Skylab Illustrated Chronology, 1962-1973

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SKYLAB ILLUSTRATED CHRONOLOGY1962 - 1973

BYDavid S.Akens

HISTORICAL STAFFManagement Services OrriceGEORGE C. MARSHALLSPACE FLIGHT CENTER

NATIONAL AERONAUTICS AM) PACE ADMINISTRATION

MHR 9A&PS-M S-HMay 1,1973


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TABLE OF CONTENTSPage

1962-1965 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11966 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51967 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 131968 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 211969 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 271970 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 391971 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 571972 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 51973 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91List of Abbreviations and Acronyms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 101References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 105

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INTRODUCTIONSkylab is Americas frrst experim enta) space station. Dwarfing previous man ned sp acecraft,this huge cluster of hardw are includes roomy living qua rters and laboratories equipped w ithcomplex scientific equipm ent fo r three astronauts.Schedules call for three separate three-man crews to visit Skylab, living and iorking therefor periods up to 56 days. In Skylabs unusual environmen t, high above earths atmosp herein th e w eightlessness and vacuum of space, they then un dertake the m ost intensive spaceresearch yet defined. Here they look u p to study the sun, look down to observe the earth,and look inward to evaluate mans ability to work successfully in zero-gravity for longperiods. N o laboratory on earth can provide the answers to questions asked in the Skylabexperiments.At an altitude of 435 kilometers (270 statute miles) Skylab is programmed to speed aroundthe ear th in an easterly direction in an orbit a t a 50-degree angle from the equators plane.I ts path reaihes 5551 kilometers (3450 miles) no rth and south of the equator , crisscrossingmost of the earths surface except for the Arctic and Antarctic. Moving at 8 kilometers ( 5miles) per second, it completes an orbit in 93 minu tes. Its sensitive instrum ents are capableof observing and recording millions of bits of data abo ut earths land, sea, and air; abou t thesun; and a bout the condi t ion of the crew members themselves.The Skylab flight program begins with liftoff of the unmanned w orkshop from the KennedySpace Center on a two-stage Saturn V vehicle. Skylab then maneuvers into its plannedattitude, points toward the sun, swings its solar observatory 90 degrees from the verticallaunch position to op eration position, and pressurizes its quarte rs with an oxygen-nitrogenenvironment to make ready for the arrival of the astronauts. One day after the Saturn Vlaunch a Saturn 1B boosts an Apollo spacecraft and the first three-man crew into a low ea rthorb it. Using the spacecrafts service propulsion system, the astrona uts climb to the Skylabsalti tude, dock, and enter. After 28 days they reenter their spacecraft and return to earth fora splashdown in the Pacific Ocean. About 60 days after the first crews return, anotherSaturn IB starts a second crew on a visit to Skylab , this time for 56 days. And 30 days afterthe second crews return to a Pacific recovery area, a third crew lifts off for another %dayflight. Recovery of th e third crew is in the Pacific Ocean.Skylab is the most ambitious project in space to date. The chronology within this booka t tempts in some small measure todocument those major events that led to such a majorspace feat. This chrono logy covers NASA-wide events in general and some MSFC events ingreater detail.

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Appreciation is expressed to personnel of the MSFC Skylab Program Office as well as to thepublications personnel of Hayes Corporation who have been unusually helpful inpreparation of this Skylab Chronology.

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1962 - 1965

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November 1962 - December 19651962

NOVEMBER: The first documented report tosuggest use of an S-IVB stage as a labo rato ry inspace was published by Douglas AircraftCompany. Meanwhile, at MSFC similar ideaswere generating, though not yet to the extentof being published as a report [ 1 .

1965

M A R C H : MSFC program analysts anddevelopers were beginning to use the termsspent stage and wet workshop in referenceto the possiblity of taking fuel from an S-IVBstage in space and then using the stage as alaboratory [21.AUGUST 6: Dr. George E. Mueller, AssociateAdministrator for Manned Space Flight, NASAHeadquarters, announced the establishment atHeadquarters of an Apollo ApplicationsProgram Office. Being effective with thisa n n o u n cement, the Apollo Applicat ionsProgram came into existence, replacing the oldApollo Exten sion Systems Program [ 3 ] .AUGUST 20: As a part of MSFCs activitiesrelative to the Apollo Extension SystemProgram, a concept was identified whichsh ow ed po ten t ia l fo r a comprehensiveaccomp lishment of expe riments associatedwith the earth orbital phase of the program.This concept , the S-IVB Orbital Workshop,involves an in-orbit conversion of a spentS-IVB stage to a shelter suitable for habitationand utilization by man. A four-monthconceptual design study was initiated tofu r th e r d e f i i e this concept and its potential.Both MSC and Douglas Aircraft were toparticipate in this study [4 .

AUGUST 25: A Technical Working Gro up wasestablished at MSFC for the S-IVB Conceptualdesign study under the cochairmanship of J.Laue and W. Thom pson (R-P&VE-AB)[5 1 .SEPTEMBER 10: The Apollo ExtensionSystem was formally redesignated ApolloApplications [ 6 ] .OCTOBER 20: MSFC nd MSC eld th eir firstcoordinat ion meeting o n the S-IVB W orkshopand the related A N experiment activities. Oneof the m ajor requests from this meeting was arequirement for the S-IVB/Apollo CSMWorkshop concept t o handle an artificialgravity experiment. MSFC, with support fromDAC and Langley, was going to create thesed es ig n co n cep t s . Lan g ley h ad a l r ead ycompleted considerable effort on the MORLand their supp orting technology programs inthis area [7 . IDECEMBER 1: Dr. George Mueller gaveMSFC the go-ahead for the Orbital Workshop.MSFC was directed to present a ProgramDevelopment Plan at th e M anagement CouncilMeeting to be held on December 21 and 22 .Dr. Mueller desired th at the Workshop beflown on SA-209. In addit ion to the plan,MSFC was also requested t o present the workthat had been done in execution of the plan.Furtherm ore, i t was decided tha t the Workshopwould be a project of MSFC with Mr. WilliamFerguson in charge [81.DECEMBER 23: In a memo to the Gemin iProject Manager at MSC, MSFC solicited theirassistance, as well as that of McDonnellAircraft, in determining the feasibiIity of usingGemini subsystems on the Airlock spliceexper iment . Dur ing the course o f theD e c e m b e r OMSF Management CouncilMeeting, Dr. Mueller directed that McDonnellAircraft appraise the applicability of theGem ini hardware for this purpose 191.

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1966

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January - March 19661966

JANUARY 1: MSFC Director Wernher vonBraun named Dr. J.C. McCall to organize andmanage the Experiments and ApplicationsOffice, which would manage MSFCs port ionof the Apollo App lications Program I 101.F E B R U A R Y 25: To summarize prioragreem ents and discussions, a TWX was sent byNASA Headquarters to MSFC and MSCdelineating responsibilities. MSFC was giventhe overall system design and integrationresponsibility for the S-IVB Workshop. Thedesign objective was for a 30day flightcapability, with a lower limit of 14 days. MSCGemini Program Office had contractual anddetail design responsibility for the AirlockM o d u l e , w h i c h w o u l d u t i l i z e G e m i n iCom pone nts wherever feasible [ 1 I 1 .MARCH 23: The Apollo Extension Systemshad been proposed as a program to utilizeApollo S aturn capabilities and hardware to f lyfuture missions and thereby to minimize theinitial development cost of new systems.Subsequently , . the name of the project waschanged to Apollo Applications. NASAs firstofficially released schedule in the ApolloApplications Program (AAP) was ScheduleML-4, eleased by N ASA o n March 23, 1966.This schedule called for 26 Saturn IB launchesand 19 Saturn V launches. Involved in th elaunches would be three S-IVB/Spent StageExperiment Support Modules (SSESM), threeSaturn V Workshops, and four ApolloTelescope Mounts (ATMS). his schedule alsoincluded f ive lunar missions and twosynchronous orbit missions. According to thisML-4 schedule, the first S-IVB/SSESM wouldbe launched in April 1958. Early groundrulesestabl ished at the t ime of the ML-4 chedulecalled for noninterference with the basicApol lo Lunar Landing Program, minimumm o d i f i c a t i o n of Apollo hardware, andcompatibility with Apollo launch vehicles.Prior to t h e ML-4 schedule, the program plans

included two phases : (1 ) Phase 1 -short-duration (nominal 14 days) orbitalmissions using unmodified Apollo 3lock I1h a r d w a r e , a n d ( 2 ) P h a s e I 1 -


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May - July 1966

APOLLO TELESCOPE MOUNTM A Y 23: The M a n n e d S p a c e Flig htE xperiments Board approved ExperimentS 0 2 7 . Galactic X-Ray Mapping, for assignmentto the Apollo Ap plication s Program [ 131.MAY 27: NASA announced selection of tw oaerospace companies for negotiation of parallelI -year study contracts covering integration ofe x p e r i m e n t s a n d e x p e ri m e n ts su pp or tequipment for manned Apollo Applications.Fach contract was estimated at 1 milliondollars. The tw o firms selected werz th eLockheed Missiles and Sp ace Com pany and theMartin Company [ 141 .JUNE 6: Douglas Aircraft Corporation wasauthorized to cut holes in the LH2 ank andperform other modifications on the S-IVB(210) Stage in preparation for the S-lVB/SpentStage in preparation for the S-IVB/Spent StageExperiment Support Module [ 15 1 .JUNE 27: Th e es t ab l i sh men t o f t h eSaturn/Apollo Applications Program Oftice atMSFC under the direction of Mr. Leland F.Belew was officially approved by the NASAAdministrator [ 16 .

EARLY CM/ATM CONCEPTUSING APOLLOHARDWARE

J U L Y 3: T h c MSFC S a t u r n / A p o l l oApplications Program Office fornialized t h efol lowing appoin tments [ 17 1 :Stanley R. Reiriartz. Ikputy Managerllilniar W. aenisch, Assistanr ManagerJack C . Swearingen, Man ager, ProgramControl OfficeRein Ise, Manager. Apollo TclescopcMount ProjectJack H . Waite, Manager, MissionPlanning and Exp erime nts froject (no wExperiment Devclopment an d PayloadEvalu at on Project)

JULY 18: Effective this date, Dr. George E.M u e l l e r a s s i g n e d O M S F m a n a g e m e n tresponsibility for development of the S-IVBWorkshop and the Spen t Stagc ExperimentSupport Module (SSESM) to the Director ,Saturn/A pollo Applicat ions [ 181.

