Mark, T minus 1 minute and continuing to count. A water deluge system now has been turned on, activated at the pad area. Pressurization taking place now, the various tanks aboard the vehicle being pressurized, switching to internal power. All stages switching now to internal power. All propellant tanks being pressurized. Count continuing smoothly. The water at the pad, covering the flame deflectors. Now, we've passed the 30-second mark. Water also becoming on to the decks of the mobile launcher at the ignition point. T minus 20 seconds and the countdown continues to go smoothly. Guidance release, T minus 13, 12, 11, 10, 9, 8. We have ignition sequence has started. 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, 0. And we have a lift off. The Skylab lifting off the pad now, moving up. Skylab has cleared the tower. Houston is now controlling. 18 seconds, pitch and roll program started. Saturn now maneuvering to its proper flight path attitude. Mark, 25 seconds. 30 seconds. 35 seconds, 1 nautical mile in altitude, looking good. Range safety, give Saturn a green, that we've cleared the beach. 50 seconds, 2 and 1/2 nautical miles in altitude. The ground display data shows good stable thrust on all five engines. Coming up now in 1 minute. Mark, 1 minute. 1 minute 10 seconds, 4 nautical miles in altitude coming up now and pray the maximum aerodynamic pressure on the vehicle. 1 minute 10 seconds. Roll program complete, the pitch profile still in progress. 1 minute 20 seconds, 7 nautical miles in altitude, velocity now reading 2500 ft per second. 1 minute 30 seconds, passed through max Q, still looking good. Saturn now at 11 nautical miles in altitude, 5 nautical miles down range, velocity now reading 3300 ft per second. 55 seconds, all sources continuing to look good. 46 seconds. 20 nautical miles in altitude. On center engine shutdown. We have shutdown on time, reports booster system is engineer. 2 minutes 33 seconds, 40 nautical miles in altitude, standing by now for first stage shutdown. Shutdown. Good separation on time. With good ignition on uh the five second stage engines. Saturn now 56 nautical miles in altitude, 64 nautical miles down range, 9300 ft per second, now reading the velocity. The huge uh first stage falling away now, now out of business. 3 minutes 10 seconds, coming up on skirt set. H has jettisoned on schedule, the 11,400lb ring dropping away now from the second stage engines. All sources continuing to look good. 3 minutes 33 seconds, the two habitability area vent valves are now open. Reports booster a bleeding off nitrogen stored on-board pre-launch. We now show Saturn 88 nautical miles in altitude, 124 nautical miles down range, velocity now reading 11,000 ft per second. Looking good reports booster coming up on 4 minutes, Mark, 4 minutes. Plus 10 seconds, Saturn now 108 nautical miles in altitude, 170 nautical miles down range, velocity now reading 11,244 ft per second. Plus 30 seconds, still looking at the five good second stage engines performing as advertised. Let's uh 55 seconds, the multiple docking adapter vent valves have closed now at 1.3 PSI. 53 nautical miles in altitude, 268 nautical miles down range, velocity now reads 12,634 ft per second. Center engine, good sustained thrust on the remaining four engines. Uh they burn for about 4 more minutes. The timing in this event, quite different from apollo, but uh this Saturn is carrying a much lighter payload orbit. The shutdown uh time to when Saturn is beginning to pitch over for more straight level flying rather than climbing for altitude. We now show Saturn at 116 nautical miles in altitude, 328 nautical miles down range. This is Skylab Control, 2 hours, 41 minutes ground elapsed time in the mission of Skylab 1. Skylab Space Station, now in orbit, coming up on the Honeysuckle Australia tracking station. Still some doubt in the minds of flight controllers here in mission control as to whether the main solar panels on the workshop have indeed deployed. They've had no confirmation on the ground from telemetry that this is the case. The solar panels on the telescope mount have deployed normally. Also, the micrometeoroid shield around the workshop has partially deployed. The large wings of three sections of solar panels on each wing, one on each side of the workshop, generate uh anywhere from 51 to 125 volts depending on the sun angle at the time. This uh power goes through chargers which in turn keep storage batteries in the workshop built up to supply power throughout the mission. Half half of each orbit approximately is in darkness when no power can be generated by the solar panels. The two solar panel wings are deployed out to the side of the workshop, and each panel on the wings operates on uh similar to a scissors action, spring-loaded to extend the panels. We'll be getting data now through Honeysuckle. We'll stand by for our comments to the flight director. From the flight controllers who are concerned with the workshop electrical power system and relay this information as it uh No change reported in the solar panel wing status. This is Skylab Control, 4 hours, 14 minutes ground elapsed time. The Skylab space station mission. Here in the control center, the problems associated with the failure of the Saturn workshop solar panels to deploy are being discussed at some length by management and flight controllers. Preliminary telemetry indications are that there could have been a malfunction with one solar ray beam fairing and the meteoroid shield which could have led to subsequent anomalies. These malfunctions were indicated to have occurred 1 minute and 3 seconds after liftoff, based on post launch examination of telemetry. The planned 28-day mission is not possible without deployment of the workshop main solar panels. Project officials are considering an alternate mission using the command service module power system to augment the limited power supply provided by the Apollo telescope mount solar panels aboard the workshop through a system of managing the two power sources for the optimum usage. An announcement will be made as soon as these decisions have been reached. The decision on such an alternate mission is expected to be had by about 9:00 PM Eastern Daylight Time. At which time a news conference will be held at the Cape and it is expected that Skylab program director Bill Schneider will take part. We're starting to get data now through the Honeysuckle Australia tracking station. This is a rather low elevation angle pass of little over 4 degrees for approximately uh I stand corrected that 86° is a max elevation on this particular pass, almost directly over overhead at Honeysuckle. Almost 9 minutes remaining in this pass across the Honeysuckle station. We'll stand by on Skylab control circuit for the Honeysuckle, followed by Hawaii and the next state side pass. At 4 hours, 18 minutes ground elapsed time. This is Skylab Control. This is Skylab Control, 1800 hours Greenwich Mean Time. Skylab Space Station now crossing the northeastern coast of France on the 30th revolution. Being tracked by the Madrid station. Cabin pressure aboard the Skylab workshop is holding between 4 and 1/2 to 5 lbs. Internal temperatures by the various sensors range uh in the low hundreds, that is around 115 to 120 in most locations. At the scientific airlock, the temperature ranges from 170 to 190°F. External skin temperatures are running between uh 240 and 300°. Battery temperatures in the power system, electrical power system are running around 30 to 40° and sensors on the ATM, Apollo telescope mount solar panels show temperatures of 90 to 100°. Quiet here in the control center, midway through the 12-hour shift. Flight director, Don Puddy, continuing to direct his team of flight controllers in managing the spacecraft systems, the guidance and attitude control system still operating normally. We have not been on the thruster attitude control or TAC system