Putting theory to practice
We currently take it for granted that astronauts can live and work in microgravity environments for extended periods of time, but this was terra incognita—or more accurately astra incognita—at the time. For context, the Soviet Union’s doomed Soyuz 11 mission to the world’s first space station, Salyut 1, lasted for 23 days, but all three cosmonauts died during atmospheric reentry. “I think the greatest achievement is that we pretty much proved that the human body can stay weightless for a very long time,” said Jerry Carr, commander of NASA’s Skylab 4 mission. “This was our first opportunity to go up and settle in.”
The image above shows Carr (at right), along with Skylab 4 scientist Edward Gibson. Their crew mate, pilot Bill Pogue, snapped the photo of the two men from the hatch leading into the airlock module, showing the length of the Skylab Orbital Workshop.