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September - December 1966DO22 E x p a n d a b l e S t r u c t u r e s f o rRecovery

OCTOBER 3: John A. Chambers was assignedas Manager , Test , Rel iabi l i ty , Qual i tyAssurance, and Safety Office i n the MSFCSaturn/Apollo Applications Program Office[ 2 6 1 -OCTOBER 31: Configuration and missionstudies were conducted during the months ofSeptember an d October toward fulfilling thefollowing goals: an operating set of. modulessuitable for reuse and resupply in 1969; at leastone 3-man, 28 d ay mission; at least one 3-man,5 6 d a y mission; an d the maximum amount ofsolar observations possible [271.NOVEMBER 21: The Manned Space FlightExperiment Board approved the followingchanges to th e list of corollary experiments forthe Apollo Applications Program [ 28 ] .Expen ments added were as follows:

M053M055TO17TO20TO21TO22SO17so19so20SO63

SO65

Human Vestibular FunctionTime & Motion StudyMeteoroid Impact & ErosionJet ShoesMeteoroid VelocityHeat PipeX-Ray Astronom yW Stellar AstronomyW/X-Ray Solar PhotographyU V A i r g l o w H o r i z o nPhotographyMultiband Terrain Photography

NOVEMBER 30: Charles W. Mathews, MSCGemini Program Manager, was named Directorof Saturn-Apollo Applications in the NASAHeadquarters Office of Manned Space FlightWI.DECEMBER 5: With Schedule ML-SB, issuedby NASA, the cluster concept entered the AAPdesign following studies com pleted a sho rt tim eearlier. The ML-SB schedule called for 22Saturn IB and 15 Saturn V launches. Includedin the launch of the 22 Saturn IBs would betwo Saturn 1Bs launched approximately a dayapart , one Saturn IB manned and the other oneunmanned. Amo ng the Saturn flights scheduledin ML-5B would be flights utilizing t wo SaturnV Workshops and four I,M/ATM missions.Lunar missions were also included in thisschedule. The ML-5B cluster concept wasconsidered to consist of a workshop to belaunched following a manned vehicle launch,and, 6 months later, a LM/ATM launchfollowing another manned mission. TheLM/ATM would rendezvous and dock to thecluster. According to the ML-SB schedule, thefirst workshop launch would be in June 1968.T he S-IVB/SSESM had been a comparativelysimple mission, requiring no rendezvous anddocking and no habitation equipm ent, but theML-SB schedule reflected the sophisticatedh a bitable Orbital Workshop a nd clusterconcept, a much more complex program. Theo n e m ajor s imi la ri ty be tween the o ldS-IVB/SSESM concept and the cluster conceptwas that both utilized the propulsive S-IVBstage to put the payload into orbit prior topassivation and pressurization of the hydrogentank in orbit. But, this new concept providedfor the major step of making the Saturn-IVBhabitable by passivating and pressurizing thehydrogen tank in orbi t for a workshopenvironment that later would be called thewet workshop. A two-gas atmosphere ofo x y g e n a n d n i t ro g e n r ep la c ed t h eS-IVB/SSESM one-gas oxygen system. and ashirt-sleeve environm ent was incorporated. The

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January -March 19671967

JANUARY 26: George E. Mueller, in abriefing a t NASA Headqua rters, said th at planswere to form an embryonic space station in1968-1969 by clustering four AA payloadslaunched with Uprated Saturn I boosters. Thef i t mission would be the launch of a mannedlaunch of a spend S-IVB tage converted into aworkshop. After the two spacecraft haddocked, the crew would enter the workshopthrough an airlock. They would prepare theworkshop fo r storage and r eturn to earth intheir spacecraft 28 days later. In three to sixmonths, a second manned capsule would belaunched on a 56-day mission to deliver aresupply module to the workshop andrendezvous with an unmanned ATM, th efourth and last launch of the series. The clusterwould be joined with multiple dockinglaunched o n S-IVBworkshop. Emphasizing theimportance of manning the ATM, Dr. Muellersaid: ...if the re is o n e thing the scientificcommunity is agreed on it is that when youwant to have a major telescope instrument inspace it need s to be manned ... [32].

spazcr:,.aft, fc!!cl;/& cJeye:d days !ater *b y

FEBRUARY 6: The Manned Space Flight. Experiment Board approved the followingchanges to th e iist of corollary experim ents forthe Apollo Applications Program. The twoe x p e r i m e n t s a d d e d w e r e M 0 1 8(Vectorcardiogram) and M423 (HydrostaticGasBearing) 1331.

MARCH 2: NASA announced MSFC woulddesign and build in-house a multiple dockingadapter (MDA) for use in an AA payloadcluster scheduled for launch in 196869.P r e l i m i n a r y d e s i g n s c al l e d fo r a1 0 - f o o t - d i a m e t e r , 1 5-foot-long cylindersurrounded by five 3dinch -diame ter tunnelswith docking collars and sealing hatches fororbital docking [ 34 ] .

MARCH 12: NASA agreed to fly four DoDexperiments on Apollo Applications missionsto support the Air Forces Manned OrbitingLaboratory. Experiments selected were: studyof an inflatable elastic airlock; use of alternaterestraints to determine standard workshoptechnique in weightlessness; evalua tion of suitdonning and sleep stations; and integration ofmultipurpose equipm ent maintenance [351 .MARCH 15: The Naval Research Laboratoryawarded a subcontract to Ball BrothersCorporation for the production ,of the ATMNRL experiments. Prior subcontract had beenlet with Ball for production of the HighAltitude Observatory experiment on JanuaryI 1, 196 5, and f or Harvard College Obs ervatoryExperiment on December 2 7 , 1 9 6 6 f 3 6 1 .

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M A R C H 2 0 : M S F C . a w a r d e d B e n d ixC o r p o r a t i o n a 7 . 4 - m i l l i o n - d o l l a r ,cost-plus-award-fee contract for developmentand production of A T M pointing controlsystem (PCS). Bendix would produce threeunits by August. The ATM system wouldpermit Apollo astronauts to point a telescopeto selected regions of the sun during a periodof maximum solar flare activities beginning inlate 1968. American O ptical Com pany , unde r a740,460-dollar contract, would build adynamic simulator for use in developing thePCS 1371.M A R C H 20: The Manned Space FlightExperiment Board approved the followingchanges to th e list of corollary ex perime nts forthe Apollo Applications Program. ExperimentSO16 (Trapped Particles Asymmetry) wasadded to th e pmgmm [381.MARCH 24: NASA decided to add two solararray wings to its Apollo Applications ProgramOrbital Workshop. The solar array wings on theOWS would be 180 deg apart and run thelength of th e OWS. This addition was deemednecessary because of the increased electrical

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March - July 1967power requirements resulting from habitationof the workshop. Until this change inrequirem ent, the CSM had been considered theprimary power source for the cluster except forthe Apollo Telescope Mount which would stillhave its own solar arrays and power systemWI.

CLUSTER WITH SOLAR ARRA Y WINGSADDED TO WORKSHOP

EARLY 1967STUDY CONFIGURATION OFTETHERED LM/ATM

APR IL 28: Douglas Aircraft Corporationmerged with M cDonnell Aircraft Corp oratio nand became known as McDonnell DouglasCorporation 1401.M A Y 24: NASA realigned its Apollo and AAPlaunch schedules as a result of the accident inearly 1967. This new AAP schedule ML-6called for 25 Saturn IB and 14 Saturn Vlaunches. Major hard ware involved in theselaunches would be two workshops flown onSaturn IB vehicles, two Saturn V Workshops.and three ATMs. Also planned were nine lunarmissions and one MARS mission calledVoyager. According to this new May 24, 1967,schedule the first launch of a workshop wouldbein Janua ryof1969 1413 .J U N E 26: The Manned Space F l igh tExperiment Board approved the followingchanges to t he list of corollary experimen ts fo rt h e Apollo Applications Program. TO23(Surface Adsorbed Materials) and MS08 (EVAHardware Evaluation) were added and M 4 6 6(Suits and Lunar Hardware) and M 4 8 6(Astronaut EVA Equipment) were deletedJ U L Y 1 7 : The Manned Space Fl ightExperiment Board approved the followingchanges to the list of corollary experime nts forthe Apollo Applications Program [ 4 3 ]. Thefollowing experiments were added :

[421.

TO13 CrewlVehicle DisturbanceM0.56 N o n - G r a v i m e t r i c M a s sMeasurementM0.58 H u m a n Mass MeasurementDeviceT O O 3 In-Fligh t KephelometerM509 A s t r o n a u t M a n e u v e r i n gEquipment

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July - September 1967SO05 Synoptic Terrain PhotographySO06 Synoptic Weather PhotographySO28 Dim Light Photography

J U L Y 26: NASA awarded The BoeingCompany a $2.275-million, cost-plus-fixed-feecon ract for procurement of long-lead-timematerials for two additional Saturn V launchvehicles. The contract, which would expireJanuary 1, 1968, was the first Saturn Vprocurement in suppor t of AA program [ 4 4] .JULY 26: NASA selected Martin MariettaC o r p o r a t i o n t o n e g o t i a t e a 27-month,

INTERIOR OF ORBITAL WORKSHOPSHOWING COMMON FLOOR$ 2 SZmill ion, cost-pf&ncentive-award feec o n t r a c t f o r p a y l o a d i nt eg ra ti on ofe x p e r i m e n t s a n d e x p e r i m e n t su pp ortequ ipment on A A spacecraft. Tasks would beperformed a t NASAs three manned spaceflightcenters: ( 1 ) MSFC work would involve theOrbital Workshop and Apollo Telescope Mount(ATM); (2 ) MSC work, the meteorological andearth resources payloads; and (3) KSC work,the test integration planning and support forlaunch operations. Selection of contractorfollowed com petitive definition phase in whichMartin Marietta Corporation and LockheedMissiles & Space Com pany studied AA payloadi n t e g r a t i o n u n d e r p ar al le l, $2-million,fixed-price contracts [451.JULY 28: NASA decided to incorporate theWorkshops two floors in to one commongrated floor in th e OWS crew quarters to saveweight. This concept required the crewquarters to be on one side of the floor and alarge open area on the opposite side of th efloor, permitting experiment Inter-VehicularActivity (IVA) in the hydrogen tank dome[MI.

