Skylab 4

Key facts

Mission & specifications

Mission

Skylab 4 was the longest, last and hardest of the Skylab flights. Gerald Carr, Edward Gibson and William Pogue — all first-time fliers — launched on 16 November 1973 for what became an 84-day marathon, nearly three months in orbit. Overloaded with tasks from the start and worn down by the pace, the crew fell behind and, after a frank exchange with the ground, won a lighter and more sustainable schedule — an early, much-cited lesson in how much sustained work is reasonable to ask of people living in space. They watched Comet Kohoutek round the Sun, later filmed the birth of a solar flare, and gathered a vast harvest of solar and Earth-observation data. When they landed on 8 February 1974, their 84 days stood as the longest human spaceflight yet, and as the United States endurance record it would hold for more than two decades — the climax of the run that began with Vostok 5 and a five-year-old question about whether people could survive in orbit at all.

1. 1973Skylab 4 launchesLaunch

   Carr, Gibson and Pogue — all rookies — begin the last and longest Skylab mission.

2. 1973Comet Kohoutek and a lighter scheduleMilestone

   After renegotiating an overloaded workload with the ground, the crew observe Comet Kohoutek and, later, film the birth of a solar flare.

3. 197484 days — the US record for a generationMission end

   The crew land after 84 days, the longest human flight yet and the US endurance record for more than two decades.

Images

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