Dec 24 1973
From The Space Library
Fifth anniversary of the Christmas Eve reading of Genesis by the moon-orbiting crew of Apollo 8 (launched Dec. 21, 1968) to TV and radio audiences that included one of every four persons on earth. The crew of Skylab 4 (launched Nov. 16 to man the Orbital Workshop launched May 14), second crew to spend Christmas in space, devoted Christmas Eve to searching for and opening gifts hidden for them in the Apollo command module before launch by colleagues in Mission Control. The packages included a 91-cm (36-in) green cloth Christmas tree be-neath the gear they would need for their scheduled Christmas Day space walk and a surprise package stored in the Cm locker. Mission Control also planned to transmit over a teleprint circuit a Christmas card depicting the sun, Skylab, gifts, and Santa's sled. (A&A 1968; UPI, W Star-News, 12/24/73, Al)
Skylab 4 Astronauts Gerald P. Carr, Dr. Edward G. Gibson, and William R. Pogue-in the 39th day of their mission aboard the Orbital Work-shop [see Nov. 16-Feb. 8, 19741-were participating in new tests developed by NASA scientists and heart specialists at the National Heart and Lung Institute to determine the effects of prolonged weightlessness on the heart, the New York Times reported. Space program doctors wanted data to help explain the smaller heart size, sudden drops in blood pressure when shifting quickly from a prone to upright position, and the smaller output of blood during exercise experienced by astronauts immediately after space flight. The new technique, called echo-cardiography, used sonarlike sound waves of extremely high frequency to produce internal pictures of the heart. The Skylab 4 crew had been tested using echo-cardiography for a week preceding launch. Repeat studies would be made aboard the recovery ship within hours after splashdown. The astronauts would be studied over the course of weeks and possible months to record the complete readaptation of the heart to gravity. (Schmeck, NYT, 12/24/73, 1)
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