From How Space Stations Work:

On May 14, 1973, NASA launched its first space station — Skylab 1 — into orbit. During the launch, the station was damaged. A critical meteoroid shield and one of the station’s two main solar panels were ripped off and the other solar panel was not fully stretched out. That meant that Skylab had little electrical power and the internal temperature rose to 126 degrees Fahrenheit (52 degrees Celsius).

The first crew, Skylab2, was launched 10 days later to fix the ailing station. The crew consisted of Commander Charles “Pete” Conrad, Paul Weitz and Joseph Kerwin. The Skylab 2 astronauts stretched out the remaining solar panel and set up an umbrella-like sunshade to cool the station. With the station repaired, the astronauts spent 28 days in space conducting scientific and biomedical research.

Modified from the third stage of a Saturn V moon rocket, Skylab had the following parts:

• Orbital workshop - living and working quarters for the crew
• Airlock module - allowed access to the outside of the station
• Multiple docking adapter - allowed more than one Apollo spacecraft to dock to the station at once (However, there were never any overlapping crews in the station.)
• Apollo telescope mount - contained telescopes for observing the sun, stars and Earth (Keep in mind that the Hubble Space Telescope had not been built yet.)
• Apollo spacecraft - command and service module for transporting the crew to and from the Earth’s surface

Skylab was manned by two additional crews. Skylab 3 consisted of Commander Alan Bean and astronauts Jack Lousma and Owen Garriot. They spent 59 days in space. The final crew, Skylab 4, consisted of Commander Gerald Carr and astronauts William Pogue and Edward Gibson. This crew spent 84 days in orbit, conducted experiments and photographed comet Kohoutek.

Skylab was never meant to be a permanent home in space, but rather a workshop where the United States could test the effects of long-duration space flights (that is, greater than the two weeks required to go to the moon) on the human body. When the flight of the third crew was finished, Skylab was abandoned. Skylab remained aloft until intense solar flare activity caused its orbit to decay sooner than expected. Skylab re-entered the Earth’s atmosphere and burned over Australia in 1979.

Learn more about Skylab over at NASA’s mission hub. Image credit: NASA.

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Lanzamiento del Skylab (NASA).

(Source: astroperlas, via space-pics)

Chris Hadfield and Don Pettit are instrumental in saving the space programme…

(Source: asonlynasacan, via for-all-mankind)

Skylab: America’s Humanity’s First Home in Space Launched 40 Years Ago Today

With all the futuristic talk today about missions to Mars, lunar bases and asteroid mining, it’s easy to forget that man has already been living off of the planet on and off for decades. Forty years ago today, Skylab — America’s Humanity’s first outpost in space — was launched. The three-man orbiting laboratory was designed to conduct scientific experiments in space, such as studies of the effects of weightlessness on man and other living organisms, and observations of the sun.

Here’s a look back at the pioneering Skylab mission, including mechanical failures, an aborted rescue mission, a crew mutiny and an unplanned crash landing on Earth.

View Wired Skylab Gallery

video: NASA, space.com
article: wired.com

Virgin Galactic Hires Former NASA Astronaut as Spaceship Pilot

Just a week after Virgin Galactic made history with its first rocket-powered test flight, the commercial spaceflight company announced that it is hiring two veteran pilots, including a former NASA astronaut, who will help bring space tourists to new heights above Earth.

Retired U.S. Air Force Lt. Col. Michael “Sooch” Masucci and former NASA space shuttle commander Frederick “CJ” Sturckow will work out of Virgin Galactic’s Mojave, Calif., location to conduct flight training and testing with the suborbital SpaceShipTwo and its mothership, WhiteKnightTwo, the company said in a statement.

Sturckow is the first astronaut to be plucked from NASA’s ranks by Virgin Galactic. He logged more than 1,200 hours in space over four shuttle missions, including STS-88, the first U.S. launch to the International Space Station in 1998. A retired U.S. Marine Corps colonel, Sturckow also has 26 years of military flight experience under his belt. [Photos: Virgin Galactic’s 1st SpaceShipTwo Powered Flight Test]

“CJ will certainly be missed by the Astronaut Office,” said Bob Behnken, chief of the Astronaut Office at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston. “He was a role model for leadership, and his expertise as an aviator and shuttle commander led to the success of the shuttle and station missions. His experience in spaceflight and ground operations will be difficult to replace within our organization. We look forward to his continued contributions to the future of spaceflight as he moves on to the next phase of his career.”