SEPTEMBER 1: MSFC returned a McDonnellDouglas-built S-IVB orbital workshop mocku pto the contractors Space Systems Center inH u n t i n g t o n B e a c h , C a l i f o r n i a , fo rincorporation of a number of design changes.Following modification, the mockup wouldrepresent the S-IVB stage as a manned spacelaboratory designed for use in the AAP. T h edesign changes included relocation of a floorseparating two sections of the stages LH2tank, addition of a ceiling and other fixtures,and relocation of some of the experimentstations 1471.SEPTEMBER 18: The Manned Space FlightExperiment Board approved the followingchanges to the list of corollary experim ents forthe Apollo Applications Program. Experim entsSO5 1 (Daytime Sodium Cloud) and M415(Thermal Control Coatings) were added andExperiments M484 (Orbital WorkshopArtificial G) , M488 (High Pressure Gas

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September - November 1967E x p u l s i o n ) , a n d DO18 ( I n t e g r a t e dMaintenance) were deleted 1481.SEPTEMBER: Jeffery T. Hamilton wasassigned as the Acting MSFC Representative a tManned Spacecraft Cen ter as announ ced by Dr.Wernher yon Braun, Director, MSFC, n a letterto Dr. Robert R. Gilruth, Director, MSC. Inaddition to his duties of MSFC Representative,H a m i l t o n also served as SaturnfApolloApp lications Representative [49 .OCTOBER 3: NASA published its kAf)schedule ML-7, a schedule that reflectedcurrent budgetary restraints. This schedulereflected the reduced A M lunar activity tofour missions and Saturn V Workshop activitycalling for only 17 Saturn IB and seven SaturnV launches. During this program of 24 Saturnlaunches, there would be tw o Workshopslaunched on Saturn IB vehicles, one Saturn VWorkshop, an d three ATMs. Launch of thefirst Workshop was scheduled for March 1970[ S o l .

M P O.2 LAUNCH CONFIGURATION(CUTAWAY SHOWING M D A )

OCTOBER 26: An active cooling system{fluid chculation) was incorporated into theATM thermal system to meet temperaturecon tro l reciuirements [5 1] .NOVEMBER 9: NASA achieved a criticalpoint in the Apollo Program with the Apollo 4flight (AS-Sol), an all-up launch from LC-39a t KSC a t 7:OO a.m., EST. The flight, termedperfect, demonstrated that the spacecraft,heat shield, and lunar rocket met programrequirements [521:N O V E M B E R 13: A N A S A R e s i d e n t .Management Office was established at MartinMarietta Corporation, Denver Division, to aidin the management of the payload integrationc o n t r a c t ( N A S 8 - 2 1 0 0 4 ) a n d ApolloApplications Program (AAP). W.E. Davidsonwas appointed the joint MSFC/MSC ResidentManager, repo rting organizationally to L.F.Belew, MSFC 53 .NOVEMBER 20: The Manned Space FlightExperiment Board approved the followingchanges to the list of corollary experime nts forthe Apollo Applications Program IS41.Experiment TO22 (Heat Pipe) was deleted andthe following experim ents were added :

TO25 C o ron ograpfi ContaminationMeasurementsTO27 A T M C o n t a m i n a t i o nMeasurementsSO73 Gegenschein/Zodiacal LightSO39 Day-Night Camera Sy stemSO43 IR Temperature SoundingSO49 IR Interferometer SpectrometerSO50 I R T e m p e r a t u r e P r o f i l eRadiometerS O 7 5 E l e c - S c a n M i c r o w a v eRadiometer

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November 1967S100 Metric CameraSI 01 Multiband Pho tographyS102 Du a ]-Channel Scanner-ImagerSI 03 Short Wavelength S pectrom eter,S104 M i c r o w a v e T e m p e r a t u r eSounderD O 1 7 S o l i d E l e c t r o l y t e C a r b o nDioxide Reduction

NOVEMBER 27: NASAs Apollo App iicationsProgram Director, Charles W. Mathew s, listedbasic objectives for AAP: Long-duration spaceflights of men and systems based on uniquecapabilities of man, habitability, biomedical

and behavioral considerations and systemsdevelopment; scientific investigations in earthorbit based on solar astronomy, eartho b s e r v a t i o n s , a n d s t e l l a r a s t r o n o m y ;ap p l i ca t i o n s i n ea r th o rb i t b ased onm e t e o r o l o g y , e a r t h r es o u rc es , a n dc o m m u n i c a t i o n s ; a n d e x t e n d e d l u n a rexploration. The activities involved in [ A M ]represent major steps in the utilization of o u rpart icular , increased knowledge on theeffective integration of men into the totalsystem should accomplish much in determiningthe character, systems configurations. andoperational approach in future programs. Theability to capitalize on the large investmentsalready made in the Apollo Program affordsthe opportunity to carry on this work in[ A N ] in an efficient and economical manner[551*

- p a b b*. d..A.Y.V.UC.V..nt.3t;nn 2nd g p p l i ~ a t l ~ n s . n

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1968

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1968

JANUARY 9: A contract was awarded byMSFC to Perkin Elmer for the ATM H-Alphatelescopes [561.J A N U A R Y 9: NASA budgetary restraintswqi-iire? an additional cut in AAP launches, asrefiected in the AAP Launch Readiness andDelivery Schedule ML-13A released byNASA. The reduced program called for 1 2Saturn IB and 3 Saturn V launches, includingone Workshop launched on a Saturn II3 vehicle,and the program also called for one Saturn VWorkshop and one ATM. Two lunar missionswere planned. Launch of the first Workshopwould be in April 1970.This schedule providedfor a 15-month break in Saturn V productionwith zero funding in FY 1 9 6 9 [571.

January -April 1968JANUARY 25: The Post Apollo AdvisoryC o m m i t t e e , a u t h o r i z e d b y t h e N A S AA d m i n i s t r a t o r t o e v a lu a te a nd m ak er e c o m m e n d a t i o n s on post-Apollo spaceactivities, held a meeting at MSFC. Thecom mittee, headed by Dr. Floyd Thomps on,Special Assistant to the Administrator, heldthree additional meetings - February 15,1968. a t M S C; March 12, 1968, atHeadquarters; and March 25 I% 6, 1968, atKSC. The report (dated Ju ly 20, 1968) by thiscom mitte e .confirmed the basic objectives ofthe A pollo Applications Program and played adeciding role in its later evolution [591 .JANUARY: William C. Houston was assigneda s M S F C P r o g r a m R e p r e s e n t a t i v e ,Saturn/Apollo Applications Program Office,with duty station a t KSC (601.FEBRUARY 15: Twenty NASA astronautsvisited MSFC for an orientation tour andbriefing concerning the Apollo Ap.pficationsProgram (AAP), especial ly the OrbitalWorkshop [61 .M A R C H 18: The Manned Space FlightExperiment Board approved the followingchanges to the list of corollary experiments forthe Apollo Applications Program. ExperimentM113 (Blood VoIume/Red Cell Life Span) w asadded and Exper iments SO16 (TrappedP a r t i c l e s A s y m m e t r y ) , SO69 (X-RayAstronomy, which was formerly SOl7. an dM469 (St-124 Removal and Disassembly) weredeleted [621.APRIL 16: Charles W.Mathews, Director ofNASA Apollo Applications Program, told theNational Space Club in Washington, D.C.,h a tNASAs manned space plan, beyond firstApolio landin g, ...contemplates a balancedactivity of lunar explorat ion and ex tension ofAP NO.4 LAUNCHCONFIGURATION mans capabilities in-earth orbit. The ProgramJ A N U A R Y 16: NASA awarded a lette r had been designed for flexibility so activitiescon tract t o Martin Marietta for the payload could be condu cted in harm ony with availableinteg ration effor t on the Apollo Applications resources. We are also prepared to moveProgram [SS] . forward a t an increased pace when it is

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April - June 19638desirable and possible to do so. Both civilbenefits and national security implications ofspace program warranted continued strongsupport. Contingency planning would leavemore room for b udgetary or goal changes, thusplacating critics in Congress who claimedNASA had not provided them with sufficientflexibility [631.MAY 1: Mr. Harold T. Luskin was appointedDirector, Apollo Applications, in the Office ofManned Space Flight. Mr. Luskin came toNASA in March of 1968 as Deputy AssociateAdministrator for Manned Space Flight,Technical [641.MAY 9: The agreement to use the SaturnAutomatic Checkout Equipment (ACE) at KSCfor pre-launch checkout of the ATM wasincluded in a letter from Dr. Wernher vonBraun to Dr. Kurt Debus [65 .MAY 20: NASA increased the capability ofthe Skylab Multiple Docking Adapter (MDA)to provide for crew habitation and to performcertain biomedical experiments in the event theOrbital Workshop could n ot be made habitableupon reaching orb it [661.

M o d u l e l M D A P r o j e ct , S a t u r n / A p o l l oApplications Program Office, MSFC 1681.Harold H. Stevenson was assigned as ResidentManager of the Airlock Module ResidentManagement Office, St. Louis, Missouri. TheResident Management Office was an extensionof th e MSFC to provide on-site technicaldirection to the contractor involved in theSatum/Apollo Applicat ions Program MSFCcontracts 1691,JUNE 4: NASA released its AAP, LaunchReadiness and Delivery Schedule ML-14A.This new schedule decreased the number ofSaturn flights to 1 1 Saturn IB flights and oneSaturn V flight. It called for three Workshops.One of the Workshops would be launched by ;zSaturn 1B atid another would serve as a backup.The third Workshop would be launched by aSaturn V , Schedule ML-14A also included oneATM. Launch of the first Workshop would bein November 1970. Lunar missions were nolonger planned in th e AAP [701.

MAY 23: A M d ire ctiv e No. 5 defined therequirements and responsibilities to in itiate theactions required for the exec ution of th eAAP-31AAP-4 mission. The purposes of themission were to: increase mans knowledge ofthe suns character i s t ics th rough so larastronomy conducted in space: evaluate th eperformance characteristics of a manned solarastronomy system in order to developadvanced solar and stellar observation systems:demonstrate feasibility of reactivating aworkshop left unattended in ear th o rb i t fo rseveral months and reusing it as a base ofoperat ions for conducting various experiments[ 6 7 ] .MAY: Floyd M. Dru mmo n d was assigned asManager and Wayne Patterson assigned asC h i e f , E n g i n e e r in g B r a n c h , A i r l o c k AAP MANNED LAUNCH CONFIGURATION

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June - September 1968JUNE 8: NASA successfully launched twoAerobee 15 0 sounding rockets from WSMR.The first rocket carried Naval ResearchLaboratory and University of Marylandpayload to a 179-kilometer (11 1.3-mile)altitude to flight-test flight design verificationu n i t ( F D V U ) of h i g h r e s o l u t i o nspectroheliograph planned for use on ApolloTe!esw=p:: Mcunt-A. Semnd rocket carriedAmerican Science and Engineering, Inc.,payload to 15 1-kilometer (93.7-mile) altitudeto obtain high resolution X-ray pictures ofactive region of sun during solar flare andgeneral X-ray emission of solar corona. Rocketand instrumentation performed satisfactorily,but payload of first rocket failed to separate,preventing functioning of parach ute recoverysys tem [71] .

AUGUST 30: Following receipt of NASAdirection to limit Saturn V production tovehicle 515, MSFC completed studies andbegan terminating production of enginehardware for the Apollo and AA P programs.The termination action involved 27 H-1engines, eight F-1 engines, and three 5-2engines [731.AUGUST: Robert D. Groeneveld was assighedas MSFC ATM Project Representative, BallBrothe rs Corporation , Boulder, Colorado [741.SEPTEMBER 4: Dr. von Braun performed afull-pressure suit test in the Saturn I Workshopmockup emersed in the Neutral BuoyancyTan k. He reported tha t the upgraded seals usedin th e aft dom e penetration sealing study werevery good. Dr. von Braun recom men dedaddit ional handholds and t e ther po in ts 1751.

