Post by Webster on Nov 30, 2017 2:18:12 GMT -5
Lessons From Skylab & For Spacelab
There were three main areas of scientific exploration aboard Skylab: solar exploration, Earth exploration and biomedical exploration. The first of these were solar exploration, which was the heart of the space station's science efforts..the most valuable, the most important and the most successful of the station's three missions. Despite concerns over whether astronauts could manage the solar observations through the Apollo Telescope Mount, the four Skylab manned crews collected a vast storehouse of information, providing a significant advantage over the automated satellite systems in use, particularly illustrated during the SLM-3 mission when the crew spotted a solar flare eruption, allowing them to capture pictures and imagery of it from beginning to end. In fact, their efforts across the course of Skylab were so successful that NASA scientists and solar astronomers pushed for an ATM addition to Spacelab; although the idea was ultimately quashed, NASA requested Congressional funding for a solar satellite program, which was ultimately approved.
Second, there were the Earth observations. While astronauts had reported seeing astonishing levels of detail from their orbits, and hand-held cameras had been in use since the Mercury flights to record these details, Skylab was the first crewed spacecraft that contained a dedicated battery of sensors for observing the Earth from space. While the conceptually similar MOL1 missions had been canceled due to advancements in spy satellite technology, for civilian purposes Skylab again proved the value of astronaut-operated instruments, although it was not as successful in doing so as the solar observations. The third and fourth missions (SLM-4 and SLM-5) in particular showed that a "spontaneous" program, with astronauts instructed broadly on areas and items of interest but allowed to follow their own judgment on what precisely to image, was of great value. The more rigorously planned programs of the first and second missions, by contrast, were less successful, and showed little superiority over Landsat work. Indeed, in some respects Earth observations from Skylab were much less useful than Landsat observations. As with prior missions, too, astronauts enjoyed observing the Earth when they were not otherwise occupied, using binoculars, sketch pads, and hand-held cameras to further augment the Earth observations data. The Spacelab design effort took into account these lessons learned, and provided a large amount of useful data that helped refine our understanding of a wide variety of geological, meteorological, and oceanographic phenomena.
Last but far from least, there were the biomedical experiments. In some ways, these were the most crucial experiments of all. It may sound absurd now, with record zero-g durations by both American and Russian spacefarers of over a year, but at the time there was real doubt in the medical community that humans could even survive more than a few weeks in space, doubt amplified by the deaths of the Soyuz 11 astronauts after a 23 day flight, and the collapse and death of Bonnie, a macaque monkey flown on Biosatellite 3, after just 8 days in space. Further, there had been some alarming incidents during the Apollo flights, particularly irregular heartbeats in several crewmembers during Apollo 15 and Rusty Schweickart's severe space sickness during Apollo 9. All of this combined to fuel pessimism over the ability of astronauts to function during long spaceflights. Given NASA's new emphasis on space station operations, it was crucial to establish that they could, indeed, do so. To that end, a highly comprehensive biomedical program was established, with never before or since seen controls on virtually every activity the astronauts were expected to regularly perform.
Everything from their diet to their exercise was studied and regulated, and they were subjected to unpleasant and sometimes humiliating medical tests, most importantly one essentially designed to induce motion sickness. In all probability, the four Skylab crews have been more closely and heavily studied than any other group of men in history. Despite that, the astronauts were able to enjoy some surprising luxuries. Everything from sugar cookies (well-liked by all four crews) to filet mignon was on the menu, even if they had to carefully track exactly what they ate. The results, happily for NASA, showed that the effects of microgravity could be significantly countered by exercise, while surprisingly microgravity appeared to confer some degree of protection from motion sickness after an initial adaptation period. Combined with the efforts the first and second crews made to repair the station, Skylab proved that astronauts were indeed capable of functioning, and functioning at an extremely high level, during long-duration spaceflights.
In addition to the three major research areas, there were several other research activities carried out during the flight. The two most important of these for future activities were NASA studies on space station, and by extension microgravity, design principles, and the student experiments program. Most of the NASA studies were passive in nature, simply recording crew impressions of how well or poorly different areas of the station worked, and how much or little they facilitated the astronauts' tasks on orbit, providing valuable feedback for Spacelab interior design. However, there were two "experiments" which had direct bearing on future space station projects. The first was the testing of several designs of maneuvering units that could allow future astronauts to conduct untethered EVAs from future stations, possibly for assembly or maintenance purposes. Skylab 5 was the second of these, proving the concept of resupplying a space station while in use, a vital capability for future space stations and one that would in the future allow for much more flexibility for station operations. The student experiments had a more elusive importance and impact. While they did not generally do much useful science, they were successful in engaging public and in particular student interest, especially the well-known "spider" experiments, and the utility of small supplemental experiments was not lost on NASA. Using their experience from these experiments, a similar program was planned for Spacelab. Unlike Skylab, however, not just student projects but also corporate, government, and foreign payloads were flown, provided they did not require much crew attention and time.
