[Skylab]

The present lot is originally from the collection of Dr. GEORGE MUELLER, who is credited with creating and leading the Office of Manned Spaceflight at NASA Headquarters, what is now the Human Operations and Exploration Mission Directorate. Mueller was originally sworn in as Deputy Associate Administrator for Manned Space Flight on September 1, 1963, but his title quickly changed to Associate Administrator for Manned Space Flight after an internal reorganization and he remained in that role until he left NASA in December 1969. He shepherded the agency through the completion of the Apollo program as well as the early development of Skylab and space shuttle projects.

FLOWN HEAT SHIELD PLUGS FROM AMERICA’S FIRST SPACE STATION

Skylab was America’s first (and only exclusively operated) space station. It was constructed from a repurposed Saturn V third stage (the S-IVB), and took the place of that stage during launch. Fitted with an orbital workshop, a solar observatory, and several hundred life science and physical science experiments, it was incredibly productive over its brief life. Its contributions to science and the development of human life in space are especially remarkable considering the damage sustained during its launch when the micrometeoroid shield was torn off and the debris jammed one of the large solar array panels, tearing another panel off completely. 

The first crew, Commander Pete Conrad, Pilot Paul Weitz and Science Pilot Joe Kerwin as part of Skylab 2 were tasked with repairing the space station, which they did on the first-ever repair spacewalk. The crew were still able, during their month-long stay, to complete much of the planned scientific research, their primary goal. 

Alan Bean, Owen Garriot, and Jack Lousma served as the Skylab III crew. Their flight time totaled 59 days and 11 hours, more than double the record set by Skylab II. The crew implemented improvements and insights learned from Skylab II, accomplishing three hundred hours more research than initially planned and returning to Earth in better health than the prior crew had.  

Together, the Skylab missions capped off NASA’s first fifteen years as an agency and served as a significant and often undersung chapter of human life in space. 

The photo albums included in this lot offer an incredible array of images of life in space during Skylab II and Skylab III.