DR.VON BRAUN SUITING UP FOR FULLPRESSURE SUIT TEST IN MSFCNEUTR AL BUOYANCY SIMULATOR

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September - December 1968

DR. VON BRA UN REMOVING ANTIVORTEXSCREEN IN A FT DOME AREA OFWORKSHOP NEUTRAL BUOYANCYSIMULATOR

SEPTEMBER 16: The Manned Space FlightExperiment Board approved the followingchanges to the list of corollary experimen ts forthe Apollo Applications Program. ExperimentMS07 (Gravity Substitute Workbench) wasadded and Experiment DO1 7 (Solid ElectrolyteCarbon Dioxide Reduction) was deleted [761.S E P T E M B E R 18: NASA ass igned themanagement responsibility to MSFC for theAirlock Module and the modified LunarModule Ascent Stage. MSC formerly managedthese AAP activities. NASA officials explainedthat this reassignment was made fo r thepurpose of establishing a satisfactory balancebetween Apollo and AAP and t o place a designintegration under a single NASA center [77 1.

O C T O B E R 9: NASA released its AAP.Launch Readiness and Delivery ScheduleML-15, which slipped the first launch of aWorkshop into August 1971. This newschedule called for eight Saturn 1Bs but n uSaturn V launches. According to this schedule,there would be one Workshop launched on aSaturn IR , one backup W orkshop; n o Saturn VWorkshop scheduled; and one ATM with abackup [781.OCTOBER: A pioneering concept in th esubstitution of the dry fo r the wetWorkshop program was the B-Zero projectbeing studied a t MSFC. B-Zero (meaning leastsophisticated) was proposed as a standby S-IVHstage stripped of existing hardware and onsubstitute standby as needed for a wet S-IVBstage [79] .NOVEMBER 4: The Manned Space FlightExperiment Board approved the followingchanges to the list of corollary expe rimen ts forthe Apollo Applications Program. ExperimentSO28 (Dim Light Photography) was deleted[801.DECEMBER 16:authori ty fromproceed with theof certain AAPMSC [ 8 1 ] .

MSFC received a let ter ofMSC (Dr. R. Gi l ru th) todevelopment and fabricationbiomedical experiments f o r

DEC EM B E R 18 : NASA announced theappoin tment of William C. Schneider. ApolloMission Director. as Director of the ApolloApplications Program. He succeeded Harold T.Luskin, who died November 25 , 1968 [821.DECEMBER: A t MSFC Porter Dunlap andMarvis Sanders were assigned as Manager andDep uty Manager, respectively, Grou nd Su pp ortEqui p m e n t P r o j e et , S a t u r n / A p o l l oApplications Program O ffice I8 3 .

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1969

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March - May 1969MARCH 27: MSFC announced a $7,384,543modification to its contract with ChryslerCorporation Space Division fox assembly oftwo boosters for Saturn IB rockets 213 an d214 for use in Apollo Applications Program[921.APRIL 8: NASA released its AAP, LaunchReadiness and Delivery Schedule Il.iL- 1 6 . Thisnew schedule called for the sanie number ofSaturn I B and Saturn V launches as ML-I 5 , butmoved the launch of the first Workshop 3months to November 197 I [931.APRIL 18: MSFC announced that it hadissued RFPs for assistance in producing 320completed solar arrays to convert solarenergy into electrical power to operate theSaturn I Workshop. A preproposal conferencewas scheduled at MSFC on May 1 [941.

ATM SOLAR ARRAY DEVELOPMENTWING DEPLOYEDAPRIL 29: in a subject area related toorbiting space laboratories some 2 5 0 scientistsand engineers from universities, government,and industry attended a workshop o n opticaltelescope technology at MSFC April 29through May 1 , 1969. The purpose of theworkshop was the exchange of technicalinformation related to the design of futurespace telescopes and identification of theresearch and technology efforts needed tosupport future missions. NASAs Office ofAdvanced Kesearch and Technology (OART)a n d i t s Office of Space Science andApplications (OSSA) sponsored th e Workshop.Speakers discussed the use of space telescopesand t he instrumen ation necessary for selectingastronomy tasks [9 5 1.

WORKSHOP SOLAR ARRAY WINGBEING DEPLOYE D MAY 2: NASA unloaded an eight-ton airlockat MSFC for g o u n d test ing to qualify i t as part


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May - July 1969of an orbiting space station. The airlock waspart of the Ap ollo App lications Programcluster to be launched in the mid-1970s.NASA flew the 6S-inch-diameter, 17-footcylindrical unit from McDonnell DouglasCorporations St. Louis plant ta be joined tothe Multiple Docking Adapter. I t wouldprovide an in terconnect ing passagewaybetween the S-IVB rocket stage and theMultiple Docking Adapter in flight, conditione n v i r o n m e n t a l g a se s, a n d p ro v id ei n s t r 11m e n a t i o n , d a t a m a n a g e m e n t ,intercommunication, and other services [96 .

AIRLOCK TEST ART ICLE ONPRODUCTION LINEM A Y 5: T h e M a n n e d S p a c e F l ig h tExperiment Board approved the followingchanges to the list of corollary e xperim ents forthe Apollo Applications Program. ExperimentS 49 (Particle Collection) was added andE x p e r i m e n t SO27 (ATM ContaminationMeasurements) was changed to SISO j971.M AY 16: MSFC awarded a 4,620,310-dollarc o n t r a c t m o d i f ic a t i o n t o C h ry s le r

Corporations Space Division for vehiclesystems engineering and integration on SaturnIB vehicles scheduled for NASA ApoUoApplications Program flights. Work begun onJanuary 1 , 1969, would extend through March31,1970 (981.M A Y 18: Responding to a question on NBCsT V program Meet the Press, N A S AAdministrator Dr. Thomas 0. aine said thatuse o f he Manned Orbital Laboratory (MOL)and of NASAs orbital workshop were twovery different projects. NASAs was a longerrange program aimed at a very substantialfacility which would be really a universitycampus type research station in orbit. MOLwas a program that is well advanced, an d isdesigned to find o u t t h e military applicationsof space [991 .JUNE 10: The Department of Defenseannounced that it had canceled the MannedOrbiting Laboratory (MOL) program initiatedin 1965 to advance the development of bothmanned and unmanned defense-oriented spaceequipment and to ascertain the full extent ofmans utility in space for defense purposes.Following this action certain items in th e MOLprogram were placed on a stop-work status for2 weeks to enable NASA to examine them forpossible interest. The items included a foodan d d i e t d ev e lo p men t p ro j ec t , a su i tdevelopment and technology project, anenvironmental control an d life sup port system ,a water purification system, an d a wastemanagement system [ 1001.JUNE 23: Following termination of th e AirForce MOL program, NASA requested thetransfer of the following MOL projects toNASA: the food and diet developmentcontract with Whirlpool and the space sui tdevelopment contract with Hamilton-Standard[ l o 1 1 .J U L Y 7 : The M a n n e d S p a c e F l i g h tExper iment Board approved the followingchanges to the list of corollary experimen ts for

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July 1969the Apollo Applications Program. ExperimentsM112 (Mans Immunity in Vitro Aspects) andM I 14 (Red Blood Cell Metabolism) were addedf 1021.JULY 18: NASA Administrator Dr. Thomas0. Paine approved the change from the wetworkshop concept to th e dry workshopcon cep t for th e Orbital W orkshop by signing aProject Approvai Document change request.Dr. Paines approval of the dry workshopcon cep t followed a May 27, 19 69, ApolloApplications Program review presentation tothe administ rator concerning the dryworkshop alternative [ 1031.JULY 22: NASA announced plans to launchthe Workshop and Apollo Telescope Mount

WET WORKSHOP DETAIL

tog eth er in 19 72 , using the first two stages ofthe Sa turn V in place of the Saturn I WetWorkshop. The Workshop would be outfit tedon the grou nd and would arrive in a 235-milec i rcular orb i t equipped for immedia teoccupancy by astronauts and with the ATMatta che d. Program objectives would remain thesame as when NASA intended to use the

Saturn IB second stage as the 1971 Workshopto provide an e nvironm ent in which man couldlive and work for extended periods in spaceand to study mans physiological andpsychological responses and capabilities inspace. As a result of the Apollo Programsuccess the Saturn V hardware from thatprogram would be available for this revisedplan [104] .

K U l T l P L L O X K I N C A DA PT CR 88

A IHLKK MODULE 898I

ORSITAL WORKSHOP 8It

LUMR MODULEASCEM STAG I

DELETE EXPERIMENT STORAGEA D D A P O U O T[lfSCOQEM W N T COFiTROLSA N D R I S P V I Y S

ADDTOTALM IS S ION ATM OS P HE RIC GASMLm SCIEk7lfIC AIRLOCKS HROUD CW FICUR ATIWJ CHANCE DADD APOLLO TEESCOPE MWN EPLOYMBT

STORAGE

M L C P A N I S M

S UBS TITM E COLG GAS ATlI lUDE C O H R O LSYSTEM F O R OLD GAS S Y S W IPREINSTAX AU. EQU IP% ?, EXPENDABLES.A DD S C I W I F I C A I R L K KOELETEO

A W wEi l iM &xs

SIGN I f CANT W ET-TO-DRYWORKSHOP CHANGES

SATURN V WORKSHOP

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August 1969scheduled for launch into low earth orbit in launched by a Saturn IB rocket, would1972. Th e second Workshop would initially rendezvous in orbi t with the Workshop. TheServe as a backup. The Workshop would be a astronaut crew w ould live in th e Workshop andconverted S-IVB stage in which astronauts condu ct a variety of solar experiments with thecould live and work for periods up to 8 weeks. ATM equ ipm ent for 28 days. Later revisits OfT h e e s t i m a t e d c o s t o f t h i s upto56dayswereplanned[llll.c o s t -p u s-fixed-feelaward-fee con trac t was97,340,000 dollars. The contract would runthrough July 1972, and work would beperformed a t the.McD onnel1 Douglas WesternDivision atHun tington Beach, California [ 1101.

