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[b]Space Cover 231: A Tribute to Skylab[/b] Forty years ago at this time, the second Skylab manned mission, SL-3 (or Skylab-2) was nearing the end of its 59 1/2-day flight. The next mission, SL-4, launching on November 16, 1973, on an 84-day mission, would bring a productive and successful conclusion to America's first manned space station program. The Skylab Orbital Workshop, launched on May 14, 1973 by the last Saturn V rocket to be used, and after critical repairs by the SL-2 crew, would be home to three crews, and a total of nine Skylab astronauts, for a total of 171 days. The Orbital Workshop itself would stay in orbit from May 14, 1973 until its fiery plunge to the Pacific on July 11, 1979, after 34,961 orbits of the earth. Skylab was one of NASA's most successful programs, but those of us involved in these weekly Space Cover of the Week features, have mostly neglected it. Now, during its fortieth anniversary is an appropriate time to present a tribute to Skylab. The few covers shown here should provide a fair representation of the many covers and autographs related to Skylab. But we have hopes that other Skylab covers can be presented here, with perhaps some followup SCOTW presentations of more Skylab information and covers. The Skylab Program is too big to "cover" with only one modest presentation, as I have done here, as many covers exist for pre-launch, launch, on orbit, recovery and post-flight events. At the top is a cover for the first day of the Skylab Medical Experiments Altitude Test (SMEAT) that simulated a Skylab mission, with three astronauts confined in a 20-foot hypobaric chamber at the Manned Spacecraft Center, Houston, for 56 days. The NASA/KSC VIP card below it marks the launch of the Skylab Orbital Workshop. [IMG]http://pic90.picturetrail.com/VOL2323/13132186/23370140/407555417.jpg[/IMG] These two covers mark the SL-2 launch (with an official NASA/KSC rubber stamp cachet) and the launch of STS-3, and are autographed by each 3-man crew. The photo is of the Skylab Orbital Workshop, showing the one remaining solar panel array and the heat shade blanket deployed by the SL-2 crew. [IMG]http://pic90.picturetrail.com/VOL2323/13132186/23370140/407555429.jpg[/IMG] The final two covers mark the SL-4, 84-day final Skylab manned mission, and the bottom cover marks the last day in orbit of the Skylab Orbital Workshop and is autographed by all nine Skylab astronauts.
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