Skylab 4 PAO Mission Commentary 15 of 32

SL-IV MCI400/I
Time: 21:51 CST, 42:03:51 GMT

12/26/73
PA0 Skylab Control, Greenwich mean time

3 hours 51 minutes. Acquisition coming through Ascension
in 40 seconds. The crew will be bid good night here at
the close of the Ascension pass by CAP COMM Dick Truly, as
Skylab IV space station is now in its 3,271st revolution.
The close of a day for the crew of Skylab-IV, their 41st
day in orbit - in orbit.
CC Skylab, Houston, we're AOS Canary for
10-1/2 minutes.
CDR Roger, Dick.
CC Rog, Jerry. And Bill if you still got
your detail pad for tomorrow handy I've got one change to
it - one addition to it.
PLT Stand by just a second.
CC Okay.
PLT Okay, Dick, go.
CC Okay, on the - on the Flight Plan there's
an entry in your column, that says SO73 PR-I. What I'd like
to do is at a time of 13:50 on your details have you jot
down a little note there that says when you get ready to
do SO73 prep i, you need to look at the SPTIs S073 pad
for the camera in - and set-up information. That pad is not
on board yet, but he has the operate pad and the prep information
is on that: his pad.
PLT Okay, I got that Dick.
CC Okay, Bill, thank you very much. And
incidentally, you asked the question the other day on the
dump tapes that I_d like to answer by saying, that it's perfectly
okay to use the wet wipes in the head that you asked
about.
PLT Thank you.
CC Roger.
CDR Houston, CDR.
CC Go ahead, Jer.
CDR Dick, I'm looking at some new HH sites
here and one they point out is HHI24 Alfa, Pikelot Island.
I get the impression that it's a very small island. And
there's an awful lot of small islands in the Carolines.
I wonder if we could have the folks down there teleprinter
us up a little picture of the shape of the island and the
reef. And it - I think it will help us find it.
CC Okay, Jerry, wh let us spend some
time seeing if we can fix up some kind of aid that_ll
let you find one.
CDR Okayp great. Maybe make the island
out of l's, and the R - reefs out of R's or something llke
that.
SL-IV MC1400/2
Time: 21:51 CST, 42:03:51 GMT
12/26/73
CC I'm sorry Jer, you were cut out. Say

that last question again.
CDR Roger, I said maybe they could do
something like make the island out l's_ and the reefs out
of R's or something like that.
CC Okay, we'll try.
CC Skylab_ Houston, we're i minute to
LOS for the last pass of the evening here at Ascension.
We'll give you a call tomorrow morning at 12:00 Zulu through
the Vanguard. The next station pass in the morning is a
little over an hour after that that one, so it might be a
real good idea this evening if you set your portable timers as
a backup to the wake-up call. You guys have a very good
night's sleep and we'll see you in the morning.
CDR Okay, Dick_ good night.
CC Good night.
SPT Thank you Dick, good night.
CC Good night Ed.
PLT Good nlght_ Dick.
CC Good night, William.
SPT (Garble) all you purples.
CC Roger, good night to you. See you later.
PAO Skylab Control, Greenwich mean time 4
hours 2 minutes. Day's end for Skylab-IV came tonight
at 10:02 as the spacecraft lost acquisition with Ascension.
The end of the day, mission day 41, ended for the crew
following a leisurely day resting up from their busy
Christmas day of spacecraft repairs and picture taking of
the Comet Kohoutek. The crew will awake tomorrow, Thursday,
December 27th_ at 6 a.m. central standard time, to a busy
day, most of which will be devoted to manned observations
of the Sun. Nearly_ 1/3 of the 23 science collecting hours
scheduled for tomorrow are to be devoted to the Sun. Pilot
Bill Pogue and Science Pilot Ed Gibson are again subjects
of a pair of medical experiments, designed to assess the
cardiovascular heart and circulatory systems of the
astronauts_ as well as measure their ability to perform
fixed workloads on a bicycle ergometer. The crew also
has the opportunity tomorrow to take photos out the wardroom
window of more than a half of dozen ground targets, including
drought areas in Mall, ocean currents throughout the world
and the Afar triangle, in east Afrlca_ to aid in better
understanding continental drift processes. The crew had a
relaxing day, The crew health status is excellent according
to Dr. Gerald Rordinsky. The Public Affairs console will close
at this time and re-open tomorrow December 27th at 6 a.m. central
standard time.
END OF TAPE
SL-IV MC-1401/I
Time: 05:57 CST 42:11:57 GMT
12/27/73
PAO Good morning, this is Skylab Control at

