Author Topic: May 14, 1973 Last Saturn V Launch- Skylab (Read 12484 times)

sghill · « **on:** 05/14/2023 11:16 am »

This afternoon marks the 50th anniversary of the last Saturn V flight.

On May 14th 1973 at 5:30pm local , the Saturn V SA-513 launched Skylab into orbit.

It would be 50 years, almost to the month, before anything remotely that big ever launched again.

I didn't want the moment to pass unremarked upon, so I'll invite any of our terrific NSF historians and witnesses to share stories or photos here of the launch or Skylab.

For my own part, I remember the wonderful missions better than the launch. But even as a boy, I recall Skylab against the backdrop of post-Vietnam and Three Mile Island malaise in the US around Skylab, and technology in general. First, as it had its early mission troubles, and later as it circled the Earth abandoned and unreachable while shuttle sat on the ground, until we lost our last connection to the Saturn program over Australia in 1979. Those were sad times for space fans.

A visit and walk through of the complete, unflown, Skylab B station was always a highlight of my trips to the NASM, but their webpage states it has since been removed.

catdlr · « **Reply #1 on:** 05/14/2023 06:06 pm »

Cross post to the 40th-anniversary thread:

https://forum.nasaspaceflight.com/index.php?topic=31843.0

AnalogMan · « **Reply #2 on:** 05/14/2023 08:32 pm »

Skylab at 50 – How the United States entered the space station era
written by William Graham May 14, 2023

https://www.nasaspaceflight.com/2023/05/skylab-at-50/

edkyle99 · « **Reply #3 on:** 05/14/2023 11:00 pm »

L2 photo thread post about Skylab 1 here.
https://forum.nasaspaceflight.com/index.php?topic=28104.msg2365732#msg2365732
SA-206/Skylab 2 would have launched the next day from LC 39B, but had to be scrubbed due to the Skylab 1 damage.

"When Skylab separated from the second stage at 591.1 seconds, the S-2 retro rockets blew compromised Solar Wing No. 2 off of the Workshop. At T+920.4 seconds, the giant, 11.07 tonne payload shroud separated. Its four pieces joined the solar array, the 76.54 tonne Skylab, and the 59.487 tonne S-2 (including Interstage) in orbit. (Years later the world would freak out about Skylab's reentry, but no one ever talked about all the other stuff!) Houston deployed the Apollo Telescope Mount and its four solar panels. Only then, during the first orbit, did controllers begin to realize that the main Workshop solar panels and meteoroid shield had not deployed.

Skylab itself was under control, but there was a power shortage and interior temperatures were climbing, hinting at damage during ascent. SA-206/Skylab 2 was scrubbed while NASA teams scrambled to plan a rescue."

Now we know that NASA need not have worried. It had Pete Conrad!

- Ed Kyle

hartspace · « **Reply #4 on:** 05/14/2023 11:39 pm »

The first ever launch I attended was Skylab 1. What a way to start with the last Saturn V! I was 16 at the time and to this day I remember the ground shaking from 15 miles away as the giant rocket took off. My launch trip included going on the KSC tour the previous day to see the Skylab/Saturn V from outside the pad perimeter fence and I think the tour included a drive-by of the Skylab 2/Saturn IB as well. I remember being disappointed that we didn't get the back-to-back launches of the 2 rockets. I've watched dozens of launches since then, but that one remains at the top of the list.

bkellysky · « **Reply #5 on:** 05/16/2023 11:53 pm »

In the days after the Skylab launch, I was touring Washington, DC with my high school political science class.
I was excited to attend a meeting of a US Senate subcommittee on space. I don't remember who from NASA was doing the briefing, but Senator Goldwater was asking him about the 'health of the bird'.
The NASA rep had little information beyond the public statements NASA was issuing. I wanted to jump out of my seat and remind them of the advanced ground-based remote sensing technology I read about in National Geographic that could "detect a basketball" in low earth orbit.
Of course, I didn't, and of course, they weren't going to discuss that in a public session, no matter how much was publicly known about such technology.

catdlr · « **Reply #6 on:** 03/03/2024 06:43 pm »

Skylab 1 - Countdown/Launch/Orbits (With FD Loop)

Quote

March 3, 2014

Skylab 1 - May 14th 1973

For the first time in 51 years, we follow the countdown, launch, and initial orbits of the Skylab Space Station. Includes some descriptions of the anomalies seen during the launch phase, which resulted in the loss of a solar wing and micrometeorite shield. Also included are:

NASA coverage of the countdown and launch as seen on the day
Stacking in the VAB and Rollout of the last Saturn V
100's of photographs depicting various stages of Skylab development, construction, and launch
Audio is from the LCC countdown PAO, the Houston PAO and, after orbital insertion, from the Flight Director Loop.
There are various shots of the launch, many which haven't been seen before now.

Acknowledgments
Dwight Steve-Boniecki - The person to go to if you want to know anything about Skylab. Dwight's film, Searching For Skylab, is a must-have in your space films collection. Dwight has been very generous in offering pictures and video for the project, alongside guidance to the anomalies at launch.

https://www.searchingforskylab.com/ho...

Robert Godwin - From Apogee Books allowed the use of the countdown and launch coverage in its entirety. Without that permission, this film would not have been possible.

Mike Fried - Secured the audio from the National Archive - His research and assistance have been invaluable

Johannes Kemppanen - Provided technical documents relating to the initial findings of the launch anomalies alongside other Skylab documents

Paolo Mangili - Provided the MC Earth Map and Skylab icon

Steven Taylor - Provided the launch sequences using KSP

All media courtesy of the National Archives and NASA

Dedicating this project to everyone who worked on Skylab, who designed, built, stacked, and launched it.