Living and Working in Space: A History of Skylab (NASA SP-4208), W. David Compton and Charles D. Benson, 1983, pp. 272-276; "Skylab EVA," Robert Kain, Crew Training and Procedures Division, NASA JSC, no date; Skylab Experience Bulletin No. 27: Personnel and Equipment Restraint and Mobility Aids: EVA, JSC 09561, NASA JSC, May 1975; "The Skylab Missions," Marshall Star, May 11, 1988; "Record Payload for Next Skylab," Aviation Week & Space Technology, July 2, 1973, p. 16; Personal Logs, Joseph McMann.
June 19
1973 EVA 3
World EVA 33
U.S. EVA 31
Space Station EVA 3
Duration: 1:36 Spacecraft/mission: Skylab Orbital Workshop (Skylab 1)/Skylab 2 Crew: Charles Conrad, Joseph Kerwin, Paul Weitz Spacewalkers: Charles Conrad, Paul Weitz Purpose: Replace ATM film; repair circuit breaker module
Before Skylab was launched, the Skylab 2 flight plan called for Conrad and Kerwin to perform one 2 hr, 30 min EVA on mission day 26. As it turned out, the EVA was actually the third of the flight, and was carried out by Conrad and Weitz. The first part of the EVA was very similar to the EVA as planned pre-flight. The astronauts removed film from the ATM solar telescopes for return to Earth and replaced the film. This required a fraction of the time planned. Four of Skylab's five EVA work stations were positioned to restrain the astronaut during film changeout. The Fixed Airlock Shroud (FAS) station, the main EVA work station, was located next to the external airlock hatch. The FAS station was the "base camp" for ascending the ATM. The astronauts moved between the work stations via the Deployment Assembly route, or "EVA Trail." The route consisted of single and dual handrails, the latter resembling ladders without rungs. According to the Skylab astronauts, the single handrails worked well, while translation using the dual rails was as easy as "driving on the freeway." All handrails were painted blue for visibility and provided with "road signs"—alphanumeric designators. The blue faded rapidly in the strong sunlight of space, however, and the designator labels proved difficult to see. ATM film cassettes were moved in a device called a film tree. The primary method of moving the trees was by three extendible booms located in the EVA Bay within reach of FAS. Controls for the motorized booms were located next to the EVA hatch. The booms could be manually operated if necessary, and "clotheslines," pulley-type devices, provided a backup film transport method. Their film changeout tasks completed, Conrad and Weitz removed space exposure samples launched on the workshop's exterior to accompany them back to Earth. Weitz and Conrad then moved on to tasks added after the successful wing 1 deployment on EVA 2. They used a brush to clean the White Light Coronograph occulting disk, which was producing glare. Conrad then moved to Circuit Breaker Relay Module 15. Acting on instructions from the ground, he hit it with a hammer to free a stuck relay. This low-tech solution succeeded and soon the module was feeding electricity into the Skylab power system again. The EVA brought the total for Skylab 2 to more than 5 hr, twice what was originally planned.
Living and Working in Space: A History of Skylab (NASA SP-4208), W. David Compton and Charles D. Benson, 1983, p. 294; "Skylab EVA," Robert Kain, Crew Training and Procedures Division, NASA JSC, no date; Skylab Experience Bulletin No. 27: Personnel and Equipment Restraint and Mobility Aids: EVA, JSC 09561, NASA JSC, May 1975.
June 22
Skylab 2 splashdown
July 28
Skylab 3 launch
August 6
1973 EVA 4
World EVA 34
U.S. EVA 32
Space Station EVA 4
Duration: 6:31 Spacecraft/mission: Skylab Orbital Workshop (Skylab 1)/Skylab 3 Crew: Alan Bean, Owen Garriott, Jack Lousma Spacewalks: Owen Garriott, Jack Lousma Purpose: Install new sunshade; replace ATM film
This EVA was scheduled before launch to occur on mission day 4, but crew illness (space motion sickness) pushed it back to mission day 10. The main order of business was to install the Twin Pole Sunshade over the parasol installed by the Skylab 2 astronauts because testing on the ground showed that the parasol's nylon fabric could deteriorate from exposure to solar ultraviolet radiation. SPT Garriott assembled two poles, each made up of 11 1.5-m (5-ft) sections, and passed them to CMP Lousma, who was positioned in the portable foot restraint attached to an ATM handrail. Lousma attached the poles to a base plate he installed on a hand rail, unfurled the sunshade fabric, and attached a reefing line to make the shade lie flat. He swiveled the completed shade to cover the station, then returned to the airlock to get equipment for the next phase of the EVA. Lousma ascended the ATM again, installed film, then inspected thruster quads A and B on the Skylab 3 CM from his position on the ATM. The quads were leaking, but Lousma saw no obvious signs of leakage and they later stopped, so Skylab 3 could run its scheduled 56-day duration. Lousma removed a telescope aperture door ramp to keep the door from sticking, which required removal of two bolts not designed for EVA, then deployed the Micrometeoroid Particle Collection experiment. The experiment was originally intended for deployment from the science airlock blocked by the parasol, but was redesigned for EVA deployment and launched with the Skylab 3 crew.