ii hours 57 minutes Greenwich mean time. Crew wake-up today
scheduled at the Vanguard tracking ship. Skylab about 45 seconds
away from acquisition there.
CC Skylab, this is Houston calling you this morning
and asking you to rise and shine. We're talking to you through
Vanguard, and we'll be with you for the next 9 minutes.
CDR Rogerp Houston. Good morning.
CC Good morning.
PAO This is Skylab Control. CAP COMM this
morning is Astronaut Carl Henize. Flight Director Neil Hutchinson.
CC Skylab, this is Houston, 1 minute to LOS.
We'll see you in about 1 hour over Hawaii at 13:05.
PLT Roger, Carl.
PLT Or is that Bill?
CC This is Carl, how are you doing?
PLT Great, how are you this morning?
PLT Just getting a picture of a new iceberg
I've seen. Big ice island about 20 miles.
CC Great, sounds like a good view from up
there.
PAO This is Skylab Control. Vanguard has loss
of signal. Next acquisition at Hawaii in 57 minutes. Crew's
awake, getting squared away for the day's activity. 7 hours
and a half of Apollo telescope mount solar activity scheduled
today. Metabolic activity and lower body negative pressure
runs scheduled for both Bill Pogue and Ed Gibson today. At
12 hours 9 minutes Greenwich mean time, this is Skylab Control.
END OF TAPE
SL-IV MC-1402/I
Time: 07:05 CST 42:13:05 GMT
12/27/73
PAO This is Skylab Control at 13 hours 4