since sometime yesterday. The quantities remaining of uh the gaseous nitrogen used in the TAC system is still hanging at about uh 82%. This is Skylab Mission Control at 2 seconds after the hour. Midway through its 58th revolution, the spacecraft is now traveling on a descending node over the Indian Ocean. It is on the dark side of the earth, at the highest point in its orbit it is now 237.7 nautical miles above the surface of the earth, at its lowest point, 235.4 nautical miles. Present speed for the space station is 25,096.6 ft per second. The period of revolution is 1 hour, 33 minutes, 22.3 seconds. Flight director Donald Puddy has requested his guidance and navigation controller to provide him with instructions that will allow the greatest possible conservation of gas used by the thruster attitude control system, while maneuvering required to provide stable temperatures in the orbital workshop section of the space station has used about 24% of the total supply of attitude control gas. The remaining gas is more than double the minimum amount required to conduct all the experiments originally planned for an eight month period with three separate astronaut teams. Nevertheless, flight controllers are taking action to maintain as large an excessive reserve of attitude control fuel as possible. Notes on work that might be done by the first Skylab crew to deploy one of the solar panels that is believed to have stuck when the meteoroid shield was torn off shortly after Monday's launch. Suggest that the efforts will be made during the first daylight pass of the stand up EVA. Attempts to deploy one solar wing will be made only if the crew feels that it can be done without difficulty. Because the wing has been on the shadowed part of the space space station, the temperature may be too low for the solar panels to move out freely without further assistance, even if obstructions are removed by the astronaut. If the crew does not believe it can free the solar panels, which would provide another 6,000 watts of electrical generating power, engineering photos will be taken for use in planning the following second Skylab manned mission. This is Skylab mission control at two minutes and 10 seconds after the hour. This is the Kennedy Space Center Skylab News Center. The countdown for the launch of Skylab 2 scheduled for 9:00 a.m. Eastern Daylight Time on Friday began on schedule at 5:30 a.m. Eastern Daylight Time today. After installation of flight batteries in the Saturn 1B second stage and instrument units, batteries will be powered up and a series of tests of flight control, radio frequency and telemetry systems will be initiated. Loading of liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen in the command service module is scheduled for later today. The National Weather Service Space Flight Meteorology Group said this morning that satisfactory weather is expected for the launch of Skylab 2 on Friday morning. Although there is a strong likelihood of afternoon and evening thunder showers on Thursday, countdown activities should not be greatly affected and such thunderstorms would dissipate during the night. On Friday morning, scattered clouds are expected in the launch area with visibility of about 8 miles, southwest winds, 10 miles per hour and temperature about 78°. Near normal conditions are expected over the usually cloudy North Atlantic, but should be of no particular concern to the launch. Skylab 2 crew members, Charles Conrad, Joseph Kerwin and Paul Weitz arrived at Kennedy Space Center late yesterday. This morning they're undergoing their F-2 medical examinations and this afternoon they're scheduled for a bench review of items to be stowed in the command module and the stowage briefing. The tools to be used by the crew in work on the solar array and the twin pole solar shield, that would be deployed from the command module by Joseph Kerwin during a stand up EVA are scheduled to arrive at Kennedy Space Center about 12:30 p.m. Eastern Daylight time today. The tools were developed by the Johnson Space Center and the Marshall Space Flight Center, and the twin pole solar shield by the Marshall Space Flight Center. The parasol solar shield that will be deployed by Paul Weitz from the workshop scientific airlock is scheduled to arrive at Kennedy Space Center later today. The parasol was developed by Johnson Space Center. That concludes our report. This is Skylab Control at 0 hours GMT. The Skylab space station is now in its 149th revolution, midway through the nighttime part of its orbit about the Earth. The spacecraft will continue a 68-degree pitched-up attitude for one additional daylight pass, ending at Vanguard. Then, at about 1:19 Greenwich Mean Time or 8:19 p.m. Central Daylight Time, commands will be sent to return the spacecraft to a lower pitch, 45° up, so that batteries can be recharged by the Apollo telescope mount solar cells. The pitched-up attitude has already brought some temperatures down in the workshop area where film and food are stored. Floor-level food storage areas are now estimated to be at 125°, while wall areas are estimated at 127.5°. Of the 25 atmospheric gas temperature transducers recorded on mission control displays, 12 continue to read offscale high, or above 120°. Other readings vary from 55.9 in the multiple docking adapter to 116.6 on the experimental compartment ceiling. The suit umbilical system coolant loop, aluminum tubing filled with water, is still recording 34.0° Fahrenheit. A temperature increase is expected during the coming night as a result of the Sus habitat area reset attitude maneuver now underway. A fluctuation in the output of charger battery regulator module number 17, that's CBRM number 17, which indicated an electrical output of about 1/2 the normal level, then accelerated to more than normal output, has now stopped. This charger battery regulator module is now producing at a normal level and is expected to cause no further problems. This is Skylab Control at two minutes after the hour. We're approaching the one minute mark in our countdown, mark. T-minus one minute, one minute and counting in the launch of the first manned mission in Skylab. T-minus 50 seconds, T-minus 50 seconds and counting, and we are now going to internal power. All stages switching to internal power. Stages now and and fuel tanks pressurized. Approaching the 30 second mark in the countdown. At 30 seconds, water will begin spraying on the deck of the mobile launcher. T-minus 30 seconds and the countdown continuing to go smoothly. The Skylab itself orbiting some 780 nautical miles northeast of KSC at this time. T-minus 17 seconds and counting, T-minus 15. At T-minus 3.1 seconds, we'll expect the engine sequence to start on the vehicle. T-minus 7 6 5 4 3, engine sequence start, 2 1 0. We have a launch commit and we have liftoff. The clock is running and Skylab has cleared the tower. Tower, at Houston, Skylab 2. We've fixed anything. We got a pitch and roll program. Houston is now controlling. The thrust is going all engines. Boy, is that a smooth ride? 25 seconds, pitch and roll program started, Skylab now maneuvering to its proper flight path attitude. Mark 35 seconds, 1 nautical mile in altitude. Given a green, by range safety. Mark 45 seconds, cabin pressure relieving, adjusting now from sea level to a space environment. Mark 50 seconds, 2 nautical miles in altitude. The roll is complete, Houston. Roger. Stand by for mode one bravo. Mark, mode one bravo. Roger. Propellant dump is our RCS command. Roger. Mark, one minute 8 seconds, roll program complete. Skylab Houston, your feet wet. Roger, feet wet. That call up from CapCom, Dick Truly says Skylab now capable of water landing, one minute 20 seconds. Passing through the period of maximum aerodynamic pressure on the vehicle. One minute 25 seconds, 8 nautical miles in altitude. T-minus 1 minute 35 seconds, pass through Max Q. Skylab is still flying steady on all eight engines. KSC, 102 engine on, launch vehicle ranges are all off. Roger, stand by for mode one, Charlie. Mark, you're in mode one, Charlie. One, Charlie. Status checking mission control by flight director Phil Shaffer. A go, no go for staging. Given a go for staging. Houston, your go for staging. You're looking good. Mark, two minutes uh 6 seconds, 21 nautical miles in altitude, 20 nautical miles downrange. Velocity now reading 5,947 ft/s. Coming up now on staging and shutdown. Center engine shutdown, seven outboards out. I've got an S-4B light, Houston and a nice staging. Roger that. Mark, two minutes 35 seconds, staging on schedule. Conrad, White, Kerwin now right in on a good second stage engine. Coming up now on launch escape tower jettison, for big. Copy it, Houston on time. Roger, tower jettison, your mode two. Mark, 3 minutes 2 seconds, 47 nautical miles in altitude. The launch escape tower now ejected, reports Conrad as crew safety role no longer required. 