156.0 10.0  156.0  5.1
 
     TOTALS           392.2  100  1081.5  100  1563.2 100  3036.9 100
 
======================================================================
 
EXTRAVEHICULAR ACTIVITIES
                        SL-2         SL-3        SL-4
STAND UP EVA          05-25-73
                      33 MIN
 
EVA 1                 06-07-73     08-06-73     11-22-73
                   4 HRS 10 MIN  6 HRS 31 MIN  6 HRS 33 MIN
 
EVA 2                 06-19-73     08-24-73     12-25-73
                   1 HR  37 MIN  4 HRS 30 MIN  6 HRS 51 MIN
 
EVA 3                              09-22-73     12-29-73
                                 2 HRS 42 MIN  3 HRS 30 MIN
 
EVA 4                                           02-03-74
                                               5 HRS 19 MIN
 
 
TOTALS:            6 HRS 20 MIN  13 HRS 43 MIN  22 HRS 13 MIN
                                             TOTAL TIME: 41 HRS 22 MIN
 
======================================================================
 
DATE RETURNED
                        SL-2         SL-3        SL-4       TOTALS
SOLAR OBSERVATIONS   28739 FRAMES  74942 FRMS   73366 FRMS 177047 FRMS
EARTH OBSERVATIONS
     FILM             9846 FRAMES  16800 FRMS   19400 FRMS  46146 FRMS
     MAGNETIC TAPE   45000 FT      93600 FT    100000 FT   238600 FT
 
======================================================================
 
SKYLAB SUMMARY (CONCLUDED)
 
EXPERIMENT SUMMARY          PLANNED       ACTUAL   PERCENT DEVIATION
 
Earth Observation Passes       62           99         + 60    %
Solar Viewing Time            566   hrs   724.7 hrs    + 27.5  %
Manned Solar Viewing Time     879.5 hrs   941.3 hrs    +  7.1  %
Biomedical Investigations     701         922          + 32    %
Engineering/Tech Inves.       264         245          -  3.4  %
Materials/Space Manuf. Inves.  10          32          +220    %
Astrophysics Investigations   168         345          +105    %
Student Exp. Investigations    44          52          + 18    %
 
Science Demonstrations         26          11          - 42    %
                                            (OPTIONAL SL-4 ONLY)
 
CONSUMABLE UTILIZATION
 
               LAUNCH         END OF MISSION      CONSUMABLES USED
 
Water          6000 LBS       1710 LBS            4290 LBS
Oxygen         6100 LBS       2764 LBS            3336 LBS
Nitrogen       1540 LBS        607 LBS             933 LBS
TACS          80000 LBS-SEC  12488 LBS           67512 LBS-SEC
 
Note: over 12% of the TACS were used during the first 10 days of the
mission
 
 


More at: Skylab 4.

Family: Manned spaceflight. People: Carr, Gibson, Edward, Pogue. Country: USA. Spacecraft: Apollo CSM. Launch Sites: Cape Canaveral. Agency: NASA Houston.
Photo Gallery

Skylab 4Skylab 4
Credit: www.spacefacts.de


Skylab 4Skylab 4
Launch of the Skylab 4/Saturn 1B space vehicle
Credit: NASA


Skylab 4Skylab 4
Astronaut Edward Gibson stands at Apollo Telescope Mount in Skylab
Credit: NASA


Skylab 4Skylab 4
Astronaut Gerald P. Carr flies the Astronaut Manoeuvring Equipment in the OWS
Credit: NASA


Skylab 4Skylab 4
Skylab 4 crewmen passing trash bags in to the OWS waste disposal tank
Credit: NASA


Skylab 4Skylab 4
View of Skylab 4 Command/Service module in docked configuration
Credit: NASA


Skylab 4Skylab 4
Astronaut Gerald Carr during EVA on Skylab 4
Credit: NASA


Skylab 4Skylab 4
View of a South Pacific storm photographed from Skylab space station
Credit: NASA


Skylab 4Skylab 4
View of portion of Queensland, Australia from Skylab space station
Credit: NASA


Skylab 4Skylab 4
View of Melbourne, Australia as seen from Skylab space station
Credit: NASA



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