minutes Greenwich mean time. Skylab coming up on acquisition
now at the Hawaii station.
CC Skylab, this is Houston for the next
7 minutes.
CDR Roger, Carl, and I'm ready to open the
waste management compartment vent valve again.
CC Okay, let's hold up on that one, and one
of the bits of information I want to send up to you is
please do not open the WATER DUMP VALVE. This is the one
on panel 83] you're referring to?
CDR Yes, that's affirmative.
CC Right. We'd like not to open that_ and
also if you get a chance todayp well, this is connected with
the performance of the 509 which is going to be post and
T020 which is going to be postponed at least a week, and also,
if you get a chance today, you can perform the M509-F7B to
set you back up for a normal waste management water - water
management dump operation.
CDR Okay. Then I assume all pressure's okay
and our _ our partial pressure of oxygen is where they want
it and all that.
CC That's affirmative.
CDR Very good. It all took care of itself
overnight, huh?
CC Right. The message I get here is that
we have a normal atmosphere and we dontt want any special
enrich _ enrichments since the M509 and the TO20 will be post-
poned for some time.
CDR Okay. Good enough.
CC And while IVm talking to you, got a couple
more messages. To the CDR, it says here_ that in reference
to your urine sample bag inventory the total of 37 bags in
locker H_823 is not consistent with our expected numbers and
would you please verify all four sample bag rack locations in-
side of that locker.
CDR Carl, there are indeed four racks in
there. One is full, two are empty, and one has six in it.
CC Okay. Thank you very much. And Jerry,
while we still have a good contact with you, we have some
wheeling and dealing to do with you on your next day off;
that's New Year_s Day. And in the good words of Neil Hutchin-
son down here he says "No, it's a good leadoff for you in the
(garble) _'. That New Year's Day is the next planned crew day
off. Mission Control is also going to try to keep our own
workloads light, although our vigilance in systems monitoring
SL-IV MC-1402/2
Time: 07:05 CST 42:13:05 GMT
12/27/73
will continue unabated. That's the good news. The bad news
so far as your_re concerned is that there is a very good
African EREP pass that we would like to pick up that day,
and unfortunately it cuts into that 2 hours extra sleep
period we generally give you in the morning. We'd very much
like to get the pass and we'd like to trade sleeping time
with you and either give it to you in the evening of your
day off or in the evening of - or in the evening before your
day off. So we_d like your opinion on that and if it gets
shifted into the evening before your day off a couple of
that science needs to get moved into the day off then.
CDR (Garble) he is a tough work (garble),
I'll tell you.
CC Neil - Neil says that - Neil says
to chew on that for a while and let us know later if you like.
CDR Okay. Maybe he could throw in a couple
of fruit cakes and ham slice, too_ or something.
CC He says he'll see what he can arrange.
How about a little eggnog?
CDR How about a lot of eggnog?
CC Ro_er. And guys, we've got 1 minute to
LOS. See you over Vanguard at 13:36 and we will be dumping
the recorde_s over Vanguard.
CDR One question for you while you're goin_
over the hill_ Carl, is what will be the possibility of
slipping the data off until the next day?
CC Okay. We_ll chew on that one down here.
CDR Okay.
PAO This is Skylab Control. Skylab is out
of range of Hawaii. The next station will be Vanguard in
23 minutes. At 13 hours 13 minutes Greenwich mean time, this
is Skylab Control.
END OF TAPE
SL-IV MC1403/I
TIME: 07:3!5 CST, 42:13:35 GMT
12/27/73
PAO This is Skylab Control at 13 hours

35 minutes Greenwich mean time. Skylab approaching acquisition
through the Vanguard tracking ship, And a new flight controller
team will be taking over shortly here in the Control Center
with Milton Windier as Flight Director, and astronaut Story
Musgrave as the CAP COMM.
CC Skylab, this is Houston_ standing by
for the next i0 minutes.
CDR Roger, Carl. And on this proposal for
adjusting t]le day off, I think our first choice would be to
slip the day off i day to January 2. And our second
choice, if we have to bite the bullet, would be to get the
2 hours extra time the night before.
CC Oh.
CDR The reasoning here is, Carl, that one of
the nicer aspects of the day off is the opportunity to sleep
in an extra 2 hours. And when you get the extra 2 hours
tacked on to the end of a day_ you're not as likely to go
to bed two ihours early.
CC Righto, Jerry. I guess that's fairly
evident to us down here. There is a strong feeling here that
we would like to keep January the ist as the day off. That's -
that's partly due to not wanting to rejuggle schedules too much,
and also to a problem of distributing - distributing the
holiday load and manpower management the right way down here.
We - we will chew it over and let you know.
CDR Okay.
CC Skylab, this is Houston. We have 1 minute
to LOS. And we'll see you at 13:52 over Ascension.
PAO This is Skylab Control. The Vanguard
has loss of signal. Ascension Island will pick up Skylab
in 5 minutes. If the overnight observations on Comet Kohoutek
are borne out in the light of day, the mysterious visitor
may prove even more perplexing than scientists had expected.
Just after the crew went to bed last night, experts in the
Control Center began conducting comet studies with several
of the large telescopes usually used to observe the Sun. The
solar instruments will also be in use today, as the crew points
them at the comet. Only one of the solar instruments gives
scientists on the ground immediate data for analysis, that's
the ultraviolet spectroheliometer (S055). It measures light
wavelengths too short to pass through the Earth's atmosphere,
wh±ch scatters and absorbs the radiation. The invisible
l_ght must be measured by instruments in space. Unlike most of
the solar telescopes_ the ultraviolet spectroheliometer measures
radiation with photoelectric eyes rather than film, transmitting
SL-IV MC1403/2
TIME: 07:35 CST, 42:13:35 GMT
12/27/73
its findings electronically to ground stations around the