3 minutes 12 seconds, 50 nautical miles in altitude, 84 nautical miles downrange, velocity now reading 8,200 ft/s. T-minus 25 seconds, the first stage in launch escape tower both falling away now, headed for their own splashdowns. Meanwhile, Conrad, White, Kerwin now at 58 nautical miles, Skylab continuing to climb, moving out well beyond the Earth's atmosphere. Okay, Houston, the computer looks good here. Roger, we concur. CMC's go. 3 minutes 58 seconds, 66 nautical miles in altitude, 140 nautical miles downrange. Houston, looking good, go at four minutes. And we're go here, Houston. Copy, 4 minutes 15 seconds. Now at 71 nautical miles in altitude, 167 nautical miles downrange. Skylab's onboard performance continues smooth, onboard reading show Conrad, White, Kerwin with their computer in program 11, the Earth orbit insertion program, ticking off their own altitude and velocity, velocity now reading 9,852 ft/s. Mark 4 minutes 40 seconds, 77 nautical miles in altitude, 199 nautical miles downrange. Flight director Phil Shaffer, pulsing his flight control team are looking good. Skylab Houston, your go at 5 minutes, the trajectory is right on the nominal. And we're go here, Houston, looks good in here. Roger. There you go. On the rendezvous checklist, gig out and load for 23, 22 with the docking angle. Skylab Houston, we're AOS at Goldstone, we got you for the next 16 minutes. Let me uh Give me the TV. they give you a brief description as you suspected solar wing 1 is 2, right? Yeah, correct. It's gone, completely off the bird. Solar wing 1 is in fact partially deployed and the reason that you've got different readings, that the metric between your three solar panels is there's a bulge of meteorite shield underneath it in the middle and it looks to be holding it down. I I think that we can take care of that with the Siva. Uh it looks, at first inspection uh like we ought to be able to get it out. The gold foil has turned considerably black in the sun. Roger, copy. So standard then go. The solar cell is clear. Hey, Houston. Go ahead. On the vent modules, all the covers are still intact. Roger. The the covers did not leave the vent modules on wing number one. Copy. Can power try to point this son of a turn from the Roger. Houston, are we too close or too far for you? I think you're real good, Pete, we can uh we can see that whole wing. Okay, and besides we have all four service model quad lights on from overheat. They're reading 200°. Roger. Roger. Roger. This thing is TV, that's too big for in here. Roger, we're looking at it. I assume you're pointing just about in the place where the meteoroid shield is underneath the wing, is that correct? trying to but my picture is turned inside out and backwards and that camera hangs up in here in the coach structure. Roger. Okay, Houston. It looks like the meteoroid shield at the upper vent panel on the side wing has wrapped around it just slightly. There we Okay. My guess is that our easiest thing to do is just go to the end and try and deploy it. Roger. Pete, from which side of the SAS is the meteoroid shield slightly wrapped around? Is it on the side of the main tunnel or the underside? Other side, Dick. Roger. Can you see a good TV picture or not? I haven't been able to get them one. I think it pointed, the spacecraft keeps drifting. I have a hard time getting the thing to Well, hanging there, Paul, it isn't real steady, but every now and then we're getting some pretty clear views and we can replay it. And Skyylab Houston, we think that's green Teflon on the underside of the meteoroid shield that you were probably coming in on just a minute ago. Yeah, that's what it is. Now, right by the scientific airlock, the aluminum the gold foil has curled up on the at the Well, plus next end of it. But I don't think that'll hinder any kind of a deployment attempt. Roger. Houston, request you go to peak light on the TV so we can see a little bit better down in the crevice. That's where I've been, Dave. Okay, fine. All right. I'm getting awful close to the discount antenna. That's about 5 ft, sitting outside the window there. And, and Pete, one question that I would like to ask you and that is you said you could see the butterfly hinge a while ago. Could you tell us the condition of it? Well, the butterfly hinge is underneath the SA swing all the way on the far side of it and it's up. Roger. Okay. Now, the the and the one thing the one thing that's bothering me though is that that if this was the wing that was down and locked and then they opened it, then it pulled that meteoroid shield as far as it did, it pulled it 18 to That's a hell of a good point. See, and that's where it it gets it's hanging up the solar panel right at the upper vent plate. That makes sense to you, Houston? The upper of the three vent plates, which is just below where the meteoroid shield starts, the top part of it starts, that part is wrapped on to the SAS beam by about 3 or 4 in. Roger, Pete, and I think you gave us a real good picture of that piece of metal just a second ago. So with this useful? Affirmative, sure are. Still got about 9 or minutes left in this pass. What time is it? Tell me tell me when daylight is tonight. 8:24. So, so CDR Houston, you still got 21 minutes of a daylight and it's at 8:26. Hopefully we will get a report on the stand up EVA from the crew. During this pass over Goldstone, they still are 21 minutes away from sunset on the spacecraft. We'll standby now for the initial call from CapCom up to the crew and see how the stand up EVA went. Skyylab Houston, we're AOS at Goldstone for 10 minutes. Maybe we ought to just No, let me let me trade tools, Joe. I didn't stick the search correctly. I got to get the tape off this I've got a cut off point here in a bad Skyylab Houston, we're AOS at Goldstone. I got my couch. Yeah, but Now, there's another piece further back to the right, isn't there? How are you doing, Joe? All right, got the one off, got the other one coming. Here's the going by. Hey, listen, we're running into the dark pretty fast. Skyylab Houston, we're AOS at Goldstone. How do you re Skyylab Houston, if you read, we're AOS at Goldstone. I was getting a point to your right. I'm going to just hand you Kind of hold my foot down there. You have to Hold the one foot, this way. Well, I can't hold the foot, but I can hold the knee. All right. That's Tell me where to go. Hand for that piece of strap around. Skyylab Houston, if you read, we're AOS at Goldstone. Okay. Skyylab Houston, how do you read? Can you get down a little more, Pete? What what No, not out, not out. Hey, that's what's doing it. That's one of them bridges poked in there like it's nailed in. Wait a minute, hold it. Don't go in any closer. Okay. I've got to get my goddamn tool out. Oh, shit. Skyylab Houston, how do you read? What's doing it, Pete? Are you ever going to Can you can you pry it with the tool? Stick it in there and bend up. That was just doing