Masucci, meanwhile, is an experienced test and combat pilot who has logged more than 9,000 flying hours in 70 different types of airplanes and gliders.

A suborbital trip aboard SpaceShipTwo promises to bring passengers to the edge of space and back for $200,000 a ride. The flights would not make a full orbit of Earth, but they would allow passengers to experience brief periods of weightlessness and glimpse the planet from space.

“Viewing the Earth from space is such a unique and unforgettable experience,” Sturckow said in a May 8 statement. “I’m excited to be a part of the Virgin Galactic team that is revolutionizing access to space, making this opportunity a possibility for all.”

Virgin Galactic, founded by the British billionaire Sir Richard Branson, held its latest, and 26th, test flight of SpaceShipTwo on April 29 at California’s Mojave Air and Space Port.

The vehicle was brought into the air by the carrier WhiteKnightTwo. After it was released, SpaceShipTwo went on to reach a maximum altitude of 56,000 feet (17,000 meters) before it flew back to Earth. In a first, the space plane also fired its rocket engines during the flight, which propelled the vehicle to a supersonic speed of Mach 1.2. (Mach 1, the speed of sound, is about 762 mph, or 1,226 km/h, at sea level.)

Virgin Galactic officials have said that SpaceShipTwo could carry passengers as soon as this year or 2014. More than 500 people have signed up for the flights, which will be run out of Spaceport America in New Mexico once the testing phase is complete.

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Stay Curious! Watch Black Sky : The Race For Space about Space Ship One, and how a small team backed by Paul Allen achieved human suborbital spaceflight and win the Ansari X Prize. The documentary provides insight about how the rocketplane was built, the challenge they faced when they flew it, the vision of Burt Rutan about the future of this technology (tier two and three), and his thoughts about NASA and government. [x]

Skylab: America’s First Home in Space Launched 40 Years Ago Today

With all the futuristic talk today about missions to Mars, lunar bases and asteroid mining, it’s easy to forget that man has already been living off of the planet on and off for decades. Forty years ago today, Skylab — America’s first outpost in space — was launched. The three-man orbiting laboratory was designed to conduct scientific experiments in space, such as studies of the effects of weightlessness on man and other living organisms, and observations of the sun.

Full Article

(Source: spaceplasma, via spaceplasma)

The sky is /not/ the limit - Col. Chris Hadfield

(Source: quotesfield, via asonlynasacan)

ISS Astronauts Returned Safely to Earth.

“After inspiring all of us on Earth, Commander Chris Hadfield and crew have finally re-joined us here. The Soyuz space capsule landed safely at 10:31 PM EDT in Kazakhstan. Hadfield had spent 144 days on the ISS, 2,336 orbits around the planet and totaled up around 62 million miles. That’s a lot of miles!

The Soyuz capsule landed vertically, which is the preferred position. The crew, which includes Canadian Astronaut Chris Hadfield, NASA astronaut Tom Marshburn and Russian cosmonaut Roman Romanenko, are back on Earth and reportedly all feeling good as they re-adjust to the gravity. Marshburn was one of the astronauts who performed the awe-inspiring emergency spacewalk to fix the leak of ammonia coolant two days ago.

The landing of the capsule comes a little over three hours since the capsule undocked from the ISS. It marks the end of the ISS’ Expedition 35 Crew in space. The crew will head over to the medical tent to get all properly tested and fixed for normal Earth life. Or as normal life can be in the eyes of men who were in space.” via Gizmodo

“On Sunday, Hadfield handed over command of the space station to Russian cosmonaut Pavel Vinogradov.