world. The first measurements from the electronic sensors,
which were set to detect reflected radiation in several
wavelengths, had scientists puzzled during the night. Although
most of them want to wait until additional data can be analyzed
today, preliminary findings threatened to upset their most
basic assumption. Because the Sun radiates one particular
type of invisible light, called Lyman-alpha, far more brightly
than any otlher, scientists had expected to see that light
reflected very brightly from Kohoutek. Lyman-alpha radiation
which was unknown until rockets pierced through the obscuring
atmosphere, is a byproduct of an energy change taking place
in hydrogen atoms. But the first Skylab readings, coming in
after the astronauts had turned control of the instruments
back to the ground last night, seemed to show several other
lightwaves in equal strength. The earliest data, measuring
radiation generated by chan_es in solar magnesium, helium,
and hydrogen atoms, was based on reflections from the outer
fringes of the Comet Kohoutek. Scientists argued that the un-
explained balance might mean that background irregularities
were still too strong to allow valid data from the comet. While
the Harvard College Observatory instrument scanned the comet's
fringe, a photographic instrument began the first of nearly
2 dozen picture sequences to be completed as Kohoutek
swoops past the Sun. The white light coronagraph (S052) was
designed to observe the thin solar atmosphere out to a distance of
2_i/2 million miles, but Kohoutek will be within its field of
view for a day and a half as it slides behind the Sun. During
the comet's closest approach to the Sun at about 4:24 a.m.
central standard time tomorrow, the comet will be some 13.4
million miles behind the Sun, but from the Earth it will appear
to pass within a degree, as near as i million miles from the
solar disk. The Coronagraph, which uses a small circular plate
to block out the bright Sun in an artificial eclipse, has a
television monitor used several times to hunt for the comet
while it was still far from the Sun. Although the television
does not show the entire area photographed by the coronagraph's
camera, it should give scientists some idea of the comet's shape
and brightness as it moves close to the Sun. Three live tele-
vision transmissions are planned this afternoon at 2:17
END OF TAPE
SL-IV MC-1404/I
Time: 07:50 CST, 42:13:50 GMT
12/27/73
PAO - will appear to pass within a degree,

as near as 1 million miles from the solar disk. A corona-
graph, which uses a small circular plate to block out the
bright Sun in an artificial eclipse, has a television monitor
used several times to hunt for the comet while it was still
far from the Sun. Although the television does not show the
entire area photographed by the coronagraph's camera, it
should give scientists some idea of the comet's shape and
brightness as it moves close to the Sun. Three live television
transmissions are planned this afternoon at 2:17, 3:49, and
5:27 p.m. central standard time. Pulled by the tremendous
force of the Sun's gravitational field, the comet Kohoutek
will reach a speed of a quarter of a million miles an hour
as it streaks by the Sun Friday morning. Within a week,
slowed in its escape by the Sun's gravity_ the speed will
drop by a third, to less than 170,000 miles an hour. Although
today's Flight Plan calls for the solar instruments to gather
data over a total of 7-1/2 hours, the comet will not be the
only subject of interest. In addition to pointing Skylab's
other solar instruments at Kohoutek, a task that requires
full_time guidance by the space station's trained observers,
the crew will watch for surges of material being ejected from
the Sun's west limb. A dark explosion of cool material_
originating from a tiny hot spot associated with active region
00, shot outward more than 40_000 miles at ahout 3:00 a.m.
central standard time this morning. This surge was reported
by the solar observatory at Carnarvon, Australia, came from
a point ver_ near the huge sunspot that developed on the Sun's
surface during the past week. Ascension has ac -
CC (Garble) AOS Ascension 7 minutes.
CDR Roger.
CDR That you_ Story?
CC Yes_ sir. Good morning, Jer.
CDR Good morning to you.
CC Skylah, we're a minute from LOS about
37 minutes from Guam at 14:35.
CDR Roger, Story.
PAO This is Skylab Control. Ascension has
loss of signal. Next acquisition will be through Guam in
35 minutes, At 14 hours Greenwich mean time, this is Skylab
Control.
END OF TAPE
SL-IV MC-1405/I
Time: 08:34 CST 42:14:34 GMT
12/27/73