CSM DOCKING TO CLUSTER IN ORBITAUGUST 12: Plans were finalized for anApollo Telescope Mount ExtravehicularActivity (EVA) Review to be conductedAugust 19-21 a t MSFC. More than 100engineers and scientists would be expected toattend the review. Participants expectedincluded astron auts, ATM ex perim ent principalinvestigators, and representatives from NASAHeadquarters. Manned Spacecraft Center, andKennedy Space Center . The topic to bediscussed would be an approach to EVA forATM film retrieval. A full-scale ATM mockupwould be used for the review. The ATM, ormanned solar observatory, would be one of themajor Apollo Applications Program elementsbeing developed by MSFC. he ATM, launchedin conjunction with the Saturn V Workshop,would be orbited in 1972 by a Saturn V launchve hicle. A three-rnan Apollo spacecraft,

ATMMOCKUP AT MSFCAUGUST 13: NASA released its AMLaunch Readiness and Delivery ScheduleML-17. According to this new schedule therewould be seven Saturn IB and tw o Saturn Vlaunches with two dry Workshops flown onSaturn V vehicles, and tw o ATMs planned.The first Workshop launch would be in July of1972 [ 1121.AUGUST: At MSFC Rein Ise, ApolloTelescape Mount Project Manager, formalizedthe following appointments 1.1131 :

Cha r l e s H . C h a m b e r s . C h i e f ,Engineering B ranchJ a m e s M. Igou, Chief, ControlEquipment BranchW i l l i a m C . K e a t h l e y , C h i e f ,Experim ents Branch

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___

SEPTEMBER 9:As the m odifications requiredto convert to the Saturn V Workshop werebeing developed, the decision was made tomake the ATMs atti tude control systemresponsible for the cluster att i tude control[ 114] .

ATM CANISTER CUTSEPTEMBER 24: The Manned Space FlightExperiment Board approved the followingchanges to the list of corollary experime nts forthe Apollo Applications Program. ExperimentsDO1 9 (Suit Donning and Sleep Evaluation),DO20 (Alternate Restraints Evaluation), andDO22 (Expandable Structures for Recovery)were deleted [ 1151.O C T O B E R 5-11: T h e I n t e r n a t i o n a lAstronautical Federation (IAF) held its 20thCongress in the Mar de1 Plata, Argentina. Dr.G e o r g e E. Muel le r , NASA Associa teAdministrator for Manned Space Flight, gaveInvited Lec ture October 6 o n A pollo program,space benefits, Apollo Applications program,

September - October 1969and lunar exploration. Apollo Applicationsprogram would ...study the earth throug h theu s e o f a six-lens multispectral camerainstallation. On Apollo 9 some of therudimentary work was done using fou r lenses.Fifty percent more kinds of information willbe brought back by the crews of ApolloApplications. Because almost everything onearth has a different reflective quality, asr) :n+ir nt:.... 2C u x u t e u w w i i ~ q y i a t u s c . 01 z F i ~ ~ ~ ~ % i tresults from this photog raphic exploration canbe expected to yield rich rewards. Many of th eearth sciences look to this kind of informationfor answers to previously . unanswerablequestions. Hydrologists are interested indiscovering not only the depth, but also thetemperature of the waters of the world, andthese conditions can be ascertained from space.Warm water attracts certain species of fish, sofishermen are also interested in theseexperiments [ I 161.OCTOBER 7: MSFC signed a new contractwith the General Electric Companys ApdloSystems Division in Huntsville, Alabama, forw o r k in conn ect ion wi th the ApolloA p p l i c a t i o n s P r o g r a m . U n d e r t h e10,75 1,OOO-dollar contract, GE would provideelectrical support equipment for the ApolloTelescope Mount and launch systems fo r theSaturn V Workshop multipIe docking adapterand airlock. The contract called for th e workto be performed at Huntsville, Alabam a, at theManned Spacecraft Center in Houstori, Texas,at Daytona Beach, Florida, and at theNASA-Kennedy S pace Ce nter in Florida. Worko n the project was to be completed by June30,1972 11171.O C T O B E R 15: The wardroom concept(combining a crew eating and recreation area)w a s a p p r o v e d , a n d t h e DOD sleepcompartment experiment assigned to theSaturn I Workshop was deleted to allowadditionalspace for the wardroom [ 1181.

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October - November 1969OCTOBER 31: NASA decided to addtelevision cameras for interior coverage of heSaturnWorkshop [ 1191.NOVEMBER 3: NASA decided to change thelaunch inclination of the Saturn Workshop toSO degrees f 1201.

ORBITAL WORKSHOP

FIFTY-DEG REE INCLINATION COVE RAGENOVEMBER 7: The decision was made toadd a teleprinter in the airlock module of theOWS to permit the ast ronauts to fihve printedinstructions furnished to them during missionoperations [ 121 1 .NOVEMBER 20: MSFC announced that anCREW QUARTERS LAYOU T 8-million-dollar letter contract ha d hecnnegotiated between N A S A and the McDonnt.11D ou glas Corporat ion, Hunt ington Beach,C a l i f o r n i a , f o r t w o se ts of structuralcomponents for the third stage (S-IVB) of th eSaturn V launch vehicle for use in fabricationof the Saturn V manned orbital Workshop. Thework wduld be coniyleted by January 1972.The st ructural c omp onents w ould he produceda t the Huntington Beach, California, plantNOVEMBER: A t MSFC Charles L. Wood wasassigned as Manager, Program Control Office.Saturn/Apollo Applications Program Office,upon Jack Swearingen's reassignment toDirector's Office, Science & Engineering

11221.

WORKSHOP CREW QUARTERS [ 1 2 3 ] .36


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D cem er 1969D E C E M B E R 2-4: The Clus ter SystemsReview was cnnducted at MSFC. eview teamsc o n s i s t i n g of r e p r e s e n t a t i v e s f r o mHeadquarters, MSFC, MSC, KSC, primec o n t r a c to r 6, a n d e x periment PrincipleInvestigators reviewed such areas as missionrequirements, attitude control, thermal/ECS,i n s t r u m e n t a t i o n a n d c o m m u n i ca t io n s ,structures, electrical, and crew systems [ 1241 .OECEMBER 4: During the Cluster SystemsReview December 2 4 , 1969 , NASA decidedfor better reliability of the cluster electricalpower to parallel the ATM electrical powerwith the rest of the cluster through the airlockmodule [125 I .DECEMBER 8: The Manned Space FlightExperiment Board approved the followingchanges to the list of corollary experiments forthe Apollo Applications Program. ExperimentS190 Multispectral Photo graph ic Fac ility) wasadded f 1261. The following expe rimen ts weredeleted : '

SO69 X-Ray Astronomy

SO39S043's o 4 9so50,Sn51so75

SI00SI 01S I 0 2S103SI 04

Day-Night Camera Sy stemIR Temp erature SoundingIR Interferometer Spectrometer1 R T e m p e r a t u r e P r o f i l eRadiometerDaytime Sodium CloudE 1 e c - S c a nRadiometer M i c r o w a v eMetric Cam eraMultiband PhotographyDual Channel Scanner-ImagerShort Wavelength SpectrometerM i c r o w a v e T e m p e r a t u r eSounder

M423 Hyd rostatic Gas Bearing

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January - ebruary 19701970

JANUARY 2: MSFC shipped the test versionof the Saturn V vehicles third stage to th eMcDonnell Douglas plant at H untin gton Beach,California, for modification. The S-IVB stagewent from MSFC to th e West Coast aboard theidentified as th e S-1VB 500 F o r facilities stage.would be converted into a Saturn V Workshopdynamics test article. Once the modificationwould be completed, the stage would be usedin the Apollo Application s Programs dyn amicsand acoustics testing activity. The stage wasformerly a part of the Saturn V facilitiesvehicle used to check out manufacturing,testing, and launching facilities early in theApollo/Saturn V Program. MSFC received thestage from KSC bout January 196 9 t 1271.

Super Gr;ppy aircraft. The stage, fcmer!y

WORKSHOP DYNAMIC TEST ARTICLEAT MDAC-WD

JANUARY 23: N A S A released the AAPLau nch Readiness and Delivery ScheduleML-I 8, which moved the scheduled AAP-Ilaunch date to November 1.5, 1 9 7 2 , bu t with at a rg e t launch date of July 1 5 , 1972[ 1281.-

FEBRUARY 12: The House Committee onScience and Astronautics Subcommittee onNASA Oversight released its Manned SpaceFlight: Present and Future report. One of theconclusions drawn by this staff study was thatafter 19 74 the U.S. would have no capabilityfor lifting manned payloads over 60,000pounds into space and would have only threevehic!es that mn!d !if+ 60 OOO pounds payloadunless Saturn V production was resumed or asub stitute was developed. Also, the U.S.wouldhave no longdurat ion manned earth-orbi talcapability after 1973 without extension of th eorbital workshop program or initiation ofdevelopmentof the Space Station ( 1291.F E B R U A R Y 20: N A S A H e a d q u a r t e r sannounced a change of the program name fromApollo Applications Program to SkylabProgram. The Skyfab Program would bedesigned t o m ake m aximum use of the existingspace hardware developed for the Apollolunar-landing series. Included in the cluster ofcomponents making up the Skylab would bethe Workshop, airlock, a multiple dockingadapter, and an Apollo Telescope Mount [ 1301.

PrecedingSKY LAB PAY LOAD LAUNCHCON GU R A TION

page blank 41


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March 1970Resources Ex periment for th e Skylab Program

SKYLAB CLUSTER

EART H OBSERVATION STUDIESMARCH 1: Dr.Wernher von Braun left MSFCt o b e c o m e N A S A s Deputy AssociateAdministrator for planning in W ashington, D.C.Dr. Eberhard Rees, who had served as DeputyDirector, Technical, since 1963, becamedirector of the Marshall Cen ter [ 131 1 .M A R C H 9: T h e Manned Space FlightExperiment Board approved changes to Earth

[1321.Experiments added:SI 9 1 Infrared Spectrom eS192 10-Band Multispec

erral Scanner

S193 M i c r o w a v e S c a t t e r o m e t e r ,Alt imeter . and Radiom eterExperiments deleted:SO05 Synoptic Terrain PhotographySO06 Syno ptic Weather PhotographyM A R C H 31: Representatives of three NASACenters gathered in Huntsville to start a 4-daytour of Skylab government and contractorfacilities. Those on the tour from MSCi n c l u d e d D r . R o b e r t R . C i l r u t h , Dr.Christopher C. Kraft , Kenneth S. Kleinknecht ,Clifford E. Charlesworth, Dr. Maxime E. Faget ,Sigurd A. Sjoberg, Dr. Donald K. Slayton,George Abbey, Robert F. Thom pson , Dr. C.A.Berry, Euguene F. Kranz, and CadwellJohnson . On the tour f rom KSC was General

Thomas W.Morgan, and from MSFC were Dr.Eberhard Rees. Ed Mohlere, Lee B. James.Ludie Rich ard, D r. F.A . Speer, Dr. WalterHaeussermann, Karl L. Heimburg, BrooksMoore, Leland F. Belew, and Jack Lee. A t th eMarshall Ce nter, the gro up viewed Sky lab wo rkin several laboratories. In the afternoon theyd ep ar ted fo r a 3 d a y to u r of cont ractorfacilities. Companies visited were McDonnellDouglas Astronautics Company, St . Louis,Missouri, Martin-Marietta Corporation, Denver,Colorado, and North American RockwellCorporation and McDonnell Douglas in theLos Angeles area. The group also visited the

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March - May 1970NASA-Flight Research Center at Edwards,California [133].MARCH: Overton S. Tyson was assigned asMSFC Resident Manager, NASA ResidentM a n a g e m e n t O f f i c e , S a t u r n l A p o l l oApplications Program Office, located at theMcDonnell Douglas Astronautics Corporationat Huntington Beach, California. Clifford L.Flora was assigned as D epu ty Reside nt Manager(1341.

