Author
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Topic: Original plans for space shuttle and Skylab
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NASAROB Member Posts: 38 From: Astoria NY Registered: Feb 2009
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posted 11-17-2009 11:33 AM
I remember reading somewhere that there were plans for an early shuttle mission to boast Skylab into a higher orbit. What were the plans for Skylab after that? I know there was talk of a 20 day Skylab 5 mission. Was it just to prevent orbital decay? Did NASA have plans to use the shuttle to carry consumables and have crews occupy Skylab. |
kr4mula Member Posts: 642 From: Cinci, OH Registered: Mar 2006
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posted 11-17-2009 01:18 PM
As far as I know, they were going to try to keep Skylab from its uncontrolled reentry, but the shuttle program was delayed so much that the boost was impossible. The systems on Skylab, notably the reaction control system, weren't designed to be refilled, so it was unlikely they could've extended its useful life without significant modifications. This was supposedly done intentionally by the Von Braun contingent so that Skylab wouldn't threaten the then-anticipated development of a permanent space station. Of course, a limited-lifetime design was also likely cheaper and easier to build. |
Hart Sastrowardoyo Member Posts: 3445 From: Toms River, NJ Registered: Aug 2000
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posted 11-17-2009 02:04 PM
Didn't (I think) Martin Marietta work on the development of a unit which would have boosted Skylab to a higher orbit? Was any significant hardware completed? |
E2M Lem Man Member Posts: 846 From: Los Angeles CA. USA Registered: Jan 2005
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posted 11-17-2009 02:42 PM
NASA did not want to see Skylab die. They had plans for Skylab B (now at the Smithsonian) that called for long duration crew test missions, advanced telescopes (AKA manned Hubble) and even a docking port dedicated to Soviet Soyuz spacecraft (son of ASTP), and a special one for orbiter dockings. This is from old congressional budget request documents.After that got chopped - many of these ideas fell to Skylab after the rescue, but these were short lived as it was realized that they could not even get up to it in time to save it. Parts of the Skylab rescue vehicle ended up in local space scrapyards - and a big chunk of it is in a friends garage! |
WAWalsh Member Posts: 809 From: Cortlandt Manor, NY Registered: May 2000
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posted 11-17-2009 03:25 PM
If memory serves, Fred Haise was tapped to command the mission. |
Delta7 Member Posts: 1505 From: Bluffton IN USA Registered: Oct 2007
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posted 11-17-2009 04:13 PM
Fred Haise and Jack Lousma were originally assigned as the crew of STS-3, the original Skylab revisit mission. A booster carried aloft in Columbia's payload bay was to have been attached to Skylab's main docking port via the Teleoperator Unit, and later fired to either re-boost the Orbital Workshop or de-orbit it in a more predictable and controlled manner. That plan was canceled when it became apparent that the Shuttle wouldn't be ready to fly in time to prevent it's orbital decay and re-entry. |
Hart Sastrowardoyo Member Posts: 3445 From: Toms River, NJ Registered: Aug 2000
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posted 11-17-2009 04:46 PM
And I recall Haise saying when the Skylab reboost mission went by the wayside that he was no longer interested in flying STS-3. (I also remember saying if he had been tapped for STS-1, he would have stayed.) |