"Skylab EVA," Robert Kain, Crew Training and Procedures Division, NASA JSC, no date; Skylab: A Chronology, NASA SP 4011, Roland Newkirk, et al, 1977, pp. 324-325; Skylab Experience Bulletin No. 27: Personnel and Equipment Restraint and Mobility Aids: EVA, JSC 09561, NASA JSC, May 1975.
August 24
1973 EVA 5
World EVA 35
U.S. EVA 33
Space Station EVA 5
Duration: 4:31 Spacecraft/mission: Skylab Orbital Workshop (Skylab 1)/Skylab 3 Crew: Alan Bean, Owen Garriott, Jack Lousma Spacewalkers: Owen Garriott, Jack Lousma Purpose: Change out all ATM film; install rate gyro package cable
Before Skylab reached orbit, this EVA to change out all ATM film was scheduled to last 2 hr, 45 min on day 29 of Skylab 3. The EVA actually occurred on mission day 28. In addition to their film changeout task, Garriott and Lousma installed a 7.3-m (24-ft) cable for a new rate gyro package they installed within the station's pressurized volume. The astronauts also attached a clipboard with two parasol material samples to a handrail, and removed two more ramps from faulty ATM aperture doors.
"Skylab EVA," Robert Kain, Crew Training and Procedures Division, NASA JSC, no date; Skylab Experience Bulletin No. 27: Personnel and Equipment Restraint and Mobility Aids: EVA, JSC 09561, NASA JSC, May 1975.
September 22
1973 EVA 6
World EVA 36
U.S. EVA 34
Space Station EVA 6
Duration: 2:41 Spacecraft/mission: Skylab Orbital Workshop (Skylab 1)/Skylab 3 Crew: Alan Bean, Owen Garriott, Jack Lousma Spacewalkers: Alan Bean, Owen Garriott Purpose: Remove all ATM film, partially replace; remove space exposure samples and collectors
Skylab 3 astronauts Bean and Garriott removed all ATM film for return to Earth, performed partial ATM film installation, and retrieved exposed collectors and samples, including one parasol material sample from the clipboard. The Airlock Module suit cooling system was inoperative because of leaks, so no water flowed through the umbilicals to the astronauts' suits. Air cooling proved adequate for the undemanding tasks at hand, Garriott reported becoming slightly warm, while Bean's hands were warm throughout the EVA.
"Skylab EVA," Robert Kain, Crew Training and Procedures Division, NASA JSC, no date; Skylab Experience Bulletin No. 27: Personnel and Equipment Restraint and Mobility Aids: EVA, JSC 09561, NASA JSC, May 1975; Personal Logs, Joseph McMann.
