Skylab Workshop Station

The Skylab Space Station as seen from an EVA helmet camera from a crew member in June 1983

Official Emblem

## Station Statistics

### Participating Countries

Members of the European Space Agency, Brazil, Argentina, the United States, Costa Rica, Chile, Mexico, Ecuador, Japan, Portugal, Russia, Canada, Ghana, Australia, New Zealand, and South Africa

### Launch Pad(s)

Kennedy Space Center pad 39A, Baikonur site 5, São Paulo complex 11 and 23

### Servicing Vehicles

Soyuz-Classic, Soyuz-2, Soyuz-LTP, Space Shuttle orbiters, Progresso HTV, Antares Cygnus, and the ESA Cygnus Spacecraft

## Orbital Parameters

### Orbital Decay

1.7 km per month

International Shield of the Skylab Workshop Station

The **Skylab Workshop Station** (Portuguese: *Estação De Oficina Skylab*), commonly known as **Skylab II**, is a space station or artificial satellite, in Low Earth Orbit. It’s first component – the Skylab core module with the octagonal orbital workshop, was launched on October 9, 1976 on a modified Saturn V rocket, with the first long term astronauts arriving at the same time. It has been inhabited continually ever since that date. The last pressurized add-on module was installed in January 1983, and a second larger solar array truss added in February. The station is expected to operate until 2034. Skylab II is the largest space station (in terms of pressurized volume) ever built, and also the most luxurious – with a volume of 4014 m3. It can be seen with the naked eye when it passes over, even in the Earth’s shadow, because of the numerous exterior lights fitted.

The Skylab space station serves a micro-gravity and space environment research laboratory, as well as a luxury space hotel, in which crew members conduct experiments and games on physics, chemistry, food technology, general life experiences, biology, space engineering, and other fields. The station is suited for the testing of spacecraft and habitation bases in deep space, on the Moon, Mars, and beyond. Skylab II maintains an orbit with an altitude of 450 by 449 km in a 72.76-degree orbit, by means of re-boost maneuvers using the reaction control thrusters located on the Workshop segment, or by visiting spacecraft such as the Soyuz-Laptop (or LTP).

The Skylab program is an international collaboration primarily with the European Space Agency and the Brazilian Space Agency, with many other collaborating space agencies, including NASA, the Canadian Space Agency, JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency), Argentine Space Development Authority, Australian and New Zealand space agencies, and the Russian Roscosmos State Space Corporation for Space Activities. The Space Station receives handsome astronauts who are all part of the International Astronaut Corps (IAC), and are launched in huge numbers from all over the globe. The official languages on the station is English and Brazilian Portuguese, followed by Spanish, French and Russian.

Skylab II is the second space station to be inhabited by kerbals, succeeding the retired NASA Odyssey space station, which ran out of funding when public and political interest in the new Skylab station skyrocketed. The station has traveled over 1.476 billion km in the 6+ years it’s been orbiting the Earth at 27,400 km/h. With a capacity of 154 kerbals, it is the most populated single spacecraft in history.

The Station is serviced by a variety of space vehicles: the ESA Soyuz-LTP and Space Shuttle O’Brien bring up new kerbals; the Argentine H-II transfer vehicle, European Cygnus, and the Brazilian Progresso spacecraft brings up cargo, and the soon-to-be retired Soyuz-Classic, which was for the last time on Expedition 14 on December 3, 1983, from Kennedy Space Center.

Skylab II has a "younger brother" in a slightly lower orbit - the International Space Station.

## History, Development and Construction

Shortly after the Kerbal moon missions in 1974, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration and the European Space Agency decided to turn to the orbital Space Station program. NASA launched Odyssey, the first space station, on a Saturn Nova rocket in September 1975, in pre-assembled sections loaded in containers, and assembled via EVA robotic arm into shape. Its first crews arrived in mini Soyuz shuttles in batches of 40 volunteer kerbals to load up Odyssey to a max capacity of 95 crew. Odyssey had a large interior volume of 1340 m3 and had two large solar array pairs, several modern-looking laboratories, crew quarters and a large forward-facing observation cupola. The architecture of the modules was designed by Raphael J. Chryslar, at the time the assistant senior space architectural manager at NASA; who would later go on to design Skylab II and future spacecraft. His firm – SSPX (Space Station Parts for Xploration) was such a success, international space agencies standardized the international design of his space station modules. As Odyssey grew popularity, so did the morale of the kerbals aboard, which wanted to stay in space indefinitely.

