Customer Reviews

Homesteading Space: The Skylab Story (Outward Odyssey: A People's History of S)

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"Homesteading Space" tells a significant part of the story of the Skylab orbital workshop, the first American space station launched in 1973 and occupied through the middle part of 1974 by three crews of astronauts. Owen Garriott, Joseph P. Kerwin, and Alan L. Bean were all astronauts that flew aboard Skylab and with the help of journalist David Hitt they do a credible job of telling their story.

A 100-ton orbital workshop was launched into orbit with the last use of the giant Saturn V launch vehicle in June 1973. Almost immediately, technical problems developed due to vibrations during lift off and the first crew to fly, astronauts Pete Conrad, Paul J. Weitz, and "Homesteading Space" co-author Joseph P. Kerwin, had to resolve them and make Skylab operational. That first group of astronauts returned to Earth on June 22, 1973, and two other Skylab crews followed, one each with co-authors Garriott and Bean.

All three crews occupied the Skylab workshop for a total of 171 days and 13 hours. It was the site of nearly 300 scientific and technical experiments. In Skylab, both the total hours in space and the total hours spent in performance of EVA under microgravity conditions exceeded the combined totals of all of the world's previous space flights up to that time.

Skylab was the first real test of long-duration spaceflight undertaken by the United States. "Homesteading Space" is a useful personal recollection of three astronauts who flew on Skylab. It is a welcome account of a lesser known program.

The University of Nebraska Press has undertaken a huge series that I have been paying close attention to over the past year - the Outward Odyssey Series, which examines the human endeavors into outer space. The latest installment, Homesteading Space turns to a relatively unknown element, but crucial element of our trips to orbit, Skylab. Like the prior books, Into that Silent Sea, In the Shadow of the Moon and To A Distant Day, we are not only treated to a wealth of information about the technical aspects of the program, but the implications and human element of it.

Skylab was launched in 1973 after a number of years in development alongside the Apollo Program. While Mercury, Gemini and Apollo all had a singular purpose (to see if people could reach space and survive, to see if people could exist in space and if people could reach the moon, land and return), Skylab diverged from this main mission of lunar exploration and was essentially the start of the modern space program with vast implications: it was designed to see whether people could life in outer space. This mission has influenced our advances into orbit since - with the construction of the space shuttle, Mir and the International Space Station, and future missions to the Moon and to Mars, each owes (or will owe) much to the Skylab mission.

Skylab was interesting. As noted in the opening of the book, it was built from pre-existing parts, scraped from other programs and components. The station itself was part of the Saturn Rocket, an empty fuel tank, that was refitted and placed into orbit. From there, three crews were sent up and conducted a huge number of experiments that helped to see the effects of zero gravity on the human body during extended amounts of time (each of these crews set records for their time in space). Additionally, they were the first to conduct dedicated experiments and observations on the sun and while in the presence of zero gravity. The first solar flares were witnessed via the Apollo Telescope Mount, and a wealth of information about the Earth's atmosphere as well.

Homesteading Space is not just about the scientific knowledge that was obtained in orbit - this is the story of the astronauts who conducted the experiments, who lived in space for weeks or months at a time, and how they coped. Skylab provided an enormous opportunity for individual cooperation and perseverance, for there were numerous problems that could have easily prevented the program from happening at all. But, each time, the astronauts and their ground support were able to overcome each problem and continue onwards.

The station was almost doomed from the start - upon its launch, solar coverings and shielding was stripped from the station, leaving it unlivable until a solution (essentially an umbrella) was improvised to protect the living quarters. The solar panels were crippled and power was limited. The first space walks were essentially rescue missions to save the station. On the second mission, two thrusters from the command module broke, leaving NASA to quickly plan a rescue mission from the ground as well as a solution for reentry with the remaining thrusters (no rescue was launched, and the crew returned safely).

The astronauts themselves were also the center of attention, and from this reading, it seems like they had quite a bit of fun in orbit. A number of jokes were played with the zero gravity, from contests and acrobatics, to leaving space suits stuffed and floating around the station for the next crew to find. This book helps to exemplify the role to which the astronauts have played in space, and their importance to the program, and does so wonderfully.

The book is not without its flaws, however. At points, it is repetitive, as I would come across the same story of astronauts losing items and then finding them in an air vent numerous times. A number of other details throughout are replicated, as are long passages from diaries and communications logs, which were likewise reprinted in the back of the book as an appendix. While these passages do provide some insight into the astronauts' lives, it broke up the flow of the reading. Where I noted that the last book, To A Distant Day, was very short, this one seems to overcompensate and could have been stripped down a little more than it was. However, this is really the only major flaw here, and as a result, there is a rich amount of information about the Skylab program, almost literally minute by minute at points.