September 25
Skylab 3 splashdown
September 27-29
Soyuz 12
November 16
Skylab 4 launch
November 22
1973 EVA 7
World EVA 37
U.S. EVA 35
Space Station EVA 7
Duration: 6:33 Spacecraft/mission: Skylab Orbital Workshop (Skylab 1)/Skylab 4 Crew: Gerald Carr, Edward Gibson, William Pogue Spacewalkers: William Pogue, Edward Gibson Purpose: Take Earth atmosphere photos; install experiments; repair Microwave Radiometer/Scatterometer/Altimeter antenna
Before Skylab was launched, Skylab 4 SPT Gibson and CMP Pogue were to retrieve a meteoroid collector and partially install ATM film during their first EVA, which was to last 2 hr on mission day 4. The EVA actually occurred on mission day 7 and lasted three times as long. The crew refilled the Airlock Module suit cooling system with water prior to the EVA. In addition to carrying out the originally scheduled tasks, Pogue and Gibson placed the Coronagraph Contamination Measurements experiment on an ATM truss and attempted to photograph Earth's atmosphere using a camera originally intended for deployment from the science airlock blocked by the parasol solar shield. The camera failed after 5 of 40 planned exposures. They also attached the Trans-Uranic Cosmic Ray Experiment detector to the clipboard; pinned open a malfunctioning aperture door; installed space exposure samples; and repaired the Microwave Radiometer/Scatterometer/Altimeter antenna, which was on the Earth-facing side of station where no EVA handrails or foot restraints existed. The astronauts had difficulty keeping their umbilicals separated.
"Skylab EVA," Robert Kain, Crew Training and Procedures Divisions, NASA JSC, no date; Skylab Experience Bulletin No. 27: Personnel and Equipment Restraint and Mobility Aids: EVA, JSC 09561, NASA JSC, May 1975; Personal Logs, Joseph McMann.
December 18-26
Soyuz 13
December 25
1973 EVA 8
World EVA 38
U.S. EVA 36
Space Station EVA 8
Duration: 7:01 Spacecraft/mission: Skylab Orbital Workshop (Skylab 1)/Skylab 4 Crew: Gerald Carr, Edward Gibson, William Pogue Spacewalkers: Gerald Carr, William Pogue Purpose: Perform partial ATM film replacement; photograph Comet Kohoutek; repair ATM telescope
During this, the longest Skylab EVA, Pogue and CDR Carr attached the X-ray/ultraviolet (UV) Solar Photography experiment to the ATM truss. The experiment was originally intended for deployment from the science airlock blocked by the parasol. They also took 40 pictures of Comet Kohoutek; partially replaced ATM film; retrieved space exposure samples; and pinned open another malfunctioning aperture door. The astronauts then returned to the Airlock Module to stow equipment while IV crewman Edward Gibson maneuvered Skylab to the proper attitude for far UV comet photography. The astronauts attached the Far UV camera to an ATM truss, took three sequences of 10 photos each, then returned the instrument to the airlock. Finally they repaired a telescope filter wheel, which involved fine work made challenging by their stiff space suit gloves. The astronauts used a dental mirror and penlight to look into the aperture, then carefully positioned the filter wheel with a screwdriver. Leaking cooling water, colored yellow by chromate corrosion inhibitor, formed ice on the front of Carr's belly-mounted pressure control unit. The leak lacked sufficient volume to deplete the cooling water supply. Yellow ice flaked off as Carr moved.
"Skylab EVA," Robert Kain, Crew Training and Procedures Division, NASA JSC, no date; Skylab Experience Bulletin No. 27: Personnel and Equipment Restraint and Mobility Aids: EVA, JSC 09561, NASA Johnson Space Center, May 1975; Personal Logs, Joseph McMann.
December 29
1973 EVA 9
World EVA 39
U.S. EVA 37
Space Station EVA 9
Duration: 3:29 Spacecraft/mission: Skylab Orbital Workshop (Skylab 1)/Skylab 4 Crew: Gerald Carr, Edward Gibson, William Pogue Spacewalkers: Gerald Carr, Edward Gibson Purpose: Retrieve space exposure samples; photograph Comet Kohoutek
On mission day 44 Carr and Gibson collected a piece of the Airlock Module meteoroid cover for analysis. They then repeated their Comet Kohoutek observations. During the EVA, ice formed on the front of Carr's suit because of a cooling water leak.
"Skylab EVA," Robert Kain, Crew Training and Procedures Division, NASA JSC, no date; Skylab Experience Bulletin No. 27: Personnel and Equipment Restraint and Mobility Aids: EVA, JSC 09561, NASA JSC, May 1975.
1974
February 3
1974 EVA 1
World EVA 40
U.S. EVA 38
Space Station EVA 10
Duration: 5:19 Spacecraft/mission: Skylab Orbital Workshop (Skylab 1)/Skylab 4 Crew: Gerald Carr, Edward Gibson, William Pogue Spacewalkers: Gerald Carr, Edward Gibson Purpose: Collect space exposure samples and collectors; remove all Skylab film for return to Earth