Skylab Over Earth

[FLO]

Can't get enough of these 'spacecraft in orbit' images :

Skylab was an orbiting laboratory launched by a in May 1973. Skylab, pictured above, was visited three times by NASA astronauts who sometimes stayed as long as two and a half months. Many scientific tests were performed on Skylab, including astronomical observations in ultraviolet and X-ray light. Some of these observations yielded valuable information about Comet Kohoutek, our Sun and about the mysterious X-ray background - radiation that comes from all over the sky. Skylab fell back to earth on 11 July 1979.

http://tinyurl.com/rhtre

[The Warthog]

Skylab fell back to earth on 11 July 1979.

Causing people all over the world, mostly in third-world countries, to come up with elaborate schemes to sue the US government because they were afraid bits of Skylab would fall on them.

[Astroman]

Every time I see this image, I think of the story of the installation of the sun screen, seen closest to us above the cylinder and next to the solar panel, as told by Pete Conrad. He did the space walk and part of the installation process was to get a good foot hold on the station, while stretching a cable across the cylinder to clasps on either side. He says he's got three of the four clasps set, but as he's stretching the last one, his foot slips and the whole thing acts as a bow and arrow, with him as the arrow! Just about shot him into a higher orbit, but fortunately he was able to grab something and hang on.

Pete was the comander of Apollo 12 and the third man on the Moon. He was a somewhat fancy-free, gap toothed "loose canon", and was unfortunately responsible for pointing the TV camera at the Sun, burning it out and preventing us from seeing much on live TV for his landing. But he was certainly a heck of an astronaut!

He passed away on July 8, 1999 in a motorcycle accident in Ojai, California.

[FLO]

... the whole thing acts as a bow and arrow, with him as the arrow! Just about shot him into a higher orbit, but fortunately he was able to grab something and hang on.

:shock: