Episodes Tagged with "Bobko"

May 4

Space Rocket History #388 – Skylab – Pre-history – MOL Part 2

Posted on May 4, 2022

Strangely enough the MOL astronauts only knew of the cover story that the program would be a space laboratory for military experiments and did not learn of the reconnaissance role until after selection.

P2-Early_mockup_of_MOL_laboratory_module_interior

P3-Gemini-B_Heat_Shield with hatch

P1-MOL_01

Tagged:Abrahamson, Albert Crews, Bobko, Crippen, Gemini B, Gemini Blue, Hartsfield, Lachlan Macleay, Manned Orbiting Laboratory, Mol, Skylab, Titan Iii, Truly

May 18

Space Rocket History #389 – Skylab – Pre-history – MOL Part 3

Posted on May 18, 2022

A planning document depicted 12-man and 40-man stations, both with self-defense capability. It described the 40-man, Y-shaped station as a “spaceborne command post” in synchronous orbit. The key requirement was “post attack survivability”, the statio...

P2-Titan-3C_MOL-Gemini-B-Test_3

P3-MOL Command Post

P1-MOL_spacesuit

Tagged:Albert Crews, Bobko, Crippen, Ddre, Gemini B, Manned Orbiting Laboratory, Mol, Nro, Robert Mcnamara, Skylab, Titan Iii, Truly

Jun 1

Space Rocket History #390 – Skylab – Pre-history – MOL Part 4 & Extending Apollo

Posted on June 1, 2022

On June 7th 1969, General Stewart ordered all work on Gemini B, the Titan IIIM and the MOL spacesuit, to cease and to cancel or curtail all other contracts. The official announcement that the MOL had been canceled was made on June 10th.

P4-MOL_toilet

P2-MOL_hardware_under_construction

P3-AX in 1964Shayler

P1-SLC-6_in_1966

Tagged:Apollo X, Bobko, Crippen, Deke Slayton, Gemini B, Manned Orbiting Laboratory, Mol, Nro, Skylab, Titan Iii, Wernher Von Braun

Dec 1

Space Rocket History #403 – Skylab – S.M.E.A.T. – Skylab Mission 0

Posted on December 1, 2022

This SMEAT crew would test out various elements of the Skylab equipment and procedures in a series of trials, ending in a full-scale simulation that was set at 56 days.

1-EnteringSmeat

2-BobkoLBNPChamber

3-ThortonBicycleErg

Tagged:Bobko, Crippen, Mol, S M E A T, Skylab, Smeat, Thornton

May 9

Space Rocket History #463 – Apollo-Soyuz Test Project – Joint Operations

Posted on May 9, 2025

“I had thoughts I couldn’t express at the time. It felt like we weren’t just opening a hatch in space, but opening the door to a new era on Earth.” Tom Stafford.

P2-A-S-Eclipse

P3-AS second docking

P1-Eclipse

Tagged:Apollo Soyuz, Astp, Baykonur, Bobko, Deke Slaton, Detente, Glynn Lunney, Goddard, John F Kennedy, Jsc, Ksc, Kubasov, Leonov, Marshall Space Flight Center, Nikita Khrushchev, Solar Eclipse, Syromyatnikov, Tom Stafford, Truly, Uva, Vance Brand

May 23

Space Rocket History #464 – Apollo-Soyuz Test Project – Coming Home

Posted on May 23, 2025

Celebrations erupted in Mission Control, with broad smiles and cigar smoke marking the successful conclusion. But, while Mission control was celebrating, it was not yet known that the crew had been exposed to toxic fumes during descent. The crew was ...

P2-Cosmonauts Leonov and Kubasov (speaking) are interviewed by Soviet newsmen shortly after their safe landing in Kazakhstan.

P1-Kubasov autographs the side of the Soyuz descent vehicle

Tagged:Apollo Soyuz, Astp, Ats 6, Baykonur, Bobko, Crippen, Deke Slaton, Glynn Lunney, Goddard, John F Kennedy, John Young, Jsc, Kazakhstan, Kubasov, Leonov, Neil, Sadie Link, Tom Stafford, Uss New Orleans, Vance Brand

Jun 6

Space Rocket History #465 – Apollo-Soyuz Test Project – Epilogue

Posted on June 6, 2025

Due to the deterioration of relations between the United States and the Soviet Union in the late 1970s, no follow-on missions to ASTP took place. A backup Apollo spacecraft and Saturn IB rocket were available and there were some discussions of possib...

P3-crewmembers pose with the Apollo Command Module from their mission

P2-President Ford at the White House during the tour of the United States

P1-Stafford, Leonov, Brand, Kubasov, and Slayton in Moscow during the tour of the Soviet Union

Tagged:Apollo Soyuz, Arnold Aldrich, Astp, Baykonur, Bobko, Chris Kraft, Crippen, Deke Slaton, Ellington Air Force Base, George Low, Gerald R Ford, Glynn Lunney, Iss, John F Kennedy, Jsc, Kiev, Kubasov, Leningrad, Leonov, Mir, Novosibirsk, Rockwell, Saturn Ib, Skylab, Space Shuttle, Star City, Tbilisi, Tom Stafford, Uss New Orleans, Vance Brand, Volgograd