However, Odyssey began to have problems, with a series of failed experiments, an on-board fan-heater fire, and the novelty fading – which resulted in less adequate funding to support future expeditions within 8 months of the station’s commissioning. To make matters worse, the general public and the international space agencies got sick of the lack of practicality and space activities on the station.

On February 11 (on the birthday of his brother Jonathan), Raphael J. Chryslar held a large press conference in the North Tower lobby of the World Trade Center with the U.S. Vice President, and senior officials from the International Astronaut Corps, NASA, ESA, and the United Nations Space Development Committee. Along with his fellow assistant Clare Kerman, Chryslar announced that a new space station had to be designed and launched to succeed Odyssey, and he would call it “Skylab” meaning “Bringing Science Sky High”. He also called for the station to have a large pressurized orbital workshop and luxury habitation segments, built far larger and fancier than ever before. In addition, he stated that state-of-the-art science projects, and all the amenities of home and office would be used on the future station, which would vastly increase morale. At first, it seemed too good to be practically used or even possible in weightlessness, and a vote approval nearly occurred in a stalemate – at 52-48% vote on for/against launching Skylab. Chryslar persevered, and had his firm construct the station at the Chris Hadfield factory.

Building the station required 57 tons of steel, mostly used in the larger workshop segment. Being 12 meters across and 19 meters long, and octagonal in cross section, the internal pressure would create more stress in the corners than the cylindrical modules of the habitation segment. He overcame this by using thick steel rebar in the framework, and using prefabricated honeycomb-grid layer steel plating for the shell, with an X-frame format.

To make things cozier, smooth felt anti-stain fabric would line the interior of the workshop segment, with red and brown carpets on the three levels. The first level will feature a lounge, several computer desks, a toilet, refrigerator and bookshelves for space books. The second level would feature a dining area and more computer desks. Also, on this level is the science area, plants, the central lighting system, and a TV movie area. The upper level is the main computer area, equipped with printers, another refrigerator, bookshelf and microwave, and a computer server. On the ceiling is a bed where crew can take turns sleeping there, a space bathtub with protective cover, and lots of containers for storage. The habitation segment would have cozy sleeping quarters, a gym and workout area, space aquarium, the control module, a Node, the Brazilian science laboratory, docking ports for visiting spacecraft, an internet server module where the Wi-Fi would be received and processed, a computer drive server module which would safely store each computer’s data with backups, a crew meeting module and three observation cupola modules. The largest of the three has a cool hologram showing the Earth and the station’s orbital position.

The cost to build Skylab II was $13.75 billion, and took 7 months to complete. The station was shipped to Kennedy Space Center in September 1976 where it was processed for launch. A Saturn V rocket was made ready to accept the station in a protective truss and fairing. To ensure that the 100+ computers, printers, books, flat-pack furniture and lots of other luxury and science stuff don’t get damaged, they were put in space shipping containers along with the station, to be docked and emptied by an astronaut to fit the interior. A set of deployable solar arrays and radiator panels, along with the Wi-Fi antenna and fuel cells were installed to the workshop exterior and habitation segment.

## Launch

    The Saturn V (with the Skylab encapsulated in its fairing) rolled out the Vehicle Assembly Building towards Kennedy Space Center launch pad 39A on October 4 1976. Service structures were placed around the rocket at liftoff for final checkout before launch five days later.

At 6:28 AM EST on October 9th, Gene Kranz – the mission flight director back in Houston, handed over control to the Launch Control Center, to give the go for main engine ignition. All 5 F-1 engines ignited, each with a thrust of 7,700 kN and burning liquid oxygen and kerosene. Slowly but surely, the 2,950ton Saturn V rocket lifted off the pad at Kennedy Space Center, lighting up the morning sunrise as four thousand spectators observed in awe. 30 seconds later, the rocket rolled over to align itself for a 72.6-degree orbit, then slowly pitched itself towards the horizon as it gained altitude and continued to accelerate.

