posted 04-12-2025 11:55 AM               

This is a picture that I have not seen before, but when I think about it, I probably have only seen a half dozen or less images of Skylab/Saturn V.

posted 04-15-2025 04:06 PM            

On April 26, engineers in the Launch Control Center (LCC) began the Countdown Demonstration Test (CDDT), essentially a dress rehearsal for the countdown leading to the launch itself. They conducted two parallel countdowns, one for the Saturn V monitored in the LCC’s Firing Room 2 and culminating in a simulated liftoff on May 2, and another one for the Saturn IB from Firing Room 3 ending with a simulated liftoff on May 3 ...

On May 4, Conrad, Kerwin, and Weitz took part in the final stage of the CDDT at KSC, called the “dry” stage because workers drained the rocket’s fuel tanks, suiting up and boarding their spacecraft at the launch pad as they would on launch day ...

Weitz, Conrad, and Kerwin pose in front of the Skylab 1 Saturn V at Launch Pad 39A following the Countdown Demonstration Test.

posted 04-18-2025 07:33 AM            

Much of the debate on Skylab operations centered on the mobile service structure, the only major item at LC 39 without a backup. The structure could be moved, but the five-kilometer trip between pads took about six hours. If operations at pad A required the service structure, pad B went unsupported for at least a day. Kennedy planners initially ruled out using the service structure for the workshop, but during the discussions on a IB launch from 39, Hans Gruene, director of launch vehicle operations, challenged that decision. Loading cryogenics into S-II stages had sometimes cracked the insulation, requiring inspection and repair on the pad, and Gruene saw no reason to believe the problem would not recur during Skylab. If the service structure were not available, an alternate means of access to the S-II would have to be devised or the rocket would have to be returned to the assembly building. The staff acknowledged the problem but did not consider it serious enough to rule out the transfer of the IB operation.

Events that summer confirmed Gruene's prediction. In July, Huntsville stipulated that the S-II insulation would be inspected on the pad. There seemed little choice but to use the service structure for such work. While workmen could reach any part of the Saturn V from a bosun's rig, their activities were severely limited. Using the service structure for both Skylab vehicles, however, posed obvious scheduling difficulties and a few design problems as well. The payload shroud on the workshop was nearly three meters larger in diameter than the Apollo spacecraft. If workmen were to service the S-II stage from the service structure, the bottom platform would have to be extended.

The matter bounced back and forth between KSC offices for several months before it was settled. In October, Kapryan agreed to modify the lowest platform, although the change would leave only one platform to service the lower half of the IB rocket. He recommended that the bottom platform be restored to its original configuration after launch of the first crew, so that all work stations would be available for the last two missions, pointing out that the loss of one day in the operation would cost more than the $85,000 modification. His proposal was approved.

posted 04-19-2025 12:03 PM            

Movement of the Mobile Service Structure, normally associated with a Saturn V operation, will not take place during the SL-1 launch. The MSS was used to inspect the second stage insulation of the Saturn V during the CDDT and then moved from Pad A to Pad B to support the SL-2 launch. It is to be returned to Pad A only if a "scrub" is called after cryogenic loading of the Saturn V begins and another inspection of the second stage insulation panels is necessary. The MSS will be moved from Pad B to its park site - in a nominal launch sequence - after the T-20 hour mark in the SL-2 countdown.

posted 04-21-2025 01:13 PM            

Aerial view of Easter crowds at Visitors Information Center, Kennedy Space Center, Florida.