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  Skylab SA-209 rescue vehicle at the launchpad

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Author Topic:   Skylab SA-209 rescue vehicle at the launchpad
LM-12
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Posts: 3905
From: Ontario, Canada
Registered: Oct 2010

posted 02-11-2023 11:10 AM     Click Here to See the Profile for LM-12     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
The Skylab Rescue vehicle (SA-209/CSM-119) for the last crewed Skylab mission rolled out to Pad 39B on Dec. 3, 1973. It was at the pad for about two months.

Did the Skylab Rescue crew (Vance Brand and Don Lind) participate in any suited activities at the pad during that period?

From the Skylab 4 press kit:

The rescue CSM and its Saturn IB are scheduled for transfer from the VAB to the launch pad in early December for pad integration and final tests. Current scheduling calls for SL-R (the designation of the rescue mission) to be in a launch readiness configuration by the end of December.

Dwight
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Posts: 614
From: Germany
Registered: Dec 2003

posted 03-06-2023 05:21 AM     Click Here to See the Profile for Dwight   Click Here to Email Dwight     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
To the best of my knowledge, no. They spent a lot of time in the simulator replicating the RCS fault, and subsequently determined that SL-3 could fly back, negating the need for a rescue.

This also meant that while the S1B was on the launch pad, the press conference between the SL-3 crew and Chris Kraft pretty much meant the mission went on as normal. As Vance Brand states in "Searching for Skylab," "Yeah, we worked ourselves out of a job!"

LM-12
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From: Ontario, Canada
Registered: Oct 2010

posted 03-06-2023 01:58 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for LM-12     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
I was referring to a possible rescue mission of the third Skylab crew.

Dwight
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Posts: 614
From: Germany
Registered: Dec 2003

posted 03-06-2023 02:35 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for Dwight   Click Here to Email Dwight     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
My apologies. Likewise while the S1B was prepared, there doesn't seem to be any reference to suited astronaut training on the pad. From "Skylab: A Chronology":
The Skylab rescue mission hardware was on schedule, and vehicle rollout to the launch complex was scheduled for 5 December. Integrated testing and the flight readiness test would be completed about 13 December. Flight readiness review dates would only be established if a rescue launch was required.
Unlike SL-3, for the SL-4 mission there was no dire situation which required the same level of attention given to the predicament faced by the SL-3 crew.

Also, while its not hard evidence, Vance has never mentioned going to the pad for SL-4 to me.

LM-12
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Posts: 3905
From: Ontario, Canada
Registered: Oct 2010

posted 03-06-2023 09:04 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for LM-12     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
No problem. I thought that perhaps there would have been an Emergency Egress Test at the pad if the vehicle was going to be in a launch readiness configuration at the end of December.

Lou Chinal
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From: Staten Island, NY
Registered: Jun 2007

posted 03-08-2023 07:34 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for Lou Chinal   Click Here to Email Lou Chinal     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
Also found it intriguing the seating for the ride back was never decided upon, should the mission have ever come to pass.

LM-12
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Posts: 3905
From: Ontario, Canada
Registered: Oct 2010

posted 03-08-2023 09:07 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for LM-12     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
The third Skylab crew splashed down on February 8, 1974. I believe the SA-209 Rescue Vehicle rolled back to the VAB on February 14.

LM-12
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Posts: 3905
From: Ontario, Canada
Registered: Oct 2010

posted 03-02-2024 11:37 AM     Click Here to See the Profile for LM-12     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
quote:
Originally posted by Lou Chinal:
Also found it intriguing the seating for the ride back was never decided upon, should the mission have ever come to pass.

A CM seating diagram in the August 9, 1973 issue of Spaceport News shows five astronauts in the command module. The three rescued astronauts are shown shaded, with one of them occupying the center seat and two below.

Another diagram shows two command modules docked at the Skylab space station.


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