Living and Working in Space: The NASA History of Skylab

544 Pages·2011·13.32 MB·English

by  William David Compton

LIVING WORKING
AND
SPACE
IN
A NASA HISTORY OF SKYLAB
W. David Compton
Charles D. Benson
Introduction to the Dover Edition by
Paul Dickson
Dover Publications, Inc.
Mineola, New York
NASA maintains an internal history program for two principal reasons. (1)
Publication of official histories is one way in which NASA responds to the
provision of the National Aeronautics and Space Act of 1958 that requires
NASA to “provide for the widest practicable and appropriate dissemination of
information concerning its activities and the results thereof.” (2) Thoughtful
study of NASA history can help managers accomplish the missions assigned to
the agency. Understanding NASA’s past aids in understanding its present
situation and illuminates possible future directions.
One advantage of working on contemporary history is access to participants.
During the research phase, the authors conducted numerous interviews.
Subsequently they submitted parts of the manuscript to persons who had
participated in or closely observed the events described. Readers were asked to
point out errors of fact and questionable interpretations and to provide
supporting evidence. The authors then made such changes as they believed
justified. The opinions and conclusions set forth in this book are those of the
authors; no official of the agency necessarily endorses those opinions or
conclusions.
Copyright Introduction copyright © 2011 by Paul Dickson
All rights reserved.
Bibliographical Note This Dover edition, first published in 2011, is a slightly altered republication of the
work originally published in NASA History Series (NASA SP—4208), Washington D.C., in 1983. The
color photos originally on pages 355–360 are now in black and white within the book, and have been
reproduced in color on the inside covers. The color artwork and information originally on the inside covers
has been moved to page xiv and has been reproduced in black and white. A new Introduction by Paul
Dickson has been added to this edition.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Compton, William David, 1927– Living and working
in space: a NASA history of skylab W. David Compton, Charles D. Benson. — Dover ed. introduction to the
Dover edition by Paul Dickson.
p. cm.
Originally published: Washington, D.C.: Scientific and Technical
Information Branch, National Aeronautics and Space Administration: For
sale by the Supt. of Docs., U.S. G.P.O., 1983; in series: NASA History
Series; and NASA SP; 4208. With new introd.
Summary: “The official record of America’s first space station, this book
from the NASA History Series chronicles the Skylab program from its
planning during the 1960s through its 1973 launch and its conclusion in
1979. It presents definitive accounts of the project’s goals and achievements
as well as its use of discoveries and technology developed during the
Apollo program. 1983 edition” — Provided by publisher.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 13: 978-0-486-48218-7 (pbk.)
ISBN 10: 0-486-48218-9 (pbk.)
1. Skylab Program. I. Benson, Charles D. II. Title.
TL789.8.U6S5546 2011
629.44'2—dc22
2011006734
Manufactured in the United States by Courier Corporation
48218901
www.doverpublications.com
Contents
INTRODUCTION TO THE DOVER EDITION
PREFACE
PART I. FROM CONCEPT THROUGH DECISION, 1962–1969
1. WHAT TO DO FOR AN ENCORE: POST-APOLLO PLANS
Directions for Manned Spaceflight
Space Stations after 1962
Sizing Up a Space Station
Air Force Seeks Role in Space
President Calls for NASA’s Plans
Mueller Opens Apollo Applications Program Office
2. FROM SPENT STAGE TO ORBITAL CLUSTER, 1965–1966
Early Proposals to Use Spent Stages
Marshall Sponsors the Spent Stage
Concept to Design: Bounding the Problem
Concept to Design: Defining the Workshop
The Cluster Concept
3. APOLLO APPLICATIONS: “WEDNESDAY’S CHILD,”
Initial Plans and Budgets
Seeking New Justification
AAP vs. MOL
Center Roles and Missions
Presidential Approval
4. A SCIENCE PROGRAM FOR MANNED SPACEFLIGHT
Science in Space to 1965
Organizing for Manned Space Science
Scientists and Man in Space
Solar Observatories in Orbit
Experiments for the Workshop
More Advice from the Scientific Community
5. YEARS OF UNCERTAINTY, 1967–1969
Impact of the Fire
Problems with the Cluster Missions
AAP under Internal Attack
Shrinking Budgets and Shrinking Program
The Wet Workshop Goes Dry
Retrospect and Prospect
PART II. DEVELOPMENT AND PREPARATIONS TO FLY, 1969–1973
6. MANAGING THE DESIGN PHASE
Moving Out of Apollo’s Shadow
A Second Skylab
Management Tools
The Problem of Changes
The Problem of Reentry
7. LIVING AND WORKING IN SPACE
Habitability of Early Spacecraft
Habitability of the Wet Workshop
Contribution of Industrial Designers