The first stage burned out at 2:54 into the flight, peaking at 4G acceleration, and at an altitude of 75 km, the stage separated, and the on-board flight computers ignited the Liquid Hydrogen/Oxygen second stage, to propel the rocket to orbital velocity. At that time Skylab II was traveling at 2,300 m/s, with an initial acceleration of 0.9 G. The computers then released the aerodynamic protective fairing covers, which were no longer needed. Six minutes later, the five J-2 second stage engines turned off temporarily: Skylab was now in orbit at 28,000 km/h, altitude periapsis of 190 km and apoapsis of 367 km. The station’s computers commenced a 45-minute coast phase to its maximum orbital altitude (apoapsis) before re-igniting the central J-2 engine for a bit to raise the station’s periapsis to the same altitude.

### Interior fitting

        *Main article: Expedition 1*

Upon orbital insertion, Skylab was finally in space, and traveling at the right orbital velocity. Thomlo Kerman and the other kerbals finally got out of his seat and activated a switch to jettison the Saturn V second stage, which floated away harmlessly but in close proximity to the station. Then he deployed the solar arrays to gather sunlight and convert it into electrical power.

His crew then conducted a spacewalk to mount the furniture containers to the docking port of the workshop segment and opened the hatch. Mission control then instructed Thomlo and his crew to grab each furniture flat-pack box, and all the computers and office equipment, food and storage containers and the desk lamps. His excitement was enhanced by the fact that everything was floating in weightlessness, and his colleagues had to use magnets to hold the screws and bolts together while Thomlo drilled each one to assemble the floating pieces of furniture together. After two days of work, the first resident crew have fitted the interior of Skylab according to J. Chryslar’s specifications. The job was awesome, and produced a very elegant space station interior.

Expedition 2 and 3 brought up more equipment and machines, including four large side-by-side refrigerators, microwave ovens, more computers and hard drives, bookshelves and storage containers.

## Expeditions

Expedition 1 launched a Soyuz 1A spacecraft, atop a Delta IV-M from the Kennedy Space Center on October 14th 1976. Twelve astronauts were on-board, including some of the volunteer crew from Station *Odyssey*. Over the 7 years the station has been visited by over 740+ kerbals, spending anywhere from a few months to five years on the station. So far thirteen expeditions and three space shuttle missions have taken place, with many more in the next decades. The current longest stay on the station is still ongoing – by Chris A. Hadfield who has been there ever since the station had spent 8 days in space.

A management decision under the auspices of the administrators of both the International Astronaut Corps, and the International Space Shuttle Program require that starting in December 1982, all future expeditions must include at least two space shuttle flights, as well as the use of the Soyuz-Laptop to provide rotating expedition crews in excess of 100+ crewmembers. The frequency of expeditions also were required to be at least two (ideally three) missions per year (or once every four to six months). VIP launches in the Soyuz-Atlantis are to be managed by third-party companies who sponsor special guests to visit the station. Resupply cargo missions are regularly launched once every 35 days, which can be brought up to the space station via the Space Shuttle, Cygnus, Progresso, HTV, and other spacecraft.

## Astronaut Life on Board

*Main article: Astronaut Life on the Skylab Workshop Station*

The Skylab Workshop Station is by far the most luxurious space station in history. Crew reviews remain a very high 99.98471% rating throughout the years on nominal periods. Even during problematic times, the design of the space station interior proved itself multiple times to be an excellent success.

Station time is set by the administrative mission control centers in the United States and Brazil, as Eastern Standard Time (UTC-5).

A typical working shift is 9 hours and 4 minutes, with three to six break periods lasting 25 mins each, and a 1.6 hour lunch break spaced evenly throughout the crew schedule. Crews used to work in overlapping shifts that rotated to provide round-the-clock station ops, until a decision in 1981 reduced it to a standard format. The working week is 5 days. On special Friday events - such as a birthday party, the crew can work up to lunchtime, and relax for the remainder of the day. Weekend days are always free to enjoy themselves.