Homesteading Space highlights a crucial crossroads for the space program, the point between the drive to reach the moon, and the beginning of a new era. Skylab was caught in between Apollo and the Space Shuttle, and serves as a link to the two, drawing from knowledge that was obtained during the lunar missions, and influencing the future of spaceflight and habitation. The next book is due out next year, about Satellites, but I'm more excited for the following installment, Footsteps in the Dust, about the remaining lunar missions. This series is superior, detailed, exciting and enlightening, and provides a huge ray of hope for what's to come next for us.

(Originally printed at my blog)

For me, Apollo has always been where it's at. Big rockets, big missions, groundbreaking history. Skylab? A bunch of guys floating around the earth for months at a time. Dull, right? Your mind will most certainly be changed when you read this excellent addition to the "People's History of Spaceflight" series.

I picked this volume up immediately after finishing the terrific "In the Shadow of the Moon: A Challenging Journey to Tranquility, 1965-1969". I was so impressed with the quality of "Journey" that I was certain that "Homesteading" would be worth reading. Indeed, I was not disappointed.

Since few authors have ever devoted the kind of attention to Skylab that Apollo has received (aside from the dry, official NASA documents), a void was really waiting to be filled. Until now, there's been a serious gap in the historical record. One of the best things about the "People's History" series is its reliance on first-person eyewitness accounts. In this volume, the story of Skylab is brought to life by those who designed it, lived aboard it and supported it from the ground. "Homesteading" relies heavily upon lengthy quotes from the astronauts themselves, assembled from relatively recent (post-2000) oral histories. The reader gets direct accounts from Alan Beam, Jack Lousma, Owen Garriot, Joe Kerwin, Paul Weitz and many others. (It's terribly unfortunate that Pete Conrad's untimely death in 1999 prevented him from being similarly interviewed as he considered his crew's rescue of Skylab more significant than his Apollo 12 lunar landing mission.)

The tales range from the high drama of rescuing Skylab from its nearly fatal launch malfunction to chronicles of the reality of living in space for extended periods. Other interesting bits include detailed descriptions of how the second parasol was deployed by the second crew and how two malfunctioning RCS quads almost necessitated a "rescue mission" of that crew. There's also a great and detailed description of what it was like to ride the Saturn 1B into orbit -- something I've seen nowhere else.

With the success of observatories like Hubble, robotic astronomy is something we now take for granted, but in 1973 humans armed with film-based cameras were needed to collect images of the sun that could not be obtained by earth-bound observers. Skylab delivered a tremendous scientific return for a comparatively modest investment. "Homesteading" spends quite a bit of time recounting that scientific research. (My one quibble with the book is that the chapter "Science on Skylab" near the end recapitulates much of what was covered in earlier chapters.)

"Homesteading Space" will make you pine for the days before spaceflight had become "routine" in the shuttle era. It will also make you wistful for the days when the U.S. had the machinery to launch a cavernous space station into orbit in a single shot, something that was given up in favor of a system that in retrospect seems like a regrettable 25-year detour.

As other reviewers have noted, this is an excellent addition to the Outward Odyssey series. The only pity is that it comes 'hot on the heels' of David Shayler's "Around the World in 84 Days" bio of Skylab 4's Jerry Carr, dealing with similar subject matter. I found myself glossing over much of the material on Skylab 4, but only because I had just read Shayler's book.

Homesteading Space contains a wealth of never-before published information on the Skylab program; three of the most interesting sections deal with (first)the 10-day period following launch of the Orbital Workshop to save the station and the program from complete loss after the launch damage; (second) the SMEAT long duration simulation, with a fascinating insight into the "unsung" contributions of people like Bill Thornton. The other is the section dealing with the planning of the (ultimately unflown) rescue mission for Skylab 3 after the OMS quads ruptured on-orbit (with good insight from the rescue mission crewmembers Brand and Lind).

The book does a generally excellent job of capturing the challenge and the unknowns of long duration spaceflight in the 1970s, before the 'lessons learned' from Shuttle/MIR and ISS and also prior to continuous ground communications through relay satellites. As an adjunct, there are a number of laments from the crewmembers that not enough lessons had been learned for, or incorporated into, ISS.

One theme running loosely (and inevitably) through the book is the challenge of habitability issues aboard Skylab. This comes together at the end of the book in a useful 'postscript' section that summarises and highlights the major lessons learned from the entire program. This also includes a very readable summary of the achievements of the major scientific programs, including the medical and solar astronomy programs.