(1) - MOL: Manned Orbiting Laboratory, a set of planned USAF reconnaissance missions which were ultimately cancelled in favor of the USAF's KH-series of recon satellites; most of the MOL astronauts would later fly on both Skylab and Spacelab missions
There were three main areas of scientific exploration aboard Skylab: solar exploration, Earth exploration and biomedical exploration. The first of these were solar exploration, which was the heart of the space station's science efforts..the most valuable, the most important and the most successful of the station's three missions. Despite concerns over whether astronauts could manage the solar observations through the Apollo Telescope Mount, the four Skylab manned crews collected a vast storehouse of information, providing a significant advantage over the automated satellite systems in use, particularly illustrated during the SLM-3 mission when the crew spotted a solar flare eruption, allowing them to capture pictures and imagery of it from beginning to end. In fact, their efforts across the course of Skylab were so successful that NASA scientists and solar astronomers pushed for an ATM addition to Spacelab; although the idea was ultimately quashed, NASA requested Congressional funding for a solar satellite program, which was ultimately approved.
Second, there were the Earth observations. While astronauts had reported seeing astonishing levels of detail from their orbits, and hand-held cameras had been in use since the Mercury flights to record these details, Skylab was the first crewed spacecraft that contained a dedicated battery of sensors for observing the Earth from space. While the conceptually similar MOL1 missions had been canceled due to advancements in spy satellite technology, for civilian purposes Skylab again proved the value of astronaut-operated instruments, although it was not as successful in doing so as the solar observations. The third and fourth missions (SLM-4 and SLM-5) in particular showed that a "spontaneous" program, with astronauts instructed broadly on areas and items of interest but allowed to follow their own judgment on what precisely to image, was of great value. The more rigorously planned programs of the first and second missions, by contrast, were less successful, and showed little superiority over Landsat work. Indeed, in some respects Earth observations from Skylab were much less useful than Landsat observations. As with prior missions, too, astronauts enjoyed observing the Earth when they were not otherwise occupied, using binoculars, sketch pads, and hand-held cameras to further augment the Earth observations data. The Spacelab design effort took into account these lessons learned, and provided a large amount of useful data that helped refine our understanding of a wide variety of geological, meteorological, and oceanographic phenomena.
Last but far from least, there were the biomedical experiments. In some ways, these were the most crucial experiments of all. It may sound absurd now, with record zero-g durations by both American and Russian spacefarers of over a year, but at the time there was real doubt in the medical community that humans could even survive more than a few weeks in space, doubt amplified by the deaths of the Soyuz 11 astronauts after a 23 day flight, and the collapse and death of Bonnie, a macaque monkey flown on Biosatellite 3, after just 8 days in space. Further, there had been some alarming incidents during the Apollo flights, particularly irregular heartbeats in several crewmembers during Apollo 15 and Rusty Schweickart's severe space sickness during Apollo 9. All of this combined to fuel pessimism over the ability of astronauts to function during long spaceflights. Given NASA's new emphasis on space station operations, it was crucial to establish that they could, indeed, do so. To that end, a highly comprehensive biomedical program was established, with never before or since seen controls on virtually every activity the astronauts were expected to regularly perform.
Everything from their diet to their exercise was studied and regulated, and they were subjected to unpleasant and sometimes humiliating medical tests, most importantly one essentially designed to induce motion sickness. In all probability, the four Skylab crews have been more closely and heavily studied than any other group of men in history. Despite that, the astronauts were able to enjoy some surprising luxuries. Everything from sugar cookies (well-liked by all four crews) to filet mignon was on the menu, even if they had to carefully track exactly what they ate. The results, happily for NASA, showed that the effects of microgravity could be significantly countered by exercise, while surprisingly microgravity appeared to confer some degree of protection from motion sickness after an initial adaptation period. Combined with the efforts the first and second crews made to repair the station, Skylab proved that astronauts were indeed capable of functioning, and functioning at an extremely high level, during long-duration spaceflights.
In addition to the three major research areas, there were several other research activities carried out during the flight. The two most important of these for future activities were NASA studies on space station, and by extension microgravity, design principles, and the student experiments program. Most of the NASA studies were passive in nature, simply recording crew impressions of how well or poorly different areas of the station worked, and how much or little they facilitated the astronauts' tasks on orbit, providing valuable feedback for Spacelab interior design. However, there were two "experiments" which had direct bearing on future space station projects. The first was the testing of several designs of maneuvering units that could allow future astronauts to conduct untethered EVAs from future stations, possibly for assembly or maintenance purposes. Skylab 5 was the second of these, proving the concept of resupplying a space station while in use, a vital capability for future space stations and one that would in the future allow for much more flexibility for station operations. The student experiments had a more elusive importance and impact. While they did not generally do much useful science, they were successful in engaging public and in particular student interest, especially the well-known "spider" experiments, and the utility of small supplemental experiments was not lost on NASA. Using their experience from these experiments, a similar program was planned for Spacelab. Unlike Skylab, however, not just student projects but also corporate, government, and foreign payloads were flown, provided they did not require much crew attention and time.
(1) - MOL: Manned Orbiting Laboratory, a set of planned USAF reconnaissance missions which were ultimately cancelled in favor of the USAF's KH-series of recon satellites; most of the MOL astronauts would later fly on both Skylab and Spacelab missions