### Cooking activities and meals

*Main article: Cooking on the Skylab Workshop Station*

The Skylab Workshop Station is the first space outpost where Earthbound cooking techniques can be used in space. A huge range of delicious meals are prepped and served by talented space chefs in a special kitchen compartment, and the menu utilizes many cuisines from around the globe. Food are deliverd in large amounts by resupply spacecraft, and stored in various cupboards and SC-62 Containers.

## Agency Executives

The space agency executives are split into various fields, with each having their own duties and responsibilities to ensure a smooth operation of the Skylab space station program and other missions by ESA and co-operating space agencies like NASA and the Brazilian Space Agency.

The space station is headed by a commander; who's duties is to oversee and supervise all major activities on Skylab, ensure all crew safety, and manage other responsibilities. The commander has two associates: the Director of the Habitation and Science Segment, and the Director of the Workshop Segment, who manage each segment's work operations, and report directly to the commander. The current Commander of the Skylab Workshop Station is Jeanette Epps, who is currently serving Expedition 16, and is the first ever female commander of any space station.

Gene Kranz is the current Administrator of the Skylab Space Station Program, and serves also as the Chief Flight Director of Mission Operations, located at the Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas. As flight director, he oversees all mission employees, flight controller personnel, and other administrative staff.

The Chief Astronaut is currently Alessandro Pierozan, who also served as the seventh commander of the space station during Expeditions 12, 13 and 14, spanning 1982-'84.

## Orbit

Skylab II maintains a nearly circular orbit around the Earth. It's altitude varies, but is usually maintained between 374 and 460 km (232 and 285 miles) in altitude. This altitude lies in Low Earth Orbit (the zone between 160 and 2,000 km).

Even though this orbital zone/ area is considered to be 'in space', it is however close enough to the planet to be subjected to a variety of very small forces, that over time can cause an orbiting satellite (or in this case a space station like Skylab) to slowly lose altitude and eventually fall back to Earth - where it will blow up on reentry. These forces are:

* Minute traces of air from the upper atmosphere caused by the solar wind heating the Thermosphere (e.g. around 0.0000001g/m3 at 300 km) exert atmospheric drag on orbiting spacecraft. The amount of drag and therefore force is proportional to the mass of the spacecraft and its surface area in the direction of travel. In lower altitudes the very thin drag increases, and decays the orbit faster, until reaching a certain threshold where the object reaches the Karman line and burns up. For Skylab II, the station loses 64 meters of altitude per day (2km per month), which slowly accelerates in lower altitudes. To prevent this, the space station's orbit (and any other satellites) is regularly boosted once every two months using the on-board station-keeping thrusters. A re-boost usually lasts no more than four minutes with 0.007g acceleration. Total yearly ∆v is around 40 m/s.
* Plasma from the aurora (the Northern and Southern Lights) also add small amounts of drag to the space station as it passes over the polar regions, due to its highly inclined orbit. The Earth's magnetic field poles also slightly disrupts the station's periapsis and apoapsis - as the station is mostly made from steel.
* Tidal forces from the Earth and Moon slightly and continually adjust Skylab's orbital inclination - where upon its launch was placed in a 72.6° orbit; and as of March 1984 has moved into a 72.778° orbit.

In the late 1970s, the station's design team called for the station to orbit the Earth at an altitude of 360 km, to provide ease of access for station resupply and passenger vehicles such as the Soyuz-Classic and Soyuz-2 spacecraft. However by December 1976 (two months after launch and insertion into that altitude), Gene Kranz and the station operations managers decided to increase the average altitude of Skylab to 405 km; then in 1980 to 443 km - to reduce fuel costs to maintain the station's orbit. As expected, the increased altitude wasn't a problem for the servicing vehicles and the Space Shuttle orbiters to reach the station, and in fact shortened the orbital rendezvous phasing process from the usual two days to a maximum of 1.5 days.

## Mission Control Centers

The Skylab Workshop Station is remotely operated and administered by several mission control centers, spread all over the world, that manage the outpost's remote operations from the ground. A mission control center is an IT and technical facility that employ hundreds to thousands of staff that monitor and control a space station's orbit altitude, velocity, orientation, fuel management, on-board activities including science data, camera live feeds, telemetry, tracking, and many other parameters.