at Guam.
CC Skylab, AOS Guam for 5 minutes.
SPT Morning, Story.
CC Hi, Ed.
SPT Looking at the white light coronagraph
I can see a good comet in there. It's still not the bright-
ness which I would hope to see, later and I will give a better
definition but even at the present (garble) level you can see
the tail standing out quite a bit and it's got a very strong
coma.
CC Copy, Ed.
CC Skylab, we're reading you down here but
slightly weak.
CDR Houston, Skylab. We weren't transmitting.
CC No sir. I just wanted to let you know
that we were picking you up in the background.
CDR Roger.
CC Skylab, we're a minute from LOS, about
32 minutes to Vanguard at 15:13.
SPT Story, have you heard us in the backRround
over the pass i minute?
CC Say again.
SPT Anybody been able to pick us up in the
background over the past I minute?
CC No. Not the last I minute. Just when
I gave you those two calls. Just prior to those two calls.
SPT Okay. We've ben searching for an open
link and we've been unable to find one.
CC Okay. If you've been talking the last
minute you've fixed whatever it was.
PAO This is Skylab Control. Guam has loss
of signal. The next station is the the tracking ship Van-
guard in about 30 minutes, Science Pilot Ed Gibson reporting
during this pass at Guam that he could see the comet Kohoutek,
observed them tail, and recorded - he reported it had a strong
coma, He's using the white light coronagraph and viewing
the comet through the Apollo telescope mount television.
At 14 hours 43 minutes Greenwich mean time_ this is Skylab
Control.
END OF TAPE
SL-IV MC1406/I
TIME: 08:5.6 CST, 42:14:56 GMT
12/27/73

56 minutes Greenwich mean time. At 9 a.m. central standard
time, about 4 minutes from now, a briefing on the comet
by Dr. Lubos Kohoutek, the discoverer of the comet, will
begin in Wa;3hington D.C. That briefing may be heard in
the building 1 briefing room at the Johnson Space Center.
It will not be carried in real time on the release line.
It will be available in real time in the briefing room
in building i. The briefing will be replayed over the release
line during the long LOS period, but it may be heard live
in the briefing room in building i. Skylab now about 16-1/2
minutes away from Vanguard acquisition. At 14 hours 57 minutes
Greenwich mean time, this is Skylab Control.
END OF TAPE
SL-IV MC-1407/I
Time: 09:12 CST 42:15:12 GMT
12/27/73

through the tracking ship Vanguard.
CC Skylab, AOS through the Vanguard for ii
minutes.
CDR Roger, Story.
CC Ed, Houston.
SPT Go ahead.
CC Ed, from down here we showed you missed
S054 in the first building block. Could you hit it a lick in
this one?
SPT Say again that last sentence, please.
CC Could you get us an S054 in this building
block? From down here we showed you missed it on the last one.
SPT Okay.
CC Skylab, we're a minute from LOS, and
about 2 minutes to Ascension.
CDR Roger, Story. We'll see you.
PAO This is Skylab Control. Vanguard has
loss of signal. Ascension will acquire Skylab in about a
minute and a half, and that pass will also carry through
Canaries and Madrid. We'll continue monitoring through those
stations. About a minute away from Ascension now.
CC Skylab, we're back with Ascension, Cana-
ries, and Madrid for 13 minutes.
CC Skylab, we're a minute to LOS. About
25 minutes to Guam at 16:11.
CDR Story, housekeeping 60 Echo is complete.
Think you can tell FAO that he can reduce the time allot
for that to an hour and 15 instead of an hour and 45.
CC Copy, and thanks, Jer.
PAO This is Skylab Control. Skylab is moved
out of range of the antennas at Madrid. Next acquisition at
Guam in 25 :minutes. At 15 hours 46 minutes Greenwich mean
time, this is Skylab Control.
END OF TAPE
SL-IV MC-1408/I
Time: i0:i0 CST 42:16:10 GMT
12/27/73
PAO This is Skylab Control at 16 hours i0