ASSEMBLY OF ATM RACKS A T MSFC

M A Y 15: MSFC announced that NASA haddecided to launch Saturn IB and Saturn Vvehicles scheduled for the 1972-1973 SkylabProgram from Launch Complex 39 at CapeKennedy. The decision to conduct Saturn IBlaunches at LC-39, rather than Complex 34,C a p e K e n n e d y , w a s reached after acomprehensive study of the capabilities andcosts of both locations, according to SkylabProgram officials. Normally, only Saturn V'swould be launched from LC-39 [ 13 5 1 .

SKYLAB SATURN I S LAUNCHCONFIGURATION

MDA TEST ARTICLE IN FABRICATIONA T MSFC SKY LAB ACTIVA TION AND OPERATION

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May - June 1970M A Y 26: The ATM Critical Design Review(CDR) was completed with the CDR Boardmeeting at MSFC. This review gave finalapproval to th e ATM design [ 1361.

MATING OF AIRLOCK AND MOA TESTARTICLES FOR STATIC STRUCTURALTEST A T MSFCJ U N E 1 1 : The Manned Space F l i gh tExperiment Board approved the followingchanges to the list of corollary exp eriments forthe Skylab Program [1393.

Experiments AddedS183 UV PanoramaAPOLLO TELESCOPE MOUNT ( A TM )M i 33 Sleep Mo nitoring

M AY 26: Th e airlock module static structuralqualification testing was completed at MSFCwith the successful completion of the125-percent liftoff loads test. Th e airlockstructural test article used for this test was latermodified to become the dynamic test articleused in the payload assembly vibroacoustic testat MSC 1371.JUNE 3: The ATM Thermal Systems Unit wasdelivered from MSFC to MSC. t was subjectedto the temperature and vacuum extremes of aspace environment in the MSC hermal vacuumchamber as part of the q ualification program oithe ATM [ 1 3 8 J .

Experiments deleted:TO17 Meteoroid Impact and ErosionTO? 1 Meteoroid Velocity

J U N E 18: MSFC a w a r d e d ;1 contractmodification to Martin-Marietta Corporationfor work on the Skylab Program. The13,460,726-doIlar contract was for continuingwork on the Skylabs multiple docking adapter.a n d t h e w o r k w a s be i ng done byM a r t n -Mariet tas Denver faci l i ty. Thisnloditication covered design, developinen t.

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June -July 1970J U N E 29-30: NASA held a Skylab andBeyond press briefing and tour of productionfacilities at MSFC. William C. Schneider,Skylab Program Director, said that the projectwas in the very critical phase of firming upour designs. Three missions were planned forthe 8-month lifetime of the 48-foot-longworkshop [ 141 .JUNE: The appointment of Thomas I+. Kyanas Dep uty Manager, Program Co ntro l Office,Skylab Program Office. was formalized atMSFC [ 1421.

FINA L ASSEMBLY OF TH E ATM TH ERMALSYSTEMS UNIT AT MSFCfabrication, assembly, integration, and testingof the multiple docking adapter equipment.MSFC made the basic docking adapterstructure. At the t ime of this contractmodification, Martin was the prime contractort o MSFC for the Skylab Program payloadintegration [ f401.

SKYLAB PROGRAM

MDA DYN AM IC TEST ARTICLE BEINGLOWERED ONTO FACTORY TRAILER

J U L Y 2: In a letter, NASA AssociateAdministrator for Manned Space Flight, DaleD. M y e r s , wrote Dr. Rees requestingparticipation in a review of the Apollo andSkylab Programs. He wrote that the reviewwould be a follow-up to the report of theApoilo 13 Review Board which includedrecommendation No. 9 that, in essence, calledfo r a reassessment of all Apollo spacecraftsubsystems, and the engineering organizationsresponsible for them at MSFC and its primecontractors. Mr. Myers added that the scope O fth e coverage under the recommendation hadbeen expatided to include all elements ofApollo (spacecraft, launch vehicle. and GSE) aswell as Skylab. It would be a major review,

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Ju ly 1970followed by othe r reviews, with mo re than 100MSFC personnel participating directly invarious stages of he reviews f 1431.JULY 7: Dr. Wernher von Braun, NASADeputy Associate Administrator for Planning.and eisht othcr NASA Headquarterc officialsbegan attending a series o f meetings at MSFCt o discuss th e Skylab, th e IIigh EnergyAstronomy Observatory (HEAO). an d futttrcscientific space projects. Although a new aridrelatively small project as of this date. theHEAO signified a t ype of' payload that couldbecome on e of the major scientific experinieri tsin early phases of the Shuttle flight program[ 1441.J U L Y 8: MSFC modified an existing contractwith Martin Marietta Corporation, Denver.Colorado, for additional work on the SkylahP r o g r a m . T h e 1,863,000dollar contractm o d i f i c a t i o n c o v er ed d e v c lo p m e n t .implementation, and operation of a changeintegration and configuration control systemfor the Skylab Program. The Marshall Centerdirected the Skylab Program. At th e tinie ofthis annoiincemen . Martin was the SkylabPayload integration contracto r for MSFC. Thisac t io n b ro u g h t t h e co n t r ac t t o t a l to104,946,600 dollars [ 145 I .JULY 17: MSFC issued a C'ontract CliangeO r d e r t o M e D on ne ll Ilouglas AircraftCo rpo ration , Western Division (MI.)AC'-W)changing the food managenleiit concept from asoft to a canned food package, which providesfor additional food storage. Modification to th ewardroom table for nloutlting a new servingtray, wliicft provides heated cavities fo r Ilea tinethe food. was also included in the change11461.J U L Y 2 3 : MSFC niodified an existingcontract with McDonncll Douglas AstronauticsCompany for additional work on tlie Skylabairlock. Under th e contract, McJIonnellDouglas' Eastern Division at S t . Louis,Missouri. was building t w o Skylab airlockmodules. oiie for flight snd one for spare. The

contract modifkcation totaled 38,979.000doilars. The airlock module being developed atth e St. Louis facility was a 55-foot-diametercircular tunnel attached to tlie top of th eWorkshop. It would provide the major workarea and support equipment required toactivate and operate the Workshop and wouldalso form a passagcway for the astronauts t oinove from the ,4pollo command module an drnult iple docking adapter in to the Workshop.The airlock could also be depressurized andsealed off for exit into space outside thevehicle [ 147 .

AIRLOCK MODULE (AM1JULY 27: Approxim ately 175 representativesof government and industry participated in aSkylab airlock/multipie docking adapter crewstation review in St. Louis, Missouri. Thcweek-long review occurred at the McDonnellDo u g las As t ro n au t i cs Co mp an y . To p icsdiscussed included sroragc areas, equjpment ,and crew operation. Astronauts attending thereview conducted "walkthroughs" of airlockand multiple docking adapter mookups. Theairlock and multiple docking adapter would bemajor elements of the Skylab cluster thatwould include a large solar observatory andcrew quarters for long stays in space.McDonnell Douglas was developing the airlock.The mult iple docking adapter structure wasbeing built by MSFC'. and Martin Marietta.

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AIRLOCK FLIGHT UNIT IN FABRICATIONAND ASSEMBLYDenver Division, was integrating equipmentand experiments. MSFC was directing theSkylab development 11481.

M D A MOCKUPPRIOR TO CREW STATIO NREVIEW

July 1970

AIRLOCK MOCKUPPRIOR TO CREWSTATION REVIEW

AIRLOCK MODULE INTERIOR DURINGCREW STATION REVIEW

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August 1970AUGUST 12-14: Lee B. James, charged withresponsibility f or th e A pollo 1 3 review atMSFC, felt that the review had benefits beyondthe recommendations of th e Apollo 13 ReviewBoard: 1 think a bigger purp ose of th e overallreview was we found out in the ApolloProgram that occasionally the entire programneeds to be shaken down by the very topmanagement in an overall review.. .that hadseldom happened in Skylab, and this A pollo 13review gave an occasion to really spend sometime from this on e point of view to go throughthe en tire Skylab program, and to really checkit in the end from the top management pointof view. We get a lot of good out of thesethings; they turn u p different things if thereisnt any othe r way to d o this. . I would watchfor occasions such as this t o give the programan end-to-end review, and have a good orderlyreview just for the good of the program I1491.

AIRLOCK/MDA MOCKUPS DURINGCREW STATION REVIEWAUGUST 24: More than 1 5 0 representativesof NASA and industry conducted a week-longSkylab review a t the Martin-Marietta facility inDenver, Colorado. Skylab officials wereconducting a critical design review of theSkylabs multiple docking adapter. This was

scheduled as the final technical review beforeapproval would be given for manufacturingflight hardware. Skylab officials from MSFC,MSC, KSC, an d NASA Headquarters attended.The MSFC delegation was headed by F.M.Dtummond. hlanager of the Airlock/MI>AProject, and Myrl Sanders, Deputy Manager.Martin-Marietta was the Skylab payloadintegration con tractor for the Marshall Center.While MSFC was building t he multiple do ckingadapter ex terna l s t ruc ture , Mar t in wasintegrating the experiments. Oth er con tractorsi n c l u d e d t h e Bendix Corporatiotl andMcDonnell Douglas Co rpor ation , builder of theairlock and the Workshop f 1SO].

MULTIPLE DOCKING ADAPTER (MDA)

AUGUST 28: A group of MSFC engineerssuccessfully completed a week-long testing ofS k y a b pro gram hardware in simulatedweight lessness aboard a USAF KC-135foureng ine-je t research aircraft . Tests includedape ra ion of flight-con figuration doo rs for f3mc a s s e t t e c o m p a r t m e n t s , re tr ie va l a ndreplacement of film cassettes, and eva luatio n ofhandrails and foot restrsints. The KC-135wasflown in parabolas, with 30 seconds ofweightlessness acllieved on each parabola in atechnique that most nearly duplicated zero-g[ 1 5 1 1 .48

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August - September 1970the July 15, 1972, target da te scheduled un derthe earlier ML-18 chedule [ 152 .