The book is not overly technical, and has been pitched at readers who are familiar with the US space program, without being overly technically minded. Although told primarily from the perspective of the 8 surviving crewmembers, it is pleasing to note that plenty of other 'voices' and characters appear throughout the book.

One minor disappointment (and it is a minor one): no schematics of the OWS and not a lot of photos. To give one example, a number of references are made throughout the book to the airlock hatch being a left-over Gemini hatch. This is the first I have ever heard of this (having studied Skylab on and off for years), and I would loved to have seen a photo of how this was integrated into the vehicle.

An added bonus is the verbatim reproduction of Alan Bean's on-orbit diary written during Skylab 3, the existence of which had not been widely known before this book was written.

At 400+ pages, this well-written book does justice to a fascinating, if often overlooked, program in the US space program. This book is a "must-have" for anyone seriously interested in the US space program, and makes a nice companion to older books like Cooper's "House in Space" and the official NASA publications from the 70s "Skylab, A Guidebook" (NASA EP-107), "Skylab: Explores the Earth" (NASA SP-380) and "Skylab, Our First Space Station" (NASA SP-400), which are mostly technical texts.

Well done to all.

Homesteading Space, the story of Skylab, is another outstanding addition to the very popular Outward Odyssey series! This installment, like its predecessors, includes numerous insightful and humorous personal stories, many previously untold, of the brave men who flew these pioneering missions. I often had the feeling while reading the book that I was at a cocktail party shooting the breeze with these brave heroes as well as many of the support personnel responsible for getting the missions off the ground. Most enjoyable is the focus on the wonderful leadership skills of Commander Alan Bean during the second manned Skylab mission. Astronaut Bean seemed to walk in the shadow of Commander Pete Conrad on his earlier Apollo 12 mission to the moon where Bean was the Lunar Module Pilot, but I always felt that if called upon that Bean could have taken command and done an equally impressive job. On Bean's Skylab mission he proved his command and leadership skills, and Homesteading Space helps the reader understand Bean's leadership style and passion. But all nine of the Skylab astronauts are showcased in this wonderful story of America's first space station, giving the reader a close-up look at what it took to test the unknowns of long duration space flight. The book also highlights how the pilot and scientist astronauts worked together as a team to ensure all scientific experiments were carried out as planned. Homesteading Space tells the human story of a pioneering space mission that proved humans could live and work for long durations in outer space, and paved the way for the International Space Station! It's more than a story about pioneering exploration; it conveys to the reader what it was like to live for months in outer space!

This is a great book. Although Skylab is a distant memory, this book gives great insight into the challenges and dramas of mankind's pursuit of space flight / colonization.

Well worth the read and highly entertaining (if you are a space nut..... of course).

Skylab was the U.S. space program to follow the historic Moon landings. After Apollo, people started to ask if it was possible for humans to live long-term in the zero-gravity, space environment. Skylab answered that question.

In Homesteading Space, the entire history of the Skylab program is told. It starts out in the pre-development days when NASA was faced with the question of what to do in the post-Apollo era. Using hardware originally designed for the Apollo project, Skylab was born out of a modified S-IVB rocket stage.

Skylab was launched in May 1973 and immediately faced problems. The meteoroid shield tore off during launch taking one of the solar wings with it and pinning the other. This left Skylab with two problems. Without the shield, temperatures inside the station rose to unacceptable levels. The lack of one solar wing and the failed deployment of the other left Skylab with less than needed power. Solutions had to be thought of fast.

It was up to the first crew to take care of the initial repair. First, deploying a parasol from a scientific airlock to bring the temperature down. Then conducting a unique EVA to free the solar panel. With the panel free, the first Skylab crew was able to fully operate Skylab's scientific experiments.

The second crew would more than double the efforts of the first, but had a special problem of its own. Two thruster quads of the CSM RCS system failed leaving the possibility of a safe return to Earth in doubt. The story of the possible Skylab rescue mission is recounted in this book. However, the rescue mission was never needed and the second crew carried out a very successful mission.

The third and last crew stayed on Skylab for three months building upon the work of the first two crews and also carried out a very successful mission.

After the third crew left in February 1974, Skylab was left deactivated in orbit. NASA originally hoped to reboost the station from a visiting Space Shuttle, but delays in the Shuttle program plus unusually high solar activity forced Skylab to return to Earth. It re-entered the atmosphere in 1979.

Skylab left an important legacy as the first proof that humans could live and work in space for long periods of time. Homesteading Space is an excellent chronicle of the program.