minutes Greenwich mean time. Guam is about to acquire Sky-
lab.
CC Skylab, AOS through Guam for I0 minutes.
SPT Roger.
CC And here's Bill with the ATM conference,
Ed.
SPT Okay. I'm ready.
MCC Okay, Ed. I just got actually a couple
of things for you here this morning. Cook update on the Sun,
which you have probably noticed already, the - the 00 is
very nearly on the - on the limb. The brightest portion of
it is the northeast plage, that's northeast of the big spot.
When it surges it tends to surge in a northwesternly direction.
The next brightest is the southeast plage, which surges
southwest. That was the good news. The bad news is that
the most interesting longitude that you have to look forward
to in return on the east limb, is now transiting the west limb.
In other words there isn't anything on the back side. So it's
going to be a long, dry, quiet Sun for us here. To - Tomorrow
we have three early solar ATM passes followed by three later
18 Charlie maneuvers for the comet. Tomorrow will be about
the best chance of actually seeing something on S055 since
this is nearest perihelion. Let me pause here and see what
inputs you've got for planning, in particular for the three
early ATM orbits based on what you're looking at now.
SPT Okay. From what I (garble) see over -
(garble) yesterday and I took a quick look this morning, was
a surging on the limb. I tried to get a little of that
yesterday. Was 55 and some - some of 56, although I did not
see much change in brightness associated with the surging.
I think we ought to go after that and (garble) or get ready for
a flare. But also looking at the events on the limb, start
off each orbit with some Sun centered operations or operations
or maybe finish up each orbit that way. And then go on out
there and looks (garble) activity. Most likely surges.
MCC Okay. Sounds good. I'll make those in-
puts for you this afternoon.
SPT When I was able to - what I did yester-
day was to roll so that the Sun was tangent to the horizontal
cross hair and that, no doubt, maybe, oh, four or five steps or
so, and that just done (sic) detruncated mirror auto raster
so that they - it's like - oh, maybe I0 mirror line scans if
you all stacked on top of each other, or one-fifth of a mirror
auto raster with one ray after another. And I gave them a
little facial revolution, anti-revolution. I thought that would
be a good way to cover the surges.
SL-IV MC-1408/2
Time: i0:I0 CST 42:16:10 GMT
12/27/73
MCC Okay; and I know 55 does llke that type

of data, so they're very happy to get that.
SPT Okay. Looking at the XUV nomitor; the
active region which we discussed on the west limb, we
pretty much know what's happening there. There's one over
there on the east limb which I got a report on this morning
was not one of the old active regions, so we're not sure
what it is. It's relatively small but it may have something
geographic in it, and this'll keep us occupied for 2 weeks.
MCC Yes, okay. It looks like you say, small
to us and so far we do not see any spots in it.
SPT Okay. I'd like to ask a couple of ques-
tions. Seeing as we do have a quiet Sun going around again,
what about the line profiles? I did one on 55 a little while
ago and I was wondering how that came out, whether it was
worth repeating something of that type? Also, could we see
we're sure, a type 3 burst. I'm ready. And I'm springloaded
to do a shopping list item 24. I don't know if it's noted, so
don't have them feel hesitant to call that up.
MCC Okay. We won't
SPT Okay, on S054, when I do have a free
orbit, would they like a 256 exposure to delay this mounting
data and the same as (garble) PATROL NORMAL now and (garble)
the situation right now?
MCC Okay. I'm sorry; I didn't understand that.
Say that again, now.
SPT Okay. Before we had the film changed and
worked on the 56 filter, we were trying them a 256 exposure
each orbit for (garble) purposes. Now that we have a little
different situation where there are (garble), I wondered
whether they would still like that, and if not, what would
they like in it's place?
MCC Okay. Let me hand that to them and get an
answer up to you on a later pass. What we were doing previously
was trying to map the active region structure on a once per
orbit basis. In the event anything did go off we would have
had a before and after picture. So let me get back to with
the answer on that one.
SPT Okay. In looking at the white light corona-
graph, we still have a very prominent streamer structure on
the east limb, and over on the west limb, of course, is an
interesting thing of the comet. Although it is a relatively
(garble) yet, and it's relatively small, but I can't see any
tail. And would say that it comes out in maybe i0 to 15 degrees
or so from the axis on the other side of it. That's a very
rough estimate because the tail is still very faint and we -
as you know, we don't have a resolution in that display for
something that relatively small. The pointing this morning for
SL-IV MC-1408/3
Time: i0:i0 CST 42:16:10 GMT
12/27/73
for the tracking when we were doing the 82A in building