ATM CENTER WORK STATIONFILMCASSETTE REPLACEMENT IN ZERO G

AIRLOCK ZERO-G IMULATION INKC-135 AIRCR AFT

AUGUST 31: NASA published its SkylabLaunch Readiness and Delivery ScheduleML-19, which moved the scheduled Skylablaunch d ate to November 1, 1972, b u t dropped

SEPTEMBER 3: MSFC awarded the BallBrothers Research Corporation, Boulder,Colorado, a 195,00 0-dollar space agencycontract to study a solar telescope for possibleinclusion in a manned solar observatory on afuture flight opportvnity. At the time of thiscontract award, NASAs first manned solarobservatory (Apollo Telescope Mount) wasscheduled for launch in 1972 as an element ofthe Skylab cluster. Th e space agency had askedBail Brothers to define requirements for a26-inch solar telescope as a major newexperiment to be included in a foliow-onobservatory [ 153 ,

ATMOSPHERIC ABSORFTION OF SOLAREMISSIONS

ATM EXPERIMENTS49


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September 1970SEPTEMBER 8: MSFC announced that theflight design of the Saturn Workshop, a part ofthe Skylab program, would be accepted in aseries of important reviews scheduled for th enext few weeks at MSFC in Huntsville and atHuntington Beach, California. Governmente n g i n e e r s , a s t r o n a u t s , a n d i n d u s t r yrepresentatives would dete rm ine if changeswere necessary before the final approvaf wouldbe given for completing the flight Workshopcurrently scheduled for launch into earth orbitin 1972. First in the review series would be anastronaut procedures review on September9-10 at MSFC.Astronauts would study manyproposed Workshop procedures in a mockup. Acritical design review would be conductedSeptember 14-18 at the McDonnell DouglasAstronautics Company facility at HuntingtonBeach, California. McDonnell Douglas wasmanufacturing the Workshop for the spaceagency. More than 200 government andindustry representatives were expected toparticipate in the critical design review. AWorkshop crew station review would be heldSeptember 21-24 at MSFC. stronau t crewmenwould walk through many of the Skylab tasksin this review.Results of th e reviews would be considered in aWorkshop Critical Review Board meetingOctober 2 at Huntington Beach, with LelandBelew, Manager of the Skylab Program Office,presiding. Many of the same participants wouldhave taken part in a preliminary review of th eresults September 28-29 at Huntington, Beach,with William K. Simmons, Jr., Manager of theWorkshop project under Belew, acting aschairman [ 1541.SEPTEMBER 21: A Saturn workshop crewstation review began at MSFC as a part of th eSkylab Program. A group of nine astronautsheaded by Richard Truly participatitd in theweek-long review conducted in a mockup atMSFC. Government and industry engineersmonitored the astronaut crewmens progressand commented as they walked throughm a n y of the workshop tasks. Mkdicalexperiments scheduled for the Skylab fl ightwere reviewed during the week. This crew

ORBITAL WORKSHOP (OWS)station review followed a critical design reviewconducted September 14-18 at the McDonnellDouglas Astronautics Company facility atHuntington Beach. Cal i fornia. A t th e time oft h i s r e v i e w . M c D o n n e l l Douglas wasmanufacturing the workshop for the spaceagency. Results of the critical design and crewstation reviews would be considered in aWorkshop Critical Review Board meetingOctober 2 at Huntington Beach, California.Results of these reviews would be used todetermine if changes were necessary before thefinal approval was given for completing theflight workshop currently scheduled for launchinto earth o rbi t in 1972 f 1551.

ASTRONAUTS OVERMYER ANDSCHWEICKART IN OWS WARDROOMD U R I N G CREW STATION REVIEW50


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ASTRONAUT OVERMYER O N ERGOMETERIN OWS CREW QUARTERS DUR INGCREW STATION REVIEWSEPTEMBER 25: MSFC modified an existingcontract with Martin Marietta Corporation forwork on the Skylab Program. Under thiscontract change, which covered ApolloTelescope Mount support at MSC and MSFC,Martin Marietta wouid receive $1,895,300.This was a cost-plusaward-fee type contmt(1561.OCTOBER 5: The Manned Space FlightExperiment Board approved the folldwingchanges to the list of corollary experiments forthe Skylab Program. Experiments S194(L-Band Radiometer) and TO02 (ManualNavigation Sightings) were added. ExperimentM508 (Human Mass Measurement Device) wasdeleted [ 1 57 1.0 T O B E R 21; Russian CosmonautsSevastyanov and Nikolayev were briefed on t h eSkylab mission during a tour Q f MSFC [ 1581.

September - October 1970

jllla I f i

COSMONAUTS SEVASTYANOV A NDNIKO LAY EV WITH INTERPRETERBARSKY BEING BRIEFED BY D R . REES,MR. BELEW, AND MR. H A R D Y INWORKSHOP MOCKUP

COSMONAUT SEVASTYANOV AT AIRLOCKEVA WORK STATION IN NEUTRALBUOYANCY FACILITY AT MSFC

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October - November 1970OCTOBER 26-27: US.-U.S .S .R. talks on thepossibilities for compatible rendezvous anddocking arrangements in space were held inMoscow between the NA SA delegation headedby MSC Director, Dr. Robert R.Cilruth, and aSoviet Academy of Sciences team headed byAcademician Georgy I. Petrov. During theexchange of basic information on dockingsystems, NASA officials described Gemini andApollo techniques, procedures, and dockingadaptors and the Skylab project . The Sovietteam described plans for a future systemsimilar to Apollos, with a tunnel between thespacecraft to accommodate docking apparatus.Agreement was reached that 1 2 scientifictechnical elements required fur ther joi nt stu dy,including guidance systems for rendezvous,docking hardware, coordinate systems, andreference markings [ 1591.N O V E M B E R 1 7 : Two Skylab Programreviews were underway at MSFC. Anextravehicular activity (EVA) critical designreview was being held at the Skylab mockuparea and the Neutral Buoyancy Simulator.C h a r l e s W. Mathews, Deputy AssociateAdministrator, Office of Manned Space Flight,NASA Headquarters, was chairman of a SkylabS u b sy s t em s Review Team mee ting o nNovember 17. The EVA review, which startedo n N o v e m b e r 16, included as t ronau tperformances und er normal earth gravity in th eSaturn Workshop mockup and simulatedweightlessness in the Neutral BuoyancySimulator . Ten astronauts from the MannedS p a c e c r a f t C e n t e r , h ea de d b y R usselSch we icka rt , part icipated in the reviewactivities on November 16. Th e review lasted aweek.

SKYLAB-ATM FILM RETRIEVAL

T h e Skylab Subsystems Review Te am meetingopened on November 17 with an inspect ion ofthe Skylab mockup area. Chairman Mathewsand the team m embers also toured simulationfacilities in Astrionics and ManufacturingEngineering Laboratories and viewed ApolloTelescope Mount hardware being assembled inthe Manufacturing Engineering Labo ratory.The review team ended its activities onNovember 19 [ 1601. NEUTRAL BUOYANCY DURING EVA.CDR52


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November - December 1970NOVEMBER 18: The flight model of th eSkylab multiple docking adapter was flownfrom MSFC to Martin Marietta CorporationSpace Center in Denver, Colorado, aboard theSuper Guppy aircraft. I t would be outfittedwith controls and display panels for solarastronomy and earth resource experiments,storage vaults for experiment film, and at h r u s t - a t t i t u d e c o n t r o l s y s t e m . W h e ncompletelv equipped, the adapter would bemated with the Skylab airlock flight version atMcDonnell Douglas Astronautics Company inSt. Louis, Missouri, and the unit wouldperform simulated mission ic the al t i tudechamber 11611.

AIRLOCK, MDA, AND A TM MOCKUPSUSED DURING E VA CDR

MDA FLIGHT ARTICLE AT MSFC PRIORTO DELIVERY TO MMCATM SUN E ND WORK ST ATION MOCKUPUSED DURING EV A CDR DECEMBER 2: MSFC announced that aSaturn Workshop would be shipped on

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December 1970December 4 from the McDonnell DouglasAstronautics Company facility at HuntingtonBeach, California. to MSC in Houston, Texas,for extensive ground tests. This Workshop wasa ground test version of one which would beused in the Skylab Program to accommodateteams of three astronauts for stays up to S!)days in earth orbit. Called a dynamic testarticle, the Workshop model would undergo aseries of tests at MSC to verify its ben ding andvibration characteristics. McDonnefl Douglasteclinicians loaded the Workshop aboard sthePoint Barrow for shipment to the MichoudAssembly Facility in New Orleans. Louisiana.The Point Barrow was scheduled to arrive inNew Orleans on December 17. Th e Workshopwould be loaded aboard a NASA barge a tMichoud for shipment o n December 30 toHouston. I t was scheduled to arrive at theHouston port on January 5. MSFC wasdirecting the Workshop developm ent programI1621.

WORKSHOP DTAON TRANSPORTER BEINGLOADED ON USNS POINT BARROWDECEMBER 16: The Manned Space FlightExperiment Board approved the followingchanges to th e list of corollary experiments forthe Skylab Program. Experiment M507(Gravity Substitute Workbench) was deleted[163] .

WORKSHOP DYNAMIC TEST ARTICLE INVIBRATION TEST AT MSC

DECEMBER 18-31: As NASA neared th e endof 1970, there was much activity relative to th em o m e n t of Saturn stages. A few days beforeChirstmas, two Saturn V tlight stages (S-11-15and S-IVB-5 13) were enroute to KSC, nd aSaturn Workshop test model would sooncomp lete i ts journey to MSC in Houston.MSFC had shipped both the vehicles. OnDecember 18, 1970. the ship Point Barrowreached the Michoud Assembly Facility in NewOrleans from California carrying the SaturnWorkshop and the S-IVB-512 . T h e Workshopwas unloaded for later shipment to MSC whileth e S-11-15, which h ad been bro ugh t fro m MTFthe p rev ious day , was loaded aboard the PointBarrow for the remainder of the t r ip to KSC.T h e ship would reach KSC on December 20

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December 1970where the two stages would be stored untilneeded for flight missions.The Workshop vehicle, destined for MSC,known as the dynamic test article, wouldleave Michoud December 31 aboard th e MSFCbarge Orion. It would be unloaded at aNASA doc k at C lear Lake, near MSC, the firstswh hardware to move to the Houston centerin this manner, which was to arrive on January5, 1971. The Workshop model would undergoa series of tes ts at MSC t o verify its bendingand vibration characteristics. Another Saturn Vstage (S-11-13) was taken from a test stand o nDecember 18 a t MTF. The stage would beprepared during the following two weeks forshipment to KSC. It was scheduled to beloaded aboard the barge Poseidon onDecember 30 a t MTF. The barge would leaveMichoud on December 31 fo r the trip to KSC1641.

PAY L O A D SHROUD SEPARATION TEST ATPLUM BROOKDECEMBER 20: The Payload Shrou d full-sizetest article weighing 26,000 pou nds was testedat the Lewis Research Centers Plum BrookFacility. The shroud separated into foursections using the same method as the flightuni t would use in space. Large nets were usedto catch th e four sect ions [ 165 J .