Habitability of the Dry Workshop
The Food System
Marshall Calls for a Reassessment
8. THE MEDICAL EXPERIMENTS
Defining the Experiments
A Space Toilet
Building the Medical Hardware
A Simulation and What Came of It
9. STUDYING THE SUN
Solar Instruments
Apollo Telescope Mount
Mission Plans and Operating Procedures
Technical Progress and Problems
10. LATE ADDITIONS TO THE EXPERIMENTS
Observing the Earth
Earth-Resource Experiments
Selecting the Investigators
Flight Planning and Instrument Development
Student Experiments
11. PUTTING THE PIECES TOGETHER
More Work for Contractors
Test Program
Module Development: Airlock and Docking Adapter
Trainers and Mockups
Module Development: The Workshop
Reentry Reexamined
12. PREPARATIONS FOR FLIGHT
Defining Center Responsibilities
Operations Planning in Houston
Huntsville Organizes for Mission Support
Test Pilot vs. Scientist-Astronaut
Crew Training
13. LAUNCHING SKYLAB
Selecting the Launch Complex
The Milkstool
Preparing a Launch Plan
Facility Modifications
Handling the Experiments
Relations with Huntsville
Problems of New Hardware
From Certification Review to Liftoff
PART III. THE MISSIONS AND RESULTS, 1973–1979
14. SAVING SKYLAB
The Accident
Maneuvering for Minimum Heat, Maximum Power
Assessing the Heat’s Effect
Devising a Sunshade
Plans to Increase Skylab’s Power
Launch and Docking
Accomplishing the Repair
Investigation Board
15. THE FIRST MISSION
Private Communications
Physical Fitness in Space
Flight Planning: The Astronauts’ View
Fight Planning: The Investigators’ View
The Long-Awaited Solar Flare
Critique of the First Mission
16. THE SECOND MISSION
Motion Sickness
A Rescue Mission?
Deploying the Twin-Pole Sunshade
Solar Viewing
Earth-Resource and Corollary Experiments
More Mechanical Problems
A Routine Day in Space
A Team of Overachievers
17. THE LAST MISSION
Changes to the Mission
An Error in Judgment
Activation
Getting to Work
First Month’s Accomplishments
A Comet for Christmas
Carr Calls for an Assessment
Around the World for 84 Days
Coming Back
18. RESULTS
Medical Findings
Solar Observations
Earth Observations
NASA’s Own Experiments
Comet Observations and Student Experiments
Skylab Science: An Assessment
19. WHAT GOES UP …
Plans to Save the Workshop
Regaining Control of Skylab
Last days of Skylab
APPENDIXES
A. Summary of the Missions
B. Major Contractors
C. International Aeronautical Federation World Records Set by Skylab
D. Experiments
E. Astronauts’ Biographies
F. Comet Kohoutek
G. Joint Observing Program 2, Active Regions
SOURCE NOTES
INDEX
THE AUTHORS
INTRODUCTION TO THE DOVER EDITION
Mention the word Skylab to people of a certain age and their eyes will most
likely look skyward for a fraction of a second. This is because during the spring
and early summer of 1979 the abandoned U.S. space station was drifting from its
decaying orbit and was heading back to earth. The cry went up: “Skylab is
falling! Skylab is falling!”
On March 28, the Three Mile Island nuclear reactor near Harrisburg,
Pennsylvania had a partial melt down. Coming two weeks after the release of the
nuclear disaster film, The China Syndrome, the dream of nuclear power as a
peaceful, environmentally sound option was over. Then Skylab crowded Three
Mile Island out of the headlines. People were initially afraid there would be
death and destruction. Technology suddenly seemed demonic.
On July 11, over six years after it went into orbit, Skylab fell to earth,
breaking up in the atmosphere and scattering its remains across the Indian Ocean
and the Australian outback. While there was no damage to life or property, there
was more than a little damage to NASA’s reputation, which in its post-lunar
landing phase was, as Time magazine later put it, “starting to look as adrift as
Skylab itself.” Nine days after the fall of Skylab the world celebrated the tenth
anniversary of the Apollo 11 moon landing, suggesting backward rather than
forward movement.
If there was anyone rejoicing, it was a seventeen-year-old beer truck driver
who found some charred Skylab fragments in his backyard. He bagged them up,
grabbed the next flight to California, and claimed the $10,000 prize, which a San
Francisco newspaper had offered to the first person to bring a piece of Skylab to
its office.
To this day there are many whose only recollection of Skylab was the fiery
return of the largest machine man had put into space. This is unfortunate because
the real story of Skylab is more complicated, heroic, and successful than that.
For starters, America’s first space station was something of a makeshift
thing. It was retrofitted from the enormous, nine-story tall, third stage of a
Saturn V booster, which would no longer be needed to send men to the moon
after the cancellation of the Apollo program. Skylab also picked up practical