it. I mean, pry, you know. Push up. I don't have that much control over it, Pete. You got to hold on my legs, true. Yeah, one of them One of them's good. Skyylab Houston, we're at Goldstone, AOS for 5 minutes. Okay, Houston, how soon does sunset quick? Roger, we're 15 minutes from sunset right now. Mark. Okay, the little tiny strap we told you by the top vent, it's flanging around so hard that the screws in it just riveted it to the the to the to the SAS panel. We bolted as high as we could on the end of the SAS panel. We couldn't get it out right now. There's tension keeping on the side of the SAS panel, and Paul's trying to to break it loose, the the the the the little tiny strap, that getting in the half an inch wide, but man, is it riveted on. Roger, I understand, Pete, and uh I'll keep you advised about the time to sunset. We've right now, we've got about 4 minutes to LOS, and about 14 minutes and 15 seconds to sunset. Okay, uh I'm going to have to quit pretty quick. Pete? Yeah. I hate to say it, but we ain't going to do it with the tool we got. Don't worry about it. Get out of here. Back off here, so I can start maneuvering around this Where's the disk? Look, look over to your right. Joe, if you can just hold the end, and I'll take the two elements apart. Jim. Come apart. Must be that way. Okay. They're yours. Thank you. Skyylab Houston, we're 1-3 minutes to sunset. That's your 1-3 minutes to sunset, Houston. You didn't watch it, you're not going to stretch your switches, everything else, but that pole down out of there. Okay, Houston. The problem is the tools wouldn't do the job, and we're going to have to give up on it, but I really feel bad because it's just one little tiny old head pin strap, but boy did it rivet itself to the side of that thing. Hey, Dick. Roger. Go ahead. Hey, what it is is the piece of angle where the sections of meteoroid shield are bo it runs right down next to it. It's wrapped around it just below the uppermost uh vent module, and it's wrapped around it uh over the rivet line over a length of about two and a half feet, and that beam does not bend, and I can't budge that strap, that small little strap it's wrapped around it. Hey, where is the disc? Watch it. Watch it, Joe. Where is the ATM? To your right. You are clear to move directly to the right. Right. Okay. Let me get around it, start the hatch in. Can I roll to my right, Joe? Yeah. No, I know. Man, that was so frustrating to see such a little tiny thing hold that baby on there. Yeah. You got the Q turn? Yeah. Skyylab Houston, we're about 11 minutes and 15 seconds to sunset. We're going to see at the Vanguard. The light's uh The light is should all see any. Unstow lanyard, pull and close the hatch. I have to hang on to my bottom feet there again. Uh Shoot, wait a minute. Or else just let me hook them in. All right. I got one foot between two of my legs. Let me see if that works. Whoops, that hit me right in the head. That couple, well, wait a minute. Hey, got it. God dammit. Well, I'm sorry. I know you know you are. I realized that, but I I can't It's really hard with trying to fly. All right then. I close this one gun all. This is Skylab control. Had lost some signal from the Texas station. Still 14 minutes until acquisition by the tracking ship, Vanguard. Skylab 2 crew apparently unsuccessful in bending back the aluminum angle, which Pete Conrad described as running some 2 and 1/2 feet along the edge of the solar wing beam. And that the tools that were carried aboard were inadequate for removing this rather husky piece of angle. He was concerned somewhat about the remaining daylight time. Getting down now to about 9 minutes of daylight left on this revolution before the spacecraft crosses into darkness. Pass for any further comments from the crew on their success or lack thereof, in freeing the electrically, electrical generating solar cell wing. Had last contact over the Vanguard tracking station, the crew of of Skylab 2. They were having difficulty in redocking. They had made several attempts and were going down through the backup procedures for retracting and extending the probe. Several uh suggestions were made from the ground such as going back to four-jet maneuvering on the reaction control system thrusters, whereas they had been only on two-jet thrusting during the stand-up EVA, to prevent the RCS plume from striking the pilot as he stood in the hatch. That is the uh situation at the moment. The management people and flight controllers are discussing and uh considering the various alternatives to uh getting the a successful docking. Vanguard pass will uh last almost 8 minutes. And the next station after Vanguard will be Vanguard again, an hour and 38 minutes from now. Standby for the first call from spacecraft communicator to the crew of Skylab 2. Skylab Houston, Skylab Houston, through the Vanguard. How do you read? Yeah, we got a hard dock out of it. Hey, way to go. considerable applause here on the report of hard docking. latches. We got a tunnel integrity check and work right now. Hey, way to go. Good job. You You could tell sim proof that we really sure like to get some day out of this thing after a while. You can bet your life I will, Pete. We're slightly, uh, quite yes. switch configuration, uh, with the, uh, notes that you gave me somewhere back, uh, day before yesterday, it seems like. Roger, uh, standby for one on the quest and check, please, uh, Pete. That's affirmative, Pete. Okay, look, uh, we've had our problems and you've had your problems. So, uh, we'll, probably, press on, to get this thing, completely configured, uh, according to the checklist that you gave us. We have eaten dinner. So, whenever we get, this thing done, we'll, hit the bed, and, uh, press on, first thing in the morning. I would, because of the docking, like to go ahead, if we've got a good tunnel, and verify all latches. It sounded to me, like we got at least 10, uh, but I would like to verify them, and, then we'll, put the hatch back in and go to bed. You concur with that? Stand by one. Okay, check the LTA. Hey, go ahead. Okay. Uh, a fairly quick inspection of OWS appears to be in good shape. It feels a little bit warm, as you might expect, from the three to five minutes I spent in there. I would say subjectively, it's about, uh, it's a dry heat. I guess that feels like, uh, like 90 to 100 degrees in the desert. And I could feel heat radiating from all around me, but in the short time I was in there, I never felt uncomfortable. I had the soft shirt and the gloves on, and nothing I touched even felt hot to me. Roger, copy. It's Paul Weitz, giving his first assessment. SPT, are you ready for those system tests? That's affirmative. Okay, I'm going to give you 10,000. Please acknowledge. They tell you you got to go on the first one. Okay, here comes 20,000. And hey Paul, did you notice the duct flows when you turn the fans on downstairs? Let's see, when I went through the numbers, they came up to what I expected to be normal. Okay, copy, and you have a go on the second one, uh, Joe. Okay, and, uh, did I get confused? Hey, only turned on eight fans over there. You did one only eight fans turned on for this, right? And SPT you got a you got to go on the third one. We want all 12 fans but that's okay. Alright. You heard Paul Paul Weitz's first assessment of the workshop. Okay Houston, we had a clean deployment as far as the rod's clearing and everything. But it it's not laid out the way it's supposed to be and we've got pictures of it on the VTR for you. Now right at the moment, we've operated the rod in and out a couple of inches short stroke wise, rapidly, which has improved the deployment. But the problem seems to be as the folds in the material have taken too much of a set. And, uh, it is more fully deployed in the front across the upper skirt. But there are two folds emanating from the set three folds emanating from the center deployment plate. One to each side and one towards the base skirt. So in effect, we have a trapezoid. Which is, uh, the smallest dimension towards the base of the vehicle. Now, that's as far as we've gone. We're open for suggestion. I have the feeling that if we pulled it all away in close to the vehicle that it would touch. In the back and along the sides. It might possibly help the folds out of the material and that we then push it back out again and gently oscillate it in and out, which we have an advance that seems to improve it. But but I think we've gotten about as much out of it as we're going to get. My guess is we only got about 12 to 14 feet at the back end. And perhaps 18 to 20 at the front end, and I don't even know that the dimensions are the same. Okay, the dimensions are supposed to be 22 by 24, Pete. Well, it's possible that we've got it completely backward, and we could turn it 180 degrees. That's uh, that would you, you know, which way do you want, which direction do you want the 24? 