Skylab 4 Astronaut Edward Gibson Undergoing Medical Exam

FSCH00277.jpg

Dublin Core

Title

Skylab 4 Astronaut Edward Gibson Undergoing Medical Exam

Alternative Title

Astronaut Gibson Undergoing Medical Exam

Subject

Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center
Johnson Space Center
National Aeronautics and Space Administration (U.S.)
NASA
Astronauts--United States
Skylab Program
Gibson, Ed

Description

Skylab 4 (SL-4) Science Pilot Edward Gibson (1936-) undergoing a medical exam before launch at Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas. As Project Apollo was winding down and the final three missions (Apollo 18, Apollo 19, and Apollo 20) were canceled, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) looked for ways to repurpose launch vehicles and other equipment. Out of this, Skylab and three space science missions were born. Skylab was conceived by famed rocket designer, Wernher von Braun (1912-1977), to use an unused upper-stage fuel tank and convert it to an orbital laboratory. This was necessitated by NASA's budget being slashed. With the tank becoming the basis of the space station, NASA added solar arrays, a docking adapter, and a space observatory. The Skylab missions were constituted of one mission to put the station in space (Skylab 1), using a modified and last Saturn V to launch, and three crewed missions (Skylab 2, Skylab 3, and Skylab 4) to occupy the lab and perform science, using the smaller Saturn IB booster to launch the three astronaut crews. When launched on May 14, 1973, the station encountered problems immediately. A micrometeoroid shield prematurely deployed and tore off one of the two main solar arrays. NASA engineers went to work and were able to save Skylab and the three crewed missions. Each of the subsequent missions set what were then endurance records for living in space and conducted substantial space science experiments. NASA tried to keep Skylab in orbit after Skylab 4 and until the Space Shuttle could boast its orbit, but with a decaying orbit, it crashed on July 11, 1979. SL-4 was launched from Launch Complex 39B on November 16, 1973, using what was jokingly referred to as a "milk stool" to adapt the launcher to the smaller Saturn IB booster. Skylab 4's crew consisted of Mission Commander Gerald P. Carr (1932-), Command Module Pilot William R. Pogue (1930-2014), and Gibson. The mission set a then endurance record of more than 84 days in space.

Source

Original black and white photographic print, November 7, 1973: Larry Summers Collection.

Date Created

1973-11-07

Contributor

Is Format Of

Digital reproduction of original black and white photographic print, November 7, 1973.

Is Part Of

Florida Space Coast History Collection, RICHES of Central Florida.

Format

image/jpg

Extent

98.9 KB

Medium

1 black and white photographic print

Type

Still Image

Coverage

Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center, Houston, Texas

Accrual Method

Donation

Mediator

History Teacher
Civics/Government Teacher

Rights Holder

Copyright to this resource is held by Larry Summers and is provided here by RICHES of Central Florida for educational purposes only.

Curator

Michlowitz, Robert
Cepero, Laura

Digital Collection

External Reference

"Skylab, Birth of the Modern Space Station: Part I - The History of Sky | NASA." National Aeronautics and Space Administration. Accessed August 12. http://www.nasa.gov/missions/shuttle/f_skylab1.html.
"Skylab, Our First Space Station - ch2." 2015. SP-400 NASA - Skylab, Our First Space Station. Accessed September 25. http://history.nasa.gov/SP-400/ch2.htm.
Howell, Elizabeth. 2013. "Skylab: First U.S. Space Station." Space.com. February 1. http://www.space.com/19607-skylab.html.

Still Image Item Type Metadata

Original Format

1 black and white photographic print

Citation

“Skylab 4 Astronaut Edward Gibson Undergoing Medical Exam,” RICHES, accessed March 29, 2024, https://richesmi.cah.ucf.edu/omeka/items/show/5885.

Locations

Categories