| Astronauts | Saturn 1-B | Missions | Patches | History |
Skylab Astronauts
Alan L. Bean |
Gerald P. Carr |
Pete Conrad |
Owen K. Garriott
Edward C. Gibson |
Joseph P. Kerwin |
Jack R. Lousma |
William R. Pogue |
Paul J. Weitz
Alan L. Bean Bean received a Bachelor of Science degree in aeronautical engineering from the University of Texas at Austin in 1955. He was commissioned an
ensign through the Naval Reserve Officers Training Corps (NROTC) program, and attended the U.S. Naval Test Pilot School at NAS Patuxent River,
Maryland. He served as backup command pilot for Gemini 10 and backup lunar module pilot for Apollo 9. As lunar module pilot of Apollo 12 in 1969,
he became the fourth man to walk on the Moon. He was commander of Skylab 3 in 1973, and backup commander for the Apollo–Soyuz Test Project in
1975. He retired from the Navy in October 1975, but continued as head of the Astronaut Candidate Operations and Training Group within the Astronaut
Office as a civilian. He retired from NASA in 1981.
Gerald P. Carr Carr was commander of Skylab 4 (third and final crewed visit to the Skylab Orbital Workshop) launched November 16, 1973, with splashdown on
February 8, 1974. He was the first rookie astronaut to command a mission since Neil Armstrong on Gemini 8 and was accompanied on the
record-setting 34.5-million-mile flight by science pilot Dr. Edward Gibson and pilot William Pogue. The crew successfully completed 56 experiments,
26 science demonstrations, 15 subsystem-detailed objectives, and 13 student investigations during their 1,214 orbits of the Earth. They also acquired
extensive Earth resources observation data using hand-held cameras and Skylab's Earth Resources Experiment Package camera and sensor array. They
logged 338 hours of operations of the Apollo Telescope Mount, which made extensive observations of the sun's solar processes.
From February 1974 until March 1978, Carr and his Skylab 4 teammates shared the world record for individual time in space: 2,017 hours 15
minutes 32 seconds, and Carr logged 15 hours and 51 minute in three EVAs outside the Orbital Workshop.
Charles "Pete" Conrad Jr. Conrad graduated from Princeton University in 1953 with a Bachelor of Science degree in aeronautical engineering. He joined the Navy and became
a naval aviator. In 1958, he graduated from the United States Naval Test Pilot School at Naval Air Station Patuxent River, Patuxent, Maryland as part of
Class 20. He set an eight-day space endurance record along with his command pilot Gordon Cooper on his first spaceflight, the Gemini 5 mission in
August 1965. The following year he commanded the Gemini 11 mission, on which he and pilot Dick Gordon set an altitude record of 850 miles (1,370 km).
He became the third person to walk on the Moon as commander of Apollo 12 in 1969 after landing the lunar module Intrepid in the Ocean of Storms. He
and pilot Alan Bean made two moonwalks, recovering components from the Surveyor 3 probe, which had landed there two years before. In 1973 he
commanded Skylab 2 (1), the first crewed Skylab mission, and spent 28 more days in space. On this mission, he and his crew mates repaired significant
launch damage to the Skylab space station.
Owen K. Garriott Owen Kay Garriott spent 60 days aboard the Skylab space station in 1973 during the Skylab 3 mission, and 10 days aboard Spacelab-1 on a
Space Shuttle mission in 1983.
In 1965, Garriott was one of the six scientist-astronauts selected by NASA. His first spaceflight, the Skylab 3 mission in 1973, set a world record for
duration of approximately 60 days, more than double the previous record. Extensive experiments were conducted of the Sun, of Earth resources and in
various life sciences relating to human adaptation to weightlessness.
The Skylab "stowaway" prank
On September 10, 1973, controllers in Houston were startled to hear a woman's voice beaming down from Skylab. The voice startled capsule
communicator (CAPCOM) Bob Crippen by calling him by name, and then the woman explained: "The boys haven't had a home-cooked meal in so long
I thought I'd bring one up." After several minutes in which she described forest fires seen from space and the beautiful sunrise, the woman said: "Oh oh.
I have to cut off now. I think the boys are floating up here toward the command module and I'm not supposed to be talking to you." As the Skylab
astronauts later revealed, Garriott had recorded his wife, Helen, during a private radio transmission the night before.
Edward G. Gibson Edward George Gibson (born ) is a former NASA astronaut, pilot, engineer, and physicist. Gibson is the last surviving crew member of Skylab 4. Gibson
was selected as part of NASA Astronaut Group 4, the first group of scientist-astronauts. He served on the support crew of Apollo 12, the second Moon
landing mission, before working on the development of the Skylab space station. In 1973–74, Gibson made his only flight into space as science pilot
aboard Skylab 4, the third and final crewed flight to Skylab. He, along with Commander Gerald Carr and Pilot William Pogue, spent just over 84 days in
space. Dr. Gibson was the crewman primarily responsible for the 338 hours of Apollo Telescope Mount operation, which made extensive observations of
solar processes.
Joseph P. Kerwin Joseph Peter Kerwin was the first physician to be selected for astronaut training. Joe Kerwin was the one who uttered the words during
Apollo 13: “Farewell, Aquarius, and we thank you.” Kerwin was selected for NASA Astronaut Group 4 as a scientist-astronaut in June 1965. He was serving as a pilot and a flight surgeon for the
Navy at the time of his selection. He was one of the capsule communicators (CAPCOMs) on Apollo 13 (in 1970). He served as Science Pilot for
the Skylab 2 (SL-2) mission which launched on May 25 and splashed down on June 22, 1973.