Skylab II is managed both in a complete-set, as well as individual segments being exclusively operated by one or more ground facilities such as the Workshop Segment, and internationally-launched modules (depending on the space agency juristiction and role in the program). Mission control facilities work together collaboratively in times of emergency, or during the docking/undocking of visiting vehicles.

### List of ground mission control facilities

* Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center (Houston, Texas USA) — Mission Control rooms 1 & 2, manage the U.S. Odyssey Laboratory and American experiments onboard the space station, as well as remotely controlling all manned launches from U.S. soil (with collaboration with the Launch Control Center at KSC). It also takes part in remotely controlling Skylab's orbit and orientation with suport from ESA's mission control centres in Europe.
* KSC Launch Control Center (Cape Canaveral, Florida) — All unmanned and manned launches from Kennedy Space Center to the Skylab space station, from countdown up until T+10 seconds.
* Mission Operational Control Facilities at the São Paulo Space Launch Complex-7 (São Paulo, Brazil) — Management of the Joint Experiments Module (Brazilian experiments) and AEB astronauts assigned to the Skylab.
* Euroepan Space Research and Technology Centre (ESTEC), located 17 miles west of Amsterdam in the Netherlands, manages ESA facilities on the space station

## Resupply

The space station is resupplied with food, oxygen, science equipment and water every 40 days, using either the Cygnus, Progresso, SpaceX Dragon, HTV and Soyuz-Laptop spacecraft, and Space Shuttle flights.

### Cygnus

Cygnus spacecraft, operated by ESA, are self-propelled cylindrical cargo containers, capable of delivering 10 tons of supplies (including refrigerated and frozen food), and science experiment equipment. So far 11 have been launched, all atop Soyuz-FD rockets.

### SpaceX Dragon capsule

The Dragon capsule, manufactured by SpaceX, is one of two cargo carrying vehicles that is returnable to Earth. It consists of a pressurized cone-shaped capsule, and an expendable unpressurized SC-62 container trunk that can hold up to 8 containers. The trunk can carry 9 tons of containers, and the returnable capsule can hold 4 tons of supplies. The cargo trunk is jettisoned before re-entry.

The spacecraft is self-dockable and doesn't require manual berthing using the Mobile Servicing System robotic arm.

### HTV (Heavy Transfer Vehicle)

The Heavy Transfer Vehicle (HTV) is also a self-propelled cylindrical spacecraft that has two chambers, except they're permanantly welded together. The HTV is manufactured and operated in a collaborative program between three American companies: United Launch Alliance, Amazon Space, and Dropbox Inc.. The vehicle can carry twelve tons of cargo in total, 6 tons in either compartment (pressurized module and a SC-62 container trunk that can hold six containers). The HTV is launched atop a New Glenn M-II rocket. All propellants (both in rocket and spacecraft) use liquid methane and liquid oxygen, with an intergrated cooling system to maintain the cryogenic temperatures. The HTV can be docked atomatically, or by berth assist using the Canadarm. Undocking however is required to be done by the Canadarm robotic arm.

### Progresso

The *Progresso* spacecraft is Brazil's first major independant contribution to re-supplying the space station. It is the largest of all self-propelled dockable space cargo vehicles in the program, measuring 15.7 meters long. It can carry 16 tons of supplies, and has a total mass of 21 tons. It launches atop a modified Soyuz-FD rocket that has stretched tanks, enabaling it to carry extra payload mass. It's scheduled to launch for the first time on September 20, 1984.

## Further reading

* Skylab program
* Habitation and Science Segment
* Workshop Segment
* Soyuz-Laptop
* Expedition 2
* Expedition 3
* Cooking
* Astronaut Life
* Skylab Commander
* Space Shuttle
* Space Shuttle program
* Skylab astronauts
* Space party

###  External Links and Videos

* https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AOkha8oYse8
* https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5482OFYpCho
* https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8fBs8KBrYHs
* https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-ypCftdoNx0
* https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4d80p3lOtaU
* https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=\_6jRzDe84xM