Sep 28 1973
From The Space Library
Processed samples from Skylab 3 experiments carried on the 59-day mission (launched July 28 to man the Orbital Workshop, launched May 14) were returned to Marshall Space Flight Center. They were opened, x-rayed, and photographed before being delivered to principal investigators who would report within six months. Among the samples were 11 of solidification (crystal growth performed in the M-518 multipurpose electrical furnace system) and the remains of spiders Anita and Arabella, who died after spinning webs in zero g for the first time. The spiders' bodies would be given to the Smithsonian Institution for display later in the week, following examination by a student experimenter. Preliminary examination had shown that Arabella died of malnutrition. Anita had died in space of probably the same cause Sept. 15. (MSFC Release 73-146)
Newspaper editorials commented on the Sept. 25 successful splashdown of Skylab 3 [see July 28-Sept. 25]. The Washington Star-News: The astronauts couldn't have selected a worse evening to return to the earth "in the whole 20th Century." Their reentry had been "upstaged, unfortunately," by Vice President Spiro T. Agnew 's vain attempts to clear himself of allegations of bribery and income tax evasion, "and, of course, the Watergate hearings persisted as a distraction. But these latest Skylab voyagers still must receive the recognition they deserve for the longest and most voluminously re-warding space flight in history." Skylab was "the proper program in space for the years just ahead, because it promises many more revelations about the earth and seas-the condition and potentials of our planet." (W Star-News, 9/28/73, A18)
The Wall Street Journal noted that the Skylab 3 crew could anticipate a small pleasure that eluded most returning travelers. "Unlike the rest of us, they have numbers of people who are absolutely hungering to see the photographs they brought back, despite the fact that they've returned with no fewer than 77,600 shots of the sun and 16,800 of the earth." (WSJ, 9/28/73)
Johnson Space Center announced a third-year extension had been awarded to its contract with Lockheed Electronics Co., Inc., Houston Aerospace Systems Div. to provide general electronic, scientific, and computing center support services. The cost-plus-award-fee contract extension would total $32 733 000. (NASA Release 73-198; J SC Release 73-129)
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