24 is uh the length of it. 22 feet should be the width. Okay. And it is in fact a square. I mean, a rectangle. Yeah. Alright Houston, it's a rectangle. Roger, it's rectangular and the, uh, center of it, uh, the, uh, hub is off-center on the rectangle. There should be the poles that are pointed back toward the ATM should be the ones that have a a length without fabric on them. That's the way it is. Okay, uh, the, we'll leap right into it. Here are the questions prepared by the newsmen, and the order submitted. For Commander Conrad. What EVA plans are you considering now for freeing the stuck solar panel, and when? Well, of course I can't do, uh, anything without consultation with the ground. And my understanding is that they're looking at some possible things that we could do. And or if we can't, why, I'm sure that the other flight with the proper tools, now that we know exactly what's hanging it up, uh, can get that solar panel out, even if we don't. And, uh, seeing we're only 28 days, our fuel cells will last 18 or 19 days, and we can go on reduced power after EVA, which is day 26 for, uh, the activation, which is day 27, 28, 29, so we really wouldn't lose too much without it. Uh, however, I think that we could get it out with the right tools, and, uh, we spoke to, uh, to the ground, and they are looking at, at, various ways of getting it out down in the tank right now. Roger, for Dr. Kerwin. Would you please compare moving around in the workshop with the way you were able to do it in the simulator? And do you have any sense of up and down? Okay, time and again in the last two days, we've told each other that except for the view out the windows, it's just like the wind-sheet trainer. And, uh, in many ways, that's true. The training was excellent. You do have a sense of up and down. And you can change it in 10 seconds whenever it's convenient to you. Uh, if you go from one module into the other and you're upside down, you say to your brain, "Brain, I want that way to be up," and your brain says "Okay," and that way is up. And, uh, if you want to rotate 90 degrees and work that way, your brain will follow you. Uh, this, I don't think it's vestibular at all. I think it's strictly eyeballs and brain, and it's remarkably efficient. Roger, for Paul Weitz, you seem to be having trouble with some of the food, like the asparagus and apricots. Would you explain why? I don't have a trouble with it, many are just more than I'm used to eating. Roger, for Commander Conrad, based on an early assessment, do you now feel you can complete a full 28 day mission and carry out most of your experiments? You betcha. Okay. If you, if you think it's a good idea, uh, or can do it, we'd like to get the TV out the window. If not, we would like you to explain some of the things in the wardroom to us. While you're doing that, uh, for Dr. Kerwin, is the parasol smoothing out as expected in the sunlight? Can't see it from in here, sorry. Hey, this is really pretty out the window. I'm glad you asked about that. We're just passing over Hudson Bay. There's a very clear day today. We can see Vancouver, and I can see the globe with the islands, and Mont Rainier. Okay, we see the Pacific Coast there. For Paul Weitz, you have been working on the probe and drogue today. Have you found anything that might cause you a problem with undocking? We have not had a chance to get to the probe and drogue yet. For Dr. Kerwin, why were you the only crew member who didn't swear when the first docking attempt failed? I was too stupid to realize the serious implications of our problem. Uh, this one's for anyone. Have you had any trouble with the toilet facilities? Uh, no. We We took us a while to figure out how you really got to work on a super duper system in the workshop, and, but that was a little mechanical problem. We got that squared away and we've had no problem. For Commander Conrad, for listeners around the world, could you tell us some benefits that Skylab will bring to mankind? Well, the first thing that's obvious to me, is that man can work up here. And, uh, surprisingly enough, in the workshop, we are doing, uh, what I consider a lot more physical task that is exercising our muscles than I thought we would, which has been one of the problems that I thought we might have. And, uh, as you might expect, I think all of us are a little stiff from using muscles that we didn't expect to use, and that we don't use on the ground to hold ourselves in the proper way to use the tools and everything. There's no doubt in my mind that, uh, all the earth resources I think that we've talked about are going to work. I've just been eyeballing out the window here 237 nautical miles, and we do pretty good with the Mark 1 eyeball. And I think with our sensors that, uh, we'll be able to do the tasks that we set out to do, especially the visual tracking. And, uh, of course, we haven't been able to fire up the solar telescope yet, but I have, uh, understanding from the ground check out that it all appears to be in good order, and I'm sure that we're going to bring good data back from that. So, I I'm looking forward to a successful flight of Skylab of 28 days. Uh, I think we overcame our problems, and I think we will improve, uh, uh on what we have if we get that other solar panel out. And, uh, right now we're in good shape. I think the 28 days and complete the flight. And the biggest thing though is the fact that we've adapted so rapidly in this big gang, none of us have had any motion sickness, and uh, we're remarked each other on many occasions how much it seems to be like the simulator, except with the absence of gravity. Roger, there's a very good, uh, show. Pete, we're just about to LOS. Uh, if you've got any last few things you want to say here before we lose com. Well, one nice thing I'd like to say is I sure appreciate all the hard work everybody put into this thing, because the vehicle is in excellent shape, was clean as a whistle inside. Everything as so far is, uh, working to, what we expected and, uh, far as the flight control team and the people that put it together, they did an outstanding job. So I guess the rest of it's up to us. On behalf of them then, we thank you. And you're behind it at an angle, see? Yeah. Cool. No, you're in front of it. Now you're behind it. You're still behind it. That's the place to work, but you're still behind it. If you could just come over right there, behind it. And now you're in front of it again. What did you do with it? You're still in front of it. Yeah, you've got to go back behind it again. Wait. No, pull towards me. No, you're not on it, right? Well, it's a I'll tell you when you think you're on pull towards me and that ought to pull it right to the base. No, you're not on it yet. It's pretty thick, Rusty. That's the trouble. That trouble, right. But I understand that. Is there any other debris you can grab out there? That's the other thing he's working