Nov 16

Space Rocket History #402 – Skylab – Training Part 2

The backup crew and some support crew participated in an interesting rescue scenario with 2 astronauts flying to Skylab to take back the crew of 3 onboard Skylab. This would mean 5 astronauts returning to earth in the command module.

Neutral Buoyancy Simulator at MSFC

Gibson Training at ATM Simulator

3rd Crew at Mission Training and Simulation Facility at JSC

Nov 02

Space Rocket History #401 – Skylab – Training Part 1

Aside from physically training for the longest crewed missions that the United States had ever attempted, the actual training program was developed simultaneously with the hardware and experiments for the mission.

Skylab 2 Crew Pre-launch Training

Conrad Training

Conrad Training in the MDA

Jun 06

Space Rocket History #257 – Apollo 12 – Return, Re-entry and Splashdown

Ten days ago, their Saturn V rocket had blasted Bean and his crew mates out of earth’s gravitational pull. Now their home planet was pulling them back at more than 24,000 miles per hour, twelve times faster than a high-speed rifle bullet. “Boy,” said Bean, “we are really hauling!”

Apollo 12 splashdown

Apollo 12 recovery

Apollo 12 mobile quarantine

May 30

Space Rocket History #256 – Apollo 12 – Leaving the Moon

Dick Gordon opened the tunnel to Intrepid, saw his companions floating in a dirty cloud of moon dust, and slammed the hatch closed. He called out, “You guys ain’t gonna mess up my nice clean spacecraft!”

LM Rendezvous Radar and CSM Target Orientation

LM docking with CM over the Moon

Intrepid descent stage