D E C E M B E R 22: MSFC announced thathighlights of 1970 a t MSFC included: Launchof an Apollo/Saturn V vehicle (AS-5081,renaming the space agencys embryonic SpaceStation project to Skylab, continuing work onthe Space Shuttle and S pace Statio n, doingearly planning on the unmanned astronomysatellite (HEAO), nd Dr. Eberhard Rees beingnamed MSFC director. These and otherhighlights combined to make the tirst year ofthe decade an eventful one at NASAs largestfield center [ 1661.D E C E M B E R 23: As assessment of thefeasibility of providing crew rescue capabilityfor Skylab was conducted by the three MSFcenters during 1970. This culminated in a

SKYLAB CREW RESCUE COMMANDMODULEHeadquarters decision to provide a limitedcapability based o n failure of CSM returncapability while docked to the SaturnWorkshop. The rescue vehicle for the first twoSky lab m issions will be the n ext Skylab vehiclein-flow a t KSC. Upon receipt of a rescue call,the in-flow CSM would be prepared for launchafter some minor modifications to permit atwo-man crew going u p an d a five-man crewreturning [ 1671.

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1971

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January - February 19711971

JANUARY 1: A Saturn V second stage (S-11)left MTF and stopped briefly at MichoudAssembly Facility before proceeding aboardthe barge Poseidon for KSC where it wasscheduled for anival on January 5 . The S-11-13would be stored at the KSC Vehicle AssemblyBuilding until readied for launch. This stagewould be a part of the two-stage Saturn V(vehicle 513) that would launch the Skylabinto earth orbi t in late 1372 [ 1681.JANUARY 15: A group of potential Skylabcrew members were taking a special course insolar physics designed to provide them with abackground which would enable them toefficiently operate the Apollo telescope moun t.The course was divided into extensive reviewsof the introduction to solar phenomena, thequiet sun, the active sun, and flares andexplosive phenom ena. Studies of th e sun in realtime were made possible by utilizing closedcircuit T V to bring pictures from MSCs solartelescope to the classroom [ 1691.JA N U A R Y 19: NASA announced that it wasrequesting propo sals from pote ntial U.S. andforeign experimenters for investigations of datato be acquired from earth resources experimentpackage (EREP) to fly on manned Skylabspacecraft in late 1972. Data could be used toappraise value and direct applications of spaceob se r v a t on s in agriculture , geography,forestry, geology, hydrology, oceanography,and cartography. Objectives of EREP were toextend use of sensors; use man to observe,discriminate, and select study areas; andprovide early source of unique research datafor analysis [ 1701.J A N U A R Y 26 : A n ATM ExperimentsPrincipal Investigator (PI) meeting wasconducted at Boulder , Colorado, on January26 and 27. This was one of a series of meetingsbetween MSFC, he ATM developer, and thescient is ts who proposed the s ix solaras t ronomy exper iments , to insure totala g r e e m e n t on e x p e r i m e n t o b j e c t i v e s ,

development, operations and data andysis.MSC participated in these reviews to ensurecrew and mission ope rations requirem ents weremet. Among the significant items in this reviewwere: an update of the Martin MariettaCorporation facili t ies proposed to supportSkylab was presented; the solar data fromground observatories required to supportmission operations were described by NationalOceanic and Atmospheric Administration(NOAA) personnel and their recommend ationswere agreed to by the ATM PIS with thestipulation that additional data were needed;and the A T M fiim study reported areas to beworked such as temperature control andradiation protectio n for film f 171 .JANUARY 29: The first low-level acousticrun, designed to check out all systems andinstrumentation on the Orbital Workshop, wassuccessfully completed as scheduled. Acoustictesting was scheduled to continue after a datareview [ 1721.FEBRUARY 8: A high-level advisory groupresponsible fo r guiding NASA in all aspects ofmission safety opened a twoday meeting a tMSFC. The Aerospace Safety Advisory Panel,wh i ch was appo i n t ed by t he NASAAdministrator, was headed by Dr. Charles D.Hanington, President, Douglas United N uclear,Incorporated, Richland, Washington. At MSFCthe group discussed safety aspects of. he lunarroving vehicle, the Skylab cluster of spacecraft,and the proposed reusable space vehicle (spaceshuttie) E 1731.FEBRUARY 10: The Kennedy Space Centerawarded a $917900 contract to the HollowayCorporation of Titusville, Florida, to constructa launcher-pedestal that would be used duringt h e u p c o m i n g S k y l a b P r o g r a m . T h e127-foot-tall pedestal would be adapted to anexisting Launcher-Umbilical Tower so thatmanned Saturn IB space vehicles could belaunched from facilities now supporting thelarger Saturn V rockets. The HoliowayCorporation contracted to construct thelauncher-pedestal in 180 days after receiving itsNotice to Proceed I 1741.

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March -April 1971MARCH 15: Workmen began the setup of theA m ' structural rack and payload shroudsection for the ATM simulated flight loa ds testto occur in mid-1971 at MSFC [ 1791.

SETUP FOR ATM SIMULATED FLIGHTLOAD TEST (ATM VIBRATION UNITIS IN BACKGROUND)APRIL 1 & 2: The Sky lab Subsystems ReviewTeam, chaired by Charles W.Mathew s, held a2 4 a y m e e t i n g a t KSC to review the actionitems statu s which resulted froln the November17-19, 1970, review of Skylab subsystems.Action items reviewed included such areas ast h e q u a l i f i c a t i o n p r o g r a m , t e s ti n g ,con tam ina tion , safety , single-poin failures,protect ion of flight systems with limitingdevices on GSE, cluster control and ATMpointing, and extreme temperature effects o ncom ponen t s [ 1801.APRlL 12: Space engineers and astronautsstudie d Sky lab Workshop stowage facilit ies at areview at MSFC. Astronauts taking partperformed workshop activation procedures,

reviewing each compartment's storage areasand running through deactivation procedures.Astronauts participating included Alan Bean,Charies Conrad, Joseph Kerwin, Paul Weitz,Walter Cunningham, Gerald Carr, RussellSchweickart, William Lenoir, and RichardTruly [1311.

CREW COM PARTM ENT STOWAGE REVIEWBENCH CHECK COMPONENT L AY OU T

ASTRONAUTS SAMPLING FO OD 1N WARDROOM DURING WORKSHOP CREWCOMPARTMENT STOWAGE REVIEW

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April -May 1971APRl t 13: NASA published Skylab LaunchReadiness and Delivery Schedule ML-20,which moved the scheduled Skylab launch datefrom November 1, 1972, to April 30, 1973r i a l .APRIL 15: Proposed Skylab rescue missionprofile requirements were: the tra.jjectoryplanning for a rescue mission would be th esame as the nominal Skylab mission;norninalmission duration from launch to recoverywould be limited to 5 days; the orbi tala s s em bl y wou l d m aneuve r to provideacquisition light support for the rescueCommand and Service Module (CSM); therescue CSM would be capable of rendezvouswithout VHF ranging; landing and reccrverywould be planned for the primary landing area;transfer of the crew from the MDA o the CSMwould be in shirtsleeves (no extravehicularactivity); the KSC rescue launch respon se timeswould vary from 1 0 t o 45% days depending onthe transpired time into the normal checkoutflow [ 1831.M A Y 3: Approval has been given byHeadquarters of a Skylab external T V system.The system involves the use of the ExperimentTO27 photometer extendable boom to extenda television camera and motorized lens systemthrough either of the scientific airlocks in theWorkshop. The previously baselined Skylabcolor teievision system consists of an Apollotelevision camera and strategically locatedte levi s ion input s t a t ions tha t permi t sobservation of experiments and crew activity.1 provides vir tual ly unl imited internalcoverage. The addition of the camera on th eE x p e r i m e n t TO27 b o o m will permitobservations of targe ts of scien tific in ter es t;earth, EVA operations, and operations ofvarious spacecraft assemblies [ 1841.M A Y 3: T h e M a n n e d S p a c e F l i g h tExperiment Board approved the followingchanges to th e list of corollary experim ents forthe Skylab Progwm. Experiment DO21(Expandable Airlock Technology) was deleted[1851.

M AY 6: A Critical Design Review (CDR) fth e EVA film transfer boom was cond ucted atFairchild-Hiller on May 6. The projectedpayload was 85 pounds, an increase of 15pounds since the Preliminary Design Review(PDR).There were no significant action itemsuncovered by the review, nor were an yschedule pro blem s identified [ 1863 .MAY 19: Space agency executives directingthe Skylab Program began participating in th eSkylab Senior Management Tour at MartinMarietta Corporation on May 18. Skylabexecutives saw work underway at MartinMarietta before moving on to visit West Coastcontractors. The group then toured NorthAmerican Rockwell at Downey and McD onnellDouglas Astronautics Company facilities a tHuntington Beach. A second half of the tourscheduled for May 25-26 would see Skyidbexecutives visiting McDonnell Douglas facilitiesin St. Louis in the morning, then in theaf ternoon they would visit MSFC, nd thenvisit KSC o n May 26. A similar Skylabmanagers tour had been held last year.Executives t ak ing part in all or a part of th etour included Charles W. Mathews, DeputyAssociate Administrator for Manned SDaceFlight; William C, Schneider, Director SkylabProgram, NASA Headquarters; Dr. EberhardRees, MSFC Director; Dr . William R. Lucas.MSFC Deputy Director, Technical; Leland F.Belew, MSFCs Skylab Program Manager; Dr.Kurt H. Debus, KSC Director; Miles Ross, KSCDeputy Director ; Raymond L. Clark, KSCDirector of Technical Support; ChristopherKraft, Jr., MSC Deputy Director; Kenneth S.Kleinkn echt, M anager of the S kylab Program atMSC; and Astronau ts Alan L. Bean and CharlesConrad of MSC.Also participating from industry were Walter F.Burke, President and C hief Op erating Officerof McDonnell Douglas Astronautics Comp any ;Dr. Ben G. Bromberg. Vice President andGeneral Manager, and Raymond A. Pepping,Vice Resident and General Manager of theSkylab Program, both of MDAC Eastern

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May 1971Division; Fred J . Sanders, Program Manager,Skylab Orbital Workshop, MDAC WesternDivision; and George Jeffs, Vice PresidentSpace Division, and Joseph P. McNamard,President Space Division, both of NorthAmerican Rockwell Corporation [ 187 .

WORKSHOP FLIGHT UNIT IN ASSEMBLYAT MDAC-WDMOA FLIGHT UNIT IN ASSEMBLY AT MMC{DEVELOPMENT UNIT IN BACKGROUND)

MAY 25: A plan was initiated whereby PISfo

Documents

Skylab Illustrated Chronology, 1962-1973