posted 08-28-2020 03:00 AM               

Skylab 4 capsule to land in new exhibit at Oklahoma History Center

A historic NASA spacecraft will soon leave the Smithsonian for the Sooner State.

The Apollo command module that was flown by the third and last astronaut crew to live on board the United States' first space station is set to go on display in Oklahoma. The Skylab 4 capsule was previously on exhibit for more than 40 years at the Smithsonian's National Air and Space Museum in Washington, D.C.

posted 09-23-2020 05:21 PM               

Crews help install the CM into the display case. SpaceWorks crafted both the display case and the mounting base for the spacecraft.

posted 12-06-2020 12:22 PM               

Launch to Landing: Oklahomans and Space

This exhibit focuses on the many Oklahomans who played a part in the US air and space program, as well as early Oklahoma pioneers of aviation.

The centerpiece of the exhibit is the Skylab 4 Apollo Command Module (CM-118). This spacecraft carried the final Skylab crew of astronauts — Gerald Carr (commander), Edward Gibson (science pilot), and William Pogue (pilot) — into space to live and work in the Skylab Orbiting Laboratory, or Space Station. The final Skylab mission was the longest mission flown by any Apollo command module. It flew from November 16, 1973, to February 8, 1974, for a total of 84 days in space.

Launch to Landing features a number of personal items utilized by astronauts. Among those are flight suits worn by Fred Haise, John Herrington, and Gordon Cooper, and as well as articles of clothing worn by Shannon Lucid and other crew members of the International Space Station missions. Also available for viewing are the in-flight coverall garment and pants used by Apollo Command Module Pilot Stuart Roosa when he flew to the moon and back on Apollo 14 from January 31 to February 9, 1971.

Included in the exhibit are items that are generally associated with Oklahoma aviators and the US air and space program, such as Oklahoma flags flown in space, a NASA Mission Control console, space shuttle heat shield tiles, and lunar samples — also known as "moon rocks."

Launch to Landing is the culmination of several years of coordination and planning with the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum in Washington, DC, and the Cosmosphere in Hutchinson, Kansas.