Skylab 2

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Skylab 2
Mission Insignia
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
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 portrait (L-R: Kerwin, Conrad and Weitz)
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

[edit] Crew

*Number in parentheses indicates number of spaceflights by each individual prior to and including this mission.

[edit] Backup Crew

[edit] Support Crew

[edit] Mission parameters

  • Mass: 19,979 kg
  • Maximum Altitude: 440 km
  • Distance: 18,536,730.9 km
  • Launch Vehicle: Saturn IB


  • 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,

[edit] 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

[edit] See also

[edit] Mission highlights

S-IVB-206 which was used for the Skylab 2 flight
Enlarge
S-IVB-206 which was used for the Skylab 2 flight
Skylab Station Viewed by Skylab 2 Command Module
Enlarge
Skylab Station Viewed by Skylab 2 Command Module

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 spaceflight, greatest distance traveled and greatest mass docked in space. Conrad set the record for most time in space for an astronaut.

[edit] Spacecraft location

The command module they flew to the station in is displayed at the National Museum of Naval Aviation, Pensacola, Florida.

[edit] References



Skylab
Skylab 1 | Skylab 2 | Skylab 3 | Skylab 4 | Skylab Rescue (unflown)
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