on. That's the trouble the damn jaws aren't far enough open. Try closing it, Rusty. Right now. Hold it. Didn't do it? No. Mostly because it pulled off while we were closing it. The only other thing we can think of, Joe, is to make sure that they're fully open before you try to get it over. That will give you the maximum chance. We're going to take it back right now and reset it. Probably going to take it back. Let me pull on it, see if it will reset it. You got a piece of wire that time, anyway, you were on it. Yeah, I know it. Yeah, I'm sure I am. Let's wonder if we could can we tell if it's fully open? It looks fully open. Okay. It sure does. Now. I still got the pull rope. Okay. Hey, let's go back to work. Yeah. Take your time. Uh okay, mostly because I'm in position and I don't want to. I'll tell you. I'll try it from the up now. Let me see. You know, the best chance you have is as close to the base of this S panel, that's where it's the narrowest. Is that right? But there's a wire bundle there. Yeah, I got the pole. Okay. All right now. Yeah. The pole's on your arm. Okay. The way they said they were doing it. Okay, Pete, just for information. Uh you still got plenty of time here to sunset. You got uh 29 minutes left. Yeah, we're we're not sweating anything. I tell you, Rusty, the the strap is is oriented in in the Worst Joe, I Wait a minute, drop. Wait. Let me get the get the pull walk. Yeah. The strap happens to be oriented in such a manner even though it's not wide, it's presenting its widest side to the cutters. I I can't see, Joe. I I'll I'll try. Yeah. Yeah. That should check the positions. If I can be and just I'm not too bad shape to steer this pole myself. Keep uh clear. Now I got a hand on this on the gun myself to steady it. How's that? I can steady it put it in the left, right. You do the four and aft. Let me do the left, right. You got to steer me because I can't see. Yeah, wait a minute, I got a little torque on my body that's holding that from coming the way it wants. Well, that may be the key. No, it is, you. Hey, Rusty, it looks like if we ever get it on the strap, we got it made, because I can see the rest of the meteorite panel. And most of it's underneath and looks relatively clear. Okay. Uh if you can hook on anything at all out there, I understand it. Yeah, yeah, it's not oriented to do that, and we understand. Okay. And for your information, uh we're about 30 seconds from LOS, and uh you got 26 and a half minutes of day left. And we're going to pick up a vanguard at 5:04. That will be after dark. Where are you going, Joe? I can't stabilize myself if I go. I just can't do it. Yeah, rest. I'll tell you what, Joe. Where's your umbilical with respect to mine? I see it. Where are all of you? Wait. Let me try straddling it like this. Wait, we're getting umbilicals and everything else all twisted over here. Hey, I think this may do it. Right here. It's been 2 hours and 26 minutes since the hatch has been opened. Crew is in daylight now. 54 minutes uh of daylight remaining. We uh we don't know what has been transpiring, naturally, and won't know until we get to Goldstone. Uh during the uh height of the activity, in an attempt to uh secure the cable cutters, uh Joe Kerwin's uh heart rate did reach a high of 150. And the flight surgeon's uh say his metabolic workload peaked at uh 2,000 British thermal units. They would uh not like to see a sustained period at at those rates or at those workloads. However, they believe he uh has had uh sufficient time to uh to rest, particularly during the darkness, the night side of this pass. 13 minutes away from AOS. Now we'll come back up a couple of minutes uh prior to uh Goldstone acquisition at 17 hours 50 minutes GMT. This is Skylab control. We'll standby uh for uh first transmission and we are configured on the ground to receive television, if the crew is sending. You are now free and clear. They're all accordion. Except for the mortgage, yeah, you see them? Yeah, they're all accordion and about evenly, too. Well, the two outboard ones are further out to the very inboard one. Let's do a use in a finger gyro before we go. Yeah. Talking about stuff. Hello there. Uh we're listening to you. You're coming in loud and clear, and we see SAS amps. Yeah, well, let's take care of our C gyro. We ain't got any of them. Okay. We're looking at it. All right, I'll tell you where we are. We got the winny out in lock. The outboard panel and the middle panel are both about the same amount and the third one is not quite. Now Joe, I think before you come in, you'd better take a look up there and make sure that third one is clearing all the debris. That are fixing me. All right. I'll see that myself right here. If I can get there from here. Okay, uh Pete, we want to understand uh that the outboard two were uh almost all the way out last time you looked and the inboard ones. No. No. No. No. They are further out than the inboard one, but none of them are out very far. All of them are accordion and evenly and the angles between them look to me like about 20 degrees, Rusty. So they've got a good long way to go. Okay, are they still moving? And how long ago did you get them out? Got them out about five or eight minutes ago and they're not still moving. Can lick to me like they're moving at all. If they are, it's really super slow. I don't think they're moving. No doubt in my mind there. They're staying right where they are for the moment. You guys are going to bake them out, right? Uh that's the plan. Okay. I think we're going to have to do that. That's what I'm saying. I'm trying to Go on down to the fan beat and let's get going. And I want Okay. Excuse me. Okay, uh Pete, can you tell us uh where you are? Are you still out near the SAS wing, or what's your status there? I'm uh they I'm going headed for this fan fast. Right this instant, I'm almost I'm in the fast and I'm getting ready to pull and all by umbilical, Joe, can you see my umbilical? Just a second, I was doing a 360 to get mine and yours. Yeah, well I'm trying to Let me get in here with my umbilical in the right place. I think I want to do it that way, right? Okay, when you get a chance, give us a status of the bet. Where is it and how tight have you got it, etcetera? The bet is between the panel and if you think it's rigged, Rusty, and it's as tight as I can get it, which isn't terribly tight because of the characteristics of the cleat. And it's also not terribly secure because I don't have anything to secure it with. But it'll stay there as long as nothing hits it, I guess. Okay. Would you describe it as uh having no slack in it, but not very much tension? That's correct. Okay. That's exactly what we wanted. Thank you. Oh, I knew that all the time. Hey, Rusty, you're right. Now we got another condensate tank down the green light. I'm going to go through the dump procedure again. Okay, and we would like you to leave it in the dump procedure that is. We'd like you to leave it on the vacuum on that side. That's all it was when the light came on. Okay. Thank you. Yeah, Joe. Hold it just a minute. Yeah. Okay, Pete, just out of curiosity, did you cut through the strap or pry it? Or what did you do with it? Cut through it. And I'll tell you what, let me tell you what it was. It it was where the shroud shield had torn off of both sides of the angle, so that we had two angles and the doubler with the bolts in it. With no flange. Okay. Understand, you had both flanges of the 7075 angle. No. Yeah, well, we had half of one flange, half the other flange, the doubler in the middle with the bolts. And the bolts in fact, the long end, in fact, there was one little lousy single bolt in the bitter end, and it driven far enough through through to hold the strap and everything else was free. Okay. We got one minute to LOS here at uh Texas, and we'll be picking up Vanguard at 2:80, in about 10 minutes from now. This is Skylab control. 