page_title: Apollo Telescope Mount
section_title: Design
hierarchical_section_title: Apollo Telescope Mount / Design
caption_attribution_description: English: The Apollo Telescope Mount (ATM), designed and developed by the Marshall Space Flight Center, served as the primary scientific instrument unit aboard the Skylab. The ATM contained eight complex astronomical instruments designed to observe the Sun over a wide spectrum from visible light to x-rays. This image shows the ATM spar assembly. All solar telescopes, the fine Sun sensors, and some auxiliary systems are mounted on the spar, a cruciform lightweight perforated metal mounting panel that divides the 10-foot long canister lengthwise into four equal compartments. The spar assembly was nested inside a cylindrical canister that fit into the rack, a complex frame, and was protected by the solar shield.
context_page_description: The Apollo Telescope Mount, or ATM, was a manned solar observatory that was a part of Skylab, the first American space station. It could observe the Sun in wavelengths ranging from soft X-rays, ultra-violet, and visible light.
  The ATM was manually operated by the astronauts aboard Skylab from 1973–74, yielding data principally as exposed photographic film that was returned to Earth with the crew. The film magazines had to be changed out by the crew during spacewalks, although some instruments had a live video feed that could be observed from inside the space station. Some of the first polaroid photos in space were taken of a Skylab CRT video screen displaying the Sun as recorded by an ATM instrument. Although the ATM was integrated with the Skylab station, it started as separate project related to use of the Apollo spacecraft, which is why it has the name Apollo in it rather than Skylab; the Skylab station was visited by astronauts using the Apollo spacecraft launched by the Saturn IB, and the Station with its solar observatory was launched by a Saturn V of the moonshot fame.
  The ATM was designed and construction was managed at NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center.
context_section_description: The ATM was actively cooled to maintain the temperature of the instruments within a certain range. Pointing was done with the help of the Skylab computer, which could be commanded from the space station by astronauts or by communication link from Earth. The four external mounted solar panels deploy in an 'X' shape, and provide around 30% of the station's electrical power.
caption: A side view of the instrument cluster without its enclosure
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