As part of his personal farewell to the space station, Hadfield released a video of his version of David Bowie’s Space Oddity, which NASA said is the first music video made in space.” via CBC

(Source: thescienceofreality)

NASA Connects Space Station and “Star Trek Into Darkness” Crews

Science fiction and science fact come together for an epic Google+ Hangout live with the Space Station and the director, a writer and some actors in the film “Star Trek Into Darkness.” Join the discussion from noon to 12:45 p.m. EDT, May 16, about how work aboard the International Space Station is turning science fiction into reality. http://go.nasa.gov/13i9DII

(Source: spaceplasma, via spaceplasma)

Astronauts, Space Walks and The ‘Overview Effect’

Nearly everyone is familiar with EVA’s (Extra-Vehicular Activities) or “Space Walks” - activities/tasks performed outside of a space craft by astronauts. However, since watching The Overview Effect when it first premiered, I haven’t come across a segment of interviews such as this.

This is a great tribute to the men and women who have actually stepped out into space and seen the Earth with their own eyes, only a thin sheet of protective material between their organic lenses and the natural beauty of our planet and universe.

Expect more of this. As humans progress above our atmosphere and further out into space, the psychological/neurological effects will become more widespread and unique to each individual, united by awe and humility. I encourage all of you to watch this 20-minute documentary, The Overview Effect, which truly exposes the cosmic perspective for what it is, which is solitary and distinctive to the human species. No one else in history has been able to grasp and articulate this perspective from the height of over 250 miles up from our planet’s surface.

We’ve speculated and verbally interpreted this viewpoint philosophically, psychologically, spiritually, historically and scientifically, but we now are able to share and partake in this human journey - via our ever-advancing technology - with other humans across the globe through multiple media forms; granting others such an experience, which, even for a moment, consumes our consciousness and peels back the layers of our biological, chemical, atomically-interwoven connectivity with all life on this planet and most probably, others.

Also, if you’re unfamiliar with entrepreneur/video game developer Richard Garriott, he is lesser-known as being the son of an astronaut. His father, Owen Garriott, lived on NASA’s Skylab/Spacelab-1 LEO facilities in the 70’s and 80’s. Richard Garriott’s lifelong dream was to follow in his father’s “bootsteps” and journey to space. Garriott underwent astronaut training in Star City where, with his Russian counterparts, he learned Russian (required as he flew abord the Soyuz craft) and via Space Adventures, became the first private citizen to venture into space and perform science experiments on board the International Space Station.

Since then, Richard Garriott has become the Vice-Chairman of the Board of Directors for Space Adventures and trustee of the X-Prize Foundation, which we are all familiar with. The film not only excites with gorgeous photography/cinematography, but also educates, revealing the cultural significance and processes by which Russian astro/cosmonauts partake and endure along their journey to space.

His mission, from beginning to end, was documented and produced into a film, aptly entitled, “Man On A Mission.” Free up some time to watch this and share it with others. The more humans that venture into space, the more humans we will have returning to Earth (or not) sharing their experience and the importance of spaceflight upon our civilization and our psyche.

Ad Astra Per Aspera.

Gifs from Chris Hadfield’s Space Oddity [X]

Respect and love to this man. One of the finest commanders the ISS has seen and which we’ve all shared in his journey. Thank you, Sir Chris Hadfield, for your amazing photography and continual public outreach for the scientific community. Humanity (and Canada) salute you.

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Chris Hadfield’s Mission Reflections.

I’m going to make a real effort to have a beer/30 minute convo with this man by the end of 2014. Committed!  

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A FEW FINAL THOUGHTS ON CHRIS HADFIELD’S GIFT TO EDUCATION, COMMUNICATION & ACCESSIBILITY

You know my love for Chris Hadfield. You can see my first post about him here, “Reasons for Chris Hadfield”.

In my opinion, he is the embodiment of the modern scientist. Someone who is not only a researcher, but at tentpole around which we can build science accessibility and education.

He went up an scientist, but he’s seemingly returned to Earth an icon of education and communication, of which the world has rarely seen.

I honestly don’t even know how I can even go to bed now without a “Tonight’s Finale” photo from Chris of the world.

And with that I want to thank Chris deeply for all that he’s given to us.