18 hours 18 minutes Greenwich mean time. Uh we've had loss of signal at Texas. Uh tracking ship Vanguard will acquire in uh about 9 minutes. The solar array wing is out. The bolt cutters uh were successful uh in severing that aluminum strap. The three solar cell panels on the uh on the wing not fully deployed. The the inboard one uh less deployed than the other two. The plan is uh to initiate a uh maneuver with the spacecraft 45 degree pitch maneuver to get that wing uh more into the sun, uh warm it up and it's believed uh that the panels will then deploy uh fully or at least more fully. The uh dampers on those panels are uh thought to be frozen because of the very low temperatures they've seen. Uh the Eagle uh saw amps coming from that wing uh as soon as he got data on this pass. We we don't have a reading yet on uh how much uh power we're receiving. We'll try to get that as soon as we can. We'll come back up again uh just prior to the Vanguard uh pass. Well, you can have the command module tonight. Roger, copy. You're both listening up? Yeah. Okay, I got a message I'd like to read to you. It's to Skylab Commander Conrad. "On behalf of the American people, I congratulate and commend you and your crew on the successful effort to repair the world's first true space station. In the two weeks since you left the earth, you have more than fulfilled the prophecy of your parting words, 'We can fix anything.' All of us now have new courage that man can work in space to control his environment, improve his circumstances, and exert his will even as he does on earth." Signed, Richard Nixon. Well, thank you from all of us. Have another one is to Skylab Commander Conrad. "My warmest personal congratulations to you and your crew. We're all proud of your team, the NASA team, and the whole aerospace team. I know I can speak for citizens everywhere when I offer you our heartfelt best wishes for the rest of your mission." Signed, Spiro T. Agnew. Well, thanks again. And we're just about the LOS. Guam will be coming up at uh 2:2. Control Greenwich mean time 00 28 minutes. We've had lost the signal over the Guam island tracking station. Flight director Neil Hutchinson, called attention to his flight controllers. We have 100% on all sections of the solar panel number one deployed today by the Commander Pete Conrad and science pilot Joseph Kerwin. If all all PCGs, the power conditioning groups of the uh airlock module through uh through which the power from the solar array is uh passed through, if all these PCGs come online, we will have an additional 2,000 watts to the uh approximately 4,000 already being produced as a result of the Apollo Telescope Mount solar array which was deployed on the first day of launch and has been providing the necessary power since the crew arrived at the Skylab space station on May 25th. This is Skylab Control at 15 hours Greenwich mean time. During Skylab's pass over the United States on the last revolution, there was a conversation between the President of the United States and the Skylab crew. Hello. Hello there, how are you? Fine. Is this Pete Conrad? Yes, sir. Good nice to talk to you. And nice to talk to you again, and Commander Kerwin and Commander Weitz are there with you, right? Yes, sir. Well, I just want you to know that uh uh everybody here has been following what you've been doing. And I guess the way I could summarize this project is that it proves that that uh man still matters. Uh with all the with all the uh technical uh machines and so forth that you had to work with, it proved that when uh uh there were difficulties that the ingenuity of men in space is what really mattered. And you've really made us all very proud with the way you handle some difficult uh problems in this project. Thank you, sir. And California at that time and after you've splashed down, I hope to welcome the three of you perhaps uh when you maybe you can come up to San Clemente and we can say hello. Wonderful, sir, sitting here talking to you right now uh coming up on the coast of California, looking out the window, a full moon. Is that right? Uh let me also say this that this is Father's Day. I understand each of you is a father, so congratulations. Thank you, sir. All right, and uh we'll look forward to seeing you after you get back. Yes, sir, thank you very much for the call. Thank you, Pete. Bye. In one minute to LOS. We'll be coming up on Honeysuckle at 5 6. And in about uh 2 minutes from now, at 7 22, you will become the new world champs for longest space flight. Okay, thanks for the and I think we're all up to the BMD happily getting ready. Roger, copy. This is Skylab Control at 7 hours 22 minutes Greenwich mean time. Skylab uh has now uh equaled and is just about uh a few more seconds will exceed the uh Soyuz 11 record for manned space flight. As you heard, the Capcom Hartsfield informed the crew that they will be the new world champion for a manned space flight. Duration of the Soyuz 11 mission was 570 hours 22 minutes. The Skylab 2 crew has now exceeded that mark. And the Commander Pete Conrad has uh now logged 1,077 hours and 10 minutes of space flight. Still there. Uh affirmative. About that uh have a Tom Stafford, of course, the Deke relayed to the Russian cosmonauts our respects, and it has points our slight uh to them and their comrades, and uh we wish them good luck for much in the future. Okay, sure will. Thanks. Thank you. During this pass, uh Skylab Commander Pete Conrad requested that uh Johnson Space Center Director of Flight Crew Operations, Deke Slayton or the Deputy Director, Brigadier General Thomas Stafford contact the uh Cosmonaut core in the Soviet Union pass on uh the Skylab 2's respect to the cosmonauts and their wishes uh to them for good luck in the future. This being on the occasion of uh the Skylab crew exceeding the record of Soyuz 11 of 570 hours 22 minutes. The uh that Soyuz 11 mission ended tragically uh when because of a improperly secured hatch in the re-entry module. The three cosmonauts uh died during re-entry. Skylab Houston, for the CDR. We have uplinked again the S009 malfunction message that uh is in the teleprinter now. And uh I have a message here that I'd like to read to all three of you guys, uh if you're in a listening mode. It reads, "To the crew of the Skylab space station, Charles Conrad, Joseph Kerwin, Paul Weitz: We sincerely congratulate the courageous crew of the Skylab astronauts on your achievements in conquering outer space, wishing you successful completion of your program and safe return to our beautiful blue planet Earth." On behalf of the team of Soviet astronauts, signed Vladimir Shatalov. That's a very nice. We appreciate it very much. Roger, Pete. Thank you much, we'll pass it on. A message was sent up to the crew late yesterday by teleprinter with procedures for leaving the orbital workshop and for entering the command module. Under the title "Going Home," G-O-I-N home, this is the message. The procedure for leaving OWS: 1, sweep out OWS; 2, turn refrigerator on low; 3, turn out lights; 4, terminate paper delivery, teleprinter paper that is; 5, set air conditioning thermostat; 6, inform any nearby neighbors that you will be gone at least a month; 7, put garbage out and pray for a pickup; 8, pack carefully, be sure to include clean pairs of socks; 9, put the cat out. Procedure for entering the CSM: 1, clean feet before entering CSM; 2, sit down and fasten seat belts; 3, adjust rearview mirror; 4, release emergency brake; 5, exercise particular care in backing up; and 6, drive carefully and go straight home. We'll stand by now for acquisition at Goldstone and the start of the in-space news conference. Is the pilot ready to answer a few questions this morning? Yes. Okay, the first one is for Dr. Joe Kerwin, the first medical doctor in space. As far as you can tell now, what effects have you noticed from weightlessness? Does there appear to be a leveling off effect as