block 30, first one was a little bit ragged, but I think
the second one came out with a mean minus 2 arc seconds from
what would be the optic. The second one I think came out
very well, and I anticipate the third one along here will also.
MCC Okay, Ed. Thank you for the comJnents on
that. A reminder here from Owen who's interested in getting
extension data from 55 at the sunrise terminator to configure
properly at sunset, which I believe you've been doing, but
Owen would like a reminder there.
END OF TAPE
SL-IV MC-1409/I
Time: 10:18 CST, 42:16:18 GMT
12/27/73
SPT (Garble) relatively small. The (garble)

for the tracking when we're doing the 82A in building block
30, the first one was a little bit ragged, but I think the
second one came out with a mean deviation of plus or
minus 2 arc seconds from what would be the optimum. The
second one, I think, came out pretty well and I anticipate
the third one along here will also.
MCC Okay, Ed. Thank you for the comments
on that. A reminder here, from Owen who is interested in
getting extinction data from 55 at the sunrise terminator
to configure properly at sunset, which I believe you have
been doing_ but Owen would like a reminder there. And let
me ask you a question on the upcoming JOP 18, Charlies and
Deltas which we_ll be getting back to tomorrow and succeeding
days. On the motion compensation, we've been saying do
such and such a maneuver every - so many minutes. Would
you like a table of times at which to do this, much like
18 Alfa so that you caan check these off and bookkeep them,
or do you want to just go the way it is?
SPT For 18 Delta_ it worked out_ seeming as
we only did it every 20 minutes and I made up my own table and the
time in which I maneuvered to it and the time in which I started
and that's something you cannot estimate from the ground
well enough before hand. I think I can carry that one out
by myself (garble). And for A, I think you're doing it the right
way here. For C, I'll just have to take a look at it and think a
little bit about it. Why don't you let me do that and try and
get back with them sometime later today.
MCC Okay. Sure will. 18 C is much like D,
So there probably won't be any change, but if you want us to
change itp you can get back with us. One other thing here_
on the 18 Charlies for tomorrow, several experiments will
be taking very long exposures. There's an open question
here on the drift stability and whether or not repointing
will be necessary in order to stay on top of the comet even
though we make motion compensation. In the - On the ACQ SUN
SENSOR updated strapdown there's a fear that the drift
here may be wiping us out. We'll be studying that hopefully
getting an answer tonight. And I'm mentioning this just to
warn you that if the pad has you during exposures, maneuver to
acquire the zomet in 52's field of view and then repoint to center it
not to be surprised. Leave all appropriate shutters open,
maneuver up, take a quick look at it and maneuver back. We
hope that won't be necessary_ but there is a chance it might.
SPT I see. Okay. I would anticipate that might be
necessary, from looking at what we did with Delta. However,
here we have - we still have ACQUISTION SUN SENSOR updating (garble).
MCC Right. On the Alfas. Now tomorrow on the
Charlies_ you won't have that. That's why we mentioned it.
SL-IV MC-1409/2
Time: 10:18 CST, 42:16:18 GMT
12/27/73
We're I minute from LOS. Vanguard is next in 30 minutes and

