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[b]Space Cover #233 - A Lab in the Sky, Skylab! (Continued)[/b] After the ten day delay and now outfitted for the tasks to be completed, the Skylab 2 flight clears the launch tower at LC-39B at Kennedy Space Center, Florida, Mission Control Center, Houston, takes control of the flight. Nine minutes and fifty seconds after liftoff, Skylab 2 is in Earth orbit and closing on Skylab 1's the orbital workshop (OWS). On the fifth orbit of the mission, the Skylab 2 crew is set up in a good position to dock their SL-2 command service module with the Skylab orbital workshop. Upon rendezvous, Skylab 2's crew performs a fly around inspection of the damaged Skylab 1, crippled after launch ten days earlier. The crew provides detailed descriptions of the space station and also provide television coverage from the command service module to accurately record the damage they see. The crew, in awe, observes that the solar array panel for beam two was completely gone and the solar array panel for beam one was partially deployed but stopped from full deployment by a fragment of the meteoroid shield wedged against it and holding it tightly in place. Large segments of the meteoroid shield were missing. Soft-docking with Skylab 1, crewmember Paul Weitz is held by astronaut Joe Kerwin as he uses a boat hook to try to unseat Skylab's jammed solar array panel, but the attempt fails. Astronaut Paul Weitz succinctly comments, "…we ain't going to do it with the tools we've got!" The Skylab 2 crew tries to hard-dock with the space station in seven successive attempts but fails on each attempt due to a balky docking mechanism that worked perfectly the first time it was tried, but does not work now. Not wanting to abort the mission, the crew dons their spacesuits, depressurizes the command module, removes the probe assembly, and makes repairs to it. The crew then tries again and successfully docks with the orbital workshop on this new attempt. The crew is greatly relieved as they complete their first work period, an exhaustive twenty-two hour workday for this first crewed Skylab mission. It has been a full, problematic, and frustrating day with NASA officials thinking the entire $2.5 billion Skylab Project and jury-rigged repair operation to salvage Skylab and the orbital workshop could end in failure. Skylab's OWS bakes in direct sunlight, and the crew of Skylab 2 has to work quickly as high temperatures in the workshop release toxic gases and other byproducts from wiring and electronic components that can spoil film, food, and water for Skylab missions. After the crew fails to release the jammed solar panel, they set-up the replacement parasol sunshade and the basic repair starts to work. High temperatures of 126 F inside the Skylab OWS start to subside and drop low enough for the crew to enter the space station. Conrad and Kerwin take another try at freeing the jammed and partially deployed solar panel on the orbital workshop during a second EVA, June 7, 1973, and the two astronauts are finally successful in doing this by cutting loose the debris holding the panel in place. As the solar array panel is finally freed, the torque from the released panel throws Conrad and Kerwin into space. Fortunately, the two astronauts are tethered and do not become one-man astronaut satellites as Skylab 2 and the OWS orbit the Earth. The crew takes a stunning photo of Skylab 1's orbital workshop upon completion of their 28-day mission to save the Skylab workshop and the Skylab mission. See the photo below. As the crew pulls away in Skylab 2's command service module to return to Earth, they capture a still photo looking back at the 80-ton Skylab space station as it gracefully traverses its orbit over a deep blue ocean outlined by delicate white cirrus clouds. In the photo, the repaired solar panels are clearly shown along with the improvised sunshade put in place by the crew, and the freed and fully extended solar array panel that restored full power to the space station. The scene is a beautiful sight to see, and by itself is quiet testimony to the remarkable achievement of the Skylab 2 crew as they turned impending failure of the Skylab space station and mission into a remarkable success through their heroic efforts.
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