far as zero G changes are concerned? Well, right now, the score is man 3, space nothing, but it's a little early in the game. Uh there appears to be a leveling off. In fact, there appears to be little or no change in uh in some of our experiments and it appears to be some change in the others, possibly still continuing. I'd just like to wait until we get down and look at the data before we make any rash decisions, but I'm very encouraged. Okay, for Commander Conrad, please give us your assessment of the mission and what you feel have been your most significant accomplishments, especially from a scientific viewpoint. Well, I guess our most uh significant accomplishment uh from the point of view of where we started this mission on May the 15th was uh that we have now, I would say, a 90% up-operating space station to turn over to the SL 3 crew. And probably even more significant in my mind, and also to go along with what the doctor said, but I'll have to wait until people on the ground look at our our physical data, I believe that uh man is once again proved that he can operate efficiently uh well and happily in space in the operation of a space station. Now, I think that also contributes to scientific unit of the thing. I have no idea what they're going to find on our data. We did get a flare, we've operated the ATM, we've operated all the experiment to the best of our ability. All of them, we didn't do perfectly, but uh everybody has a learning curve. I think we proved the timeline, and only time will tell the exact scientific return from the experiments that we perform. For Commander Conrad, do you notice any difference in your physical condition compared with the end of your previous missions? Well, again, the doctors may make me eat my words, but I have the feeling at the end of 28 days that I'm going to be in better physical shape than when I came back from any one of my three previous flights except maybe Gemini 11, which was too short duration. I'm certainly right now feeling one heck of a lot better than I did at the end of eight days in Gemini 5, just say before retro firing Gemini 5, because that was complete confinement. And um that I now have a 28 and a half inch waist, and I started out with about a 30. Uh and I've lost a little around the legs. Uh and I don't believe I've lost any in my arms. I I think that uh with the bike up here, which I found that I absolutely have to ride every day if I want to ride uh to get exercise, I think I'm in as good shape right now almost as when I left on May 15th. My May 25th. For anyone, what is the biggest problem you think that Captain Bean and his crew will will face on their 56-day flight? I uh we've been trying to kick around and I can't put my finger, I don't think any of us can put our finger on anything. I think the fact that uh Captain Bean and his crew are three individuals difference in the three of us uh perhaps what we like they won't like, and perhaps what we didn't like they will like. And I wouldn't uh hesitate to make any uh guesses for Captain Bean or what he's going to like or dislike up here or his crew. All right, Roge. Uh that was the last question. We got about uh four minutes left here uh. You got any last comments you want to make? Yeah, I'd like to uh say publicly how much we appreciated the support from the ground, especially with all the last minute things that were done to uh put the space craft back in shape. All the EVA works. And uh although we laughed and did it about banging TBMs with hammers and so forth, it uh it all worked, and the support from the ground has been fantastic. Second that strongly. What I was going to say was medically and subjectively, what's been such a pleasant big surprise to me is how nice we feel. We're able to get up in the morning, eat breakfast, and do a day's work. Uh I'm tremendously encouraged about the future of long duration flight for for that particular reason. You said that. See on the ground. Okay, and thanks for the nice words. Skylab, Houston, everybody around here has looked at the bird and it looks real good. You're go for SPS 2 uh deorbit and uh entry. There's an a right out there that will be uh talking to you after the blackout, so we'll see you there. Have fun. Roger, Roger. We still got about two more minutes left here, advance guard, and I'm standing by. We're worried about this 90 miles, we're at right now or close to it. It looks like we're going to run into the ground. It looks so low. Roger. Got a lovely tour down the Andes Mountains. There. Going on lunch break, people wouldn't let us look out the window, so this is our first look down this long. Roger, I know you guys have been in sunlight for a long time and uh you're going to miss uh darkness by just about 10 minutes, because uh the Fido tells me you're never going to get into it, but uh you're going to the place in a your landing spot in the Pacific is going to be just after dawn when you splash down. Roger. Skylab, Houston, through our R1. How do you read? Houston, everything's okay, round of 40,000. Very good, Pete. You're in the group. And it's ready 2477 minus 2707. Roger. Guidance reports the computer is reading right on for landing. Getting main chutes within the next few seconds. We're on main chutes now. We got very all we totally Skylabs on the mains and everything's okay. Three hilo spots on mains also. 055214. Skylab, Skylab, this is recovery, how you and doing up there over? Skylab, reading you loud and clear with 4 and 0, everything's fine. Skylab, Skylab, this is recovery, how you doing up there over? Recovery, recovery, Skylab, how do you read? Uh, this is recovery, Al's fair, how you doing? Right here we're doing great with three good mains. All right, Roger, looking good from here, about three miles to the northwest here. Okay, we're at 4500 feet, everything's good. Recovery, the recovery, request your computer read out over. Okay, recovery, Roger. Skylab is ready, can you give us a computer read out over? Skylab, reading you. All right, do you have a computer read out, over? Yes, sir. 24.78 127.06 Recovery, I've got your read out. Roger, out. Recovery, we have a visual below the overcast about that 100 at uh 05006,000, 500 up. Recovery, Skylab, the skull is down and looks like stable, over. Roger. Splash time 13 49 48 Greenwich Mean Time. Hello recovery, Skylab, do you read? Uh, recovery, read you loud and clear. How's it going? Okay, everybody's in super shape. All right, it's great, welcome back. Thank you. That the deal of the day, Mr. Floyd. That kind of rogue, can you read the, tell them Skylab over. Uh recovery uh that kind of rogue request to repeat over. All right, SkyLab report. Uh, everyone's in super shape. Super shape, over. They're going to climb out. And what we thought was going to be a 15 or 20-minute interlude uh, it's going to be at all. And now, on the Command Module hatch, out comes, he Conrad, commander of Skylab 2, back from a successful 28 days in space and the band of the Tychon, while he strikes up anchors away, saluting the three American astronauts, all naval officers. They begin their walk. Dr. Kirwin, appearing a bit unsteady there. 28 days of weightlessness, back into Earth's gravity under an hour. A bit shaky, but walking, under his own power, to the Skylab mobile laboratories, set up in the hangar bay of the Tychon, where they'll immediately begin what uh, will be six hours of medical tests and evaluations for this first day back on Earth. And the beginning of uh several days of extensive medical evaluations. This is Skylab Control here in the mission control center, cigars are being lit. A lot of hands being shaken, backs being patted, and on the big forward screen, a replica of the Skylab crew patch and these words, Skylab 1/2, mission accomplished. A tribute to the combined abilities of NASA and all support contractors, who surmounted problems to begin a new era of scientific achievement.