I want to also send two special shout outs

• To his son, Evan, for coordinating all these efforts, and making it possible for us to talk to an astronaut. Up in space. Forever far away, but seemingly closer than most scientists I’ve ever met. Thank you for making this a possibility.
• To the Canadian Space Agency, who I could not appreciate more. Exploration of space is not just about discovering the the final fronter, but about realizing what we as humans are fully capable of. Thank you for helping us all experience this.

MEDIA

• Above is Chris’ “Space Oddity” cover video which is INSTANTLY the greatest video ever made.
• Below is Chris talking about Social Media, something we all know and love.

• And HERE is a great article from the CBC on Chris, Evan and the Canadian Space Agency exploration of Social Media in space, and their plans for the future.

 

(via romkids)

Physics in the Gravity Trailer | by RHETT ALLAIN (Wired)

Let’s take a look at this trailer for the upcoming movie Gravity. I don’t know much, but it seems like it is about two astronauts dealing with some problems on the International Space Station. After watching this, my physics alert system went off. It might be a false alarm, so I will take a closer look.

Orbit Altitude

If you look at the Wikipedia page on the ISS, it lists the orbit altitude at 250 to 263 miles above the Earth. Here is a shot from the trailer.

Ok. I don’t know for certain this is the ISS in the trailer. I assume it is, but it could be some new space station. However, at “372 miles above the Earth” the ISS is much higher than it normally operates. I guess that’s ok – I mean this is a fictional story. I don’t see any reason why it couldn’t be this high. I just don’t see why they would significantly change the altitude. Maybe there is some plot element regarding the altitude – but if not, this is just sad. Really, it isn’t difficult to look up the orbital characteristics of the ISS.

Well, there is one big difference with an increased altitude. The orbital period would be longer. Maybe that is important in the plot. Maybe.

Air Resistance in Orbit

This is a short trailer with short clips of things. This means that it’s not quite clear what’s going on in each scene. Let’s look at a few.

This shows part of the ISS exploding for some reason. I think this short clip is ok in that it has the debris expanding in all directions.

In this scene, there is stuff that is clearly getting pushed back by air. At a 372 mile altitude, there is still air – but very little. Even at the ISS’s current orbit, there is air resistance – and this is why the space station occasionally needs a reboost. But at that height, the air resistance wouldn’t do anything like this. The next scene shows material leaving trails, so perhaps the space station got much closer to the Earth.

Here is an astronaut hanging on to the ISS.

If you are just flying past the space station and you grab on to stop yourself, that would be it. You would stop. You wouldn’t keep getting pulled back. If the space station was low in the orbit with significant air resistance, then that could happen. However, I have a feeling that you would have to be pretty low to get some serious forces as depicted in this scene.

Homework

Clearly, I don’t have any definite answers here. So, instead I will give homework questions. That’s what I do.

Estimate the drag force on the ISS at its current orbit altitude. Here is a hint. If you increased the altitude to 327 miles, how would the air drag force change?

What would the density of air have to be for an astronaut to experience an air drag force of about half the astronaut’s weight on the surface of the Earth?

Suppose re-entry starts at an altitude of 200 miles (I just guessed). What is the change in energy (both kinetic and gravitational potential) for an ISS going from an altitude of 372 miles to 200 miles? (sorry for using miles – but that’s what it lists in the video).

Let me point out one more thing. Why did I even start this post in the first place? After my first pass of the trailer, I was afraid that there was a very wrong misconception. The common idea is that when you knock something off of a fast moving object, that knocked off thing will slow down. This is indeed what happens to a fast moving air plane. The debris falls back due to an interaction with the air. However, in high orbits the air drag is quite small. This means that if you knock something off the ISS, it will basically just stay there.

After examining the trailer again, I’m not sure this problem is in the short clip. It seems that all of the objects moving past the ISS are due to some type of re-entry. I guess I will have to wait for the movie or another trailer to really find out what is going on.

NASA will webcast two major events today, a Skylab anniversary at 2:30 pm ET (18:30 GMT) and a Soyuz landing tonight.

(Source: knowledgethroughscience, via knowledgethroughscience)