Skylab Technical Crew Debriefing 1973

This NASA Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center release collects excerpts from the Skylab 1/2, 1/3 and 1/4 technical crew debriefings, dated June 30, 1973, October 4, 1973 and February 22, 1974. The Skylab 2 crew describe light flashes they saw with their eyes closed and link some of them to cosmic particles. The Skylab 3 crew describe a bright reddish, rotating object that they tracked for about 10 minutes in an orbit close to their own and ask to have it identified. The Skylab 4 crew report lights outside that they took to be Skylab debris or other satellites.

From the source: Release of 2026-05-08 Launched on May 14, 1973, Skylab was the United States’ first laboratory in space. From 1973 to 1974, the station was visited by three crews. This document contains excerpts from all three crews to visit the station. In the first excerpt taken from Skylab 1/2 [first crew] Technical Debriefing from June 30, 1973, highlights crew observations of light flashes. The second excerpt taken from Skylab 1/3 Technical Crew Debriefing from October 4, 1973, highlights two observations—a satellite in similar orbit and another object with a “reddish hue to it.” The final excerpt taken from the Skylab 1/4 Technical Crew Debriefing from February 22, 1974, highlights an observation of flashing lights outside Skylab. • Skylab 2 crew observation: o Page 23-20. [Science Pilot for Skylab 2, Joesph Kerwin] “We saw light flashes. I think all of us saw them. I saw them most often when I was in the sack at night with my eyes closed but awake naturally. They tended to wax and wane in frequency.” • Skylab 3 crew observations: o Page 7-4. [Science Pilot for Skylab 3, Owen Garriott] “We saw that satellite about a week before splashdown. That was one of the most unusual things that we saw and I guess Jack [Lousma] noticed it looking out the window. This bright reddish object was out there and we tracked it for about 5 or 10 minutes. It was obviously a satellite in a very similar orbit to our own.” o Page 20-1. [Science Pilot for Skylab 3, Owen Garriott] “Jack [Lousma] first noticed this rather large red star out the wardroom window. Upon close examination, it was much brighter than Jupiter or any of the other planets. It had a reddish hue to it, even though it was well above the horizon.” • Skylab 4 crew observation o Page 7-8. [Commander for Skylab 4, Gerald P. Carr] “One other area of unusual events that we reported on the dump tapes was that on occasion we saw some lights flashing outside with very a definite motion relative to ours. We presumed that they were other pieces of Skylab, or possibly other satellites.”

BEAN
LOUSMA
GARRIOTT
I did too. The sack would move over in the corner.
Things we saw out the window.
For example, we saw that satellite about a week before splash
down. That was one of the most unusual things that we saw
and I guess Jack noticed it looking out the window. This
bright reddish object was out there and we tracked it for
about 5 or 10 minutes. It was obviously a satellite in a very
similar orbit to our own. It was rotating and had a period
of almost exactly 10 seconds because you could see the bright
ness vary with that period. We followed it until sunset and
it went out of sunlight just about 5 to 7 seconds after we
did. It held its position nearly the same, in the wardroom
window for that 10-minute interval although we could see it
drift in relative positions slightly, maybe 10 to - 20 degrees
during the course of that 10-minute interval. It was reddish
in color even when we were well above the horizon. As we
approached sunset, it turned more reddish, presumably because
. of the sunlight change. What satellite it was and how it
happened to end up in such a similar orbit, no one ever explained
to us. And I would like to hear a few words from someone about
that satellite.
7-4