Canaries is after that, 50 minutes from now. We will be
working 54 changes and I warn you this so that probably for
several days now, you'll see changes in the pad, regarding
54 operations. What l'd like to do is to spend the time on the
ground to get a our JOP and building block changes right the
first time. And then send you up a salvo that brings them
all up to date. So for a couple of days we may be on a
temporary basis filling in with changes, if that's all right
with you.
SPT I think that's a good way to go Bill. l'd
much rather that you do get it all straightened out, have
a couple of days to think about it and let us work it a little
bit, too, the way you like. And then do it all in one shot, I
think that's best.
MCC Okay. That's all I've got for now. And
I'ii be talking to you tomorrow then.
SPT Okay, Bill. Looks like the next couple
of days I've got comets and a little bit of activity on the
llmb. And t]_en - then we got a little dry spell. I hope
people are thinking about some of the interesting things they'd
like to do o_n the quiet Sun, because we've got at least 2 weeks
of it.
MCC Okay. You better believe we're looking at
that.
SPT Okay. Thank you very much, Bill.
PAO This is Skylab Control. Guam has loss of
signal. The Vanguard tracking ship is the next acquisition
in 29 minutes. Durin_ this pass, the daily Apollo telescope
mount conference was conducted between Science Pilot Ed
Gibson and scientist-astronaut, Bill Lenoir, here on the
ground. At 16 hours 22 minutes Greenwich mean time this is
Skylab Control.
END OF TAPE
SL-IV MCI410/I
TIME: 10:50 CST, 42:16:50 GMT
12/27/73

50 minutes Greenwich mean time. Skylah coming up on acquisition
through the tracking ship Vanguard. The comet briefing
with Dr. Lubos Kohoutek that was held this morning at NASA
headquarters=, will be played back on this release line at
Madrid loss of signal on this revolution. That playback should
start about 11:25 am. central standard time.
CC Skylab, AOS hrough the Vanguard 9 minutes.
CDR Roger, ouston.
SPT Story, on these exposures I could give them
(garble) longer than I0 minutes on the second set if they'd
like it to be closer to 20.
CC Okay, Ed, will get with you.
CC Ed, could you tell us what experiment
you're referring to?
SPT 82A, 82B.
CC Okay.
CC Ed, that's a good call; 20 minutes will
be fine right down to 400 K.
SPT Thank you, Story.
CC And we're going LOS here. See you over
Canaries in about i0 minutes. Be dumping the data/voice
there.
PAO This is Skylab Control. Skylab out of
range of the Vanguard tracking ship. Next acquisition Canary
Islands in about 9-1/2 minutes. At 17 hours i minute Greenwich
mean time, this is Skylab Control.
PAO This is Skylab Control at 17 hours i0 minutes
Greenwich mean time. Skylab about to begin a pass starting
at the Canary Islands and carrying through the Madrid station.
The playback of the Kohoutek briefing from Washington this
morning will began at Madrid loss of signal.
CC Skylab, OS Canaries and Madrid for 14
minutes. Be dumping the data/voice here at Canaries. And, Ed,
Houston.
SPT Go.
CC Ed, we'd like you to turn the star tracker
power off. We may have an encoder failure on the outer gimbal
indicator.
CC And, we'll be inhibiting NuZ updates from
the ground.
CC Thanks.
CC And for the next NuZ update coming up
at 19:37 wi_h Bill, we'll catch him over a ground station
for that.
SPT Okay, Story.
SL-IV MC1410/2
TIME: 10:50 CST, 42:16:50 GMT
12/27/73
CC And we need the DAS here, Ed, for that.

SPT You got it.
CC Okay.
CC The DAS is yours, