天空实验室2号的最后一瞥

天空实验室2号的最后一瞥

During the Skylab 2 crew’s final fly-around inspection on June 22, 1973, they saw this overhead view of the Skylab space station. It has a single solar panel and a parasol solar shield, rigged to replace the micrometeoroid shield. A mishap in the original Skylab 1 liftoff and orbital insertion resulted in damage: both the second solar panel and the micrometeoroid shield were torn away. When commander Charles “Pete” Conrad, pilot Paul J. Weitz, and science pilot Joseph P. Kerwin launched to the Skylab space station, the first part of their mission was to make repairs to the station, resulting in a record-breaking spacewalk. In the second half of their mission, Conrad, Weitz, and Kerwin focused on completing as much science as possible, research being…

天空实验室1号发射50周年

天空实验室1号发射50周年

Clouds of smoke billow out over the surrounding area as the uncrewed Skylab 1/Saturn V space vehicle launches from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center on May 14, 1973. The Skylab 1 payload included the major components of the space station: the orbital workshop, Apollo Telescope Mount, multiple docking adapter, and airlock module. The Skylab 2 crew was scheduled to launch to the space station the following day aboard the Apollo Command and Service Module. Skylab helped pave the way for permanent operations in low-Earth orbit. Over the course of its human occupation from May 25, 1973, to Feb. 8, 1974, three crews visited Skylab, carrying out 270 scientific and technical investigations in the fields of physics, astronomy, and biological sciences. These activities were forerunners of what…