Jack R. Lousma Col. Jack Robert Lousma USMC, Ret. (born February 29, 1936) is an American astronaut, aeronautical engineer, retired United States Marine Corps
officer, former naval aviator, NASA astronaut, and politician. He was a member of the second crew on the Skylab space station in 1973. In 1982, he
commanded STS-3, the third Space Shuttle mission. He was the pilot for Skylab 3 from July 28 to September 25, 1973, and was commander on STS-3,
from March 22 until March 30, 1982, logging a total of over 1,619 hours in space. Lousma also spent 11 hours on two spacewalks outside the Skylab
space station.
William R. Pogue William Reid Pogue His NASA career included one orbital mission as pilot of Skylab 4, whose crew conducted dozens of in-orbit research
experiments and set a duration record of 84 days – the longest crewed flight – that was unbroken in NASA for over 20 years. The mission also had a
dispute with ground control over schedule management that news media named The Skylab Mutiny.
In April 1966, Pogue was one of 19 astronauts selected by NASA in Group 5 of the Apollo program. He served as a member of the support crews
for the Apollo 7, Apollo 11, 13 and Apollo 14 missions. He replaced Ed Givens, who died in a car accident, as Capsule Communicator for
Apollo 7. No crew members were assigned to the canceled Apollo missions but if normal crew rotation had been followed, Pogue would have been
assigned as command module pilot for the Apollo 19 mission.
Pogue was the pilot of Skylab 4, the third and final crewed visit to the Skylab Orbital Workshop, from November 16, 1973, to February 8, 1974.
At 84 days, 1 hour and 15 minutes, it was the longest crewed flight to that date. It held the record for the longest spaceflight until 1978, when the
crew of Soviet ship Salyut 6 spent 140 days at the space station. Pogue was accompanied on the 34.5 million miles (55.5×106 km) flight by
Commander Gerald Carr and science pilot Edward Gibson. As a crew, they completed 56 experiments, 26 science demonstrations, 15 subsystem
detailed objectives, and 13 student investigations across 1,214 revolutions of the Earth.
After around six weeks of flight, there were disagreements between crew and ground control. On December 28, 1973 radio transmission was
turned off with the crew spending the time relaxing and gazing at the Earth from orbit. The incident was later referred to as the Skylab mutiny.[30]
Pogue later commented that the team was “studying the Sun, the Earth below, and ourselves.” Once radio transmission had resumed, an agreement
for the flight to continue; with tensions being significantly diminished. Pogue commented in 1985 that the flight had made him more empathetic,
saying “I try to put myself into the human situation, instead of trying to operate like a machine.”
The crew also acquired extensive Earth resources observations data using Skylab's Earth resources experiment package camera and sensor array,
and logged 338 hours of operations of the Apollo Telescope Mount that made extensive observations of the sun's processes. Pogue and Carr
viewed a comet transiting the sky during an extravehicular activity (EVA). He logged 13 hours and 34 minutes in two EVAs outside the orbital
workshop. Pogue logged 7,200 hours of flight time, including 4,200 hours in jet aircraft and 2,000 hours in space flight during his career.
Paul J. Weitz Paul Joseph Weitz flew into space twice. He was a member of the three-man crew who flew on Skylab 2, the first crewed Skylab mission. He was
also Commander of the STS-6 mission, the maiden flight of the Space Shuttle Challenger.
In April 1966, Weitz was one of 19 men selected by NASA for Astronaut Group 5. He served as Pilot on the crew of Skylab 2 (SL-2), which launched
on May 25 and splashed down on June 22, 1973. SL-2 was the first crewed Skylab mission. The mission lasted for 28 days, a record at the time. Weitz and
his two crewmates, Pete Conrad and Joseph P. Kerwin, performed extensive and unprecedented repairs to serious damage that Skylab sustained during its
uncrewed launch, salvaging the entire Skylab mission. Weitz logged two hours and 11 minutes of EVA during the mission. If NASA followed typical crew
rotations, Weitz may have been assigned as the Command Module Pilot for the canceled Apollo 20 mission.
Status: Deceased
Born: March 15, 1932
Died: May 26, 2018
Flights: Apollo 12, Skylab 3 (2)
Status: Deceased
Born: August 22, 1932
Died: August 26, 2020
Flights: Skylab 4 (3)
Status: Deceased
Born: June 2, 1930
Died: July 8, 1999
Flights: Apollo 12, Skylab 2 (1)
Status: Deceased
Born: November 22, 1930
Died: April 15, 2019
Flights: Skylab 3 (2)
Status: Alive
Born: November 8, 1936
Died:
Flights: Skylab 4 (3)
Status: Deceased
Born: June 23, 1930
Died: December 2, 1987
Flights: Skylab 2 (1)
Status: Alive
Born: February 29, 1936
Died:
Flights: Skylab 3 (2)
Status: Deceased
Born: January 23, 1930
Died: March 3, 2014
Flights: Skylab 4 (3)
Status: Deceased
Born: October 5, 1929
Died: November 6, 2017
Flights: Skylab 2 (1)
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