This mission carried out the first crew of the Skylab space station. The mission of this spacecraft was to ferry a crew of three to the Skylab complex and return them to Earth. A crew of three men and their provisions were carried. Modification was made to accomodate long-duration Skylab missions and to allow the spacecraft to remain semi-dormant while docked to the Skylab cluster. This spacecraft was almost identical to the command and service module used for Apollo missions. Electrical power system radiators were at the top of the cylinder and environmental control radiator panels spaced around the bottom. Two helium tanks were mounted in the central cylinder. The six sections of the SM held three 31-cell hydrogen oxygen fuel cells which provided 28 volts, two cryogenic oxygen and two cryogenic hydrogen tanks, four tanks for the main propulsion engine, two for fuel and two for oxidizer, and the subsystems the main propulsion unit. Attitude control was provided by four identical banks of four 450 N reaction control thrusters each spaced 90 degrees apart around the forward part of the SM. At the back of the SM mounted in the central cylinder was a gimbal mounted re-startable hypergolic liquid propellant 91,000 N engine and cone shaped engine nozzle. The interior was divided by milled aluminum radial beams into six sections around a central cylinder. The outer skin of the SM was formed of 2.5 cm thick aluminum honeycomb panels. The Service Module (SM) was a cylinder 3.9 meters in diameter and 7.6 m long which was attached to the back of the CM. The CM provided the re-entry capability at the end of the mission after separation from the Service Module. The CM had twelve 420 N nitrogen tetroxide/hydrazine reaction control thrusters. Five silver/zinc-oxide batteries provided power after the CM and SM detached, three for re-entry and after landing and two for vehicle separation and parachute deployment. The CM had five windows: one in the access hatch, one next to each astronaut in the two outer seats, and two forward-facing rendezvous windows. The crew compartment held the controls, displays, navigation equipment and other systems used by the astronauts. A short access tunnel led to the docking hatch in the CM nose. A large access hatch was situated above the center couch. Three astronaut couches were lined up facing forward in the center of the compartment. The crew compartment comprised most of the volume of the CM, approximately 6.17 cubic meters of space. The aft compartment was situated around the base of the CM and contained propellant tanks, reaction control engines, wiring, and plumbing. The forward compartment in the nose of the cone held the three 25.4 m diameter main parachutes, two 5 m drogue parachutes, and pilot mortar chutes for Earth landing. The CM was divided into three compartments. At the tip of the cone was a hatch and docking assembly designed to mate with the lunar module. The base of the CM consisted of a heat shield made of brazed stainless steel honeycomb filled with a phenolic epoxy resin as an ablative material and varied in thickness from 1.8 to 6.9 cm. It was made of an aluminum honeycomb sandwich bonded between sheet aluminum alloy. The Command Module (CM) was a conical pressure vessel with a maximum diameter of 3.9 m at its base and a height of 3.65 m. The Skylab itself was launched on May 14, 1973. All parts were also capable of unmanned, in-orbit storage, reactivation, and reuse. It contained provisions and crew quarters necessary to support three-person crews for periods of up to 84 days each. The OWS was a modified Saturn 4B stage suitable for long duration manned habitation in orbit. The IU, which was used only during launch and the initial phases of operation, provided guidance and sequencing functions for the initial deployment of the ATM, solar arrays, etc. The AM provided an airlock between the MDA and the OWS, and contained controls and instrumentation. The MDA served as a dock for the command and service modules, which served as personnel taxis to the Skylab. The retrieval and installation of film used in the ATM was accomplished by astronauts during extravehicular activity (EVA). It was attached to the MDA and AM at one end of the OWS. The ATM was a solar observatory, and it provided attitude control and experiment pointing for the rest of the cluster. The Skylab was in the form of a cylinder, with the ATM being positioned 90 deg from the longitudinal axis after insertion into orbit. The Skylab (SL) was a manned, orbiting spacecraft composed of five parts, the Apollo telescope mount (ATM), the multiple docking adapter (MDA), the airlock module (AM), the instrument unit (IU), and the orbital workshop (OWS). Launch from Cape Canaveral (KSC) and landing 1320 km southwest of San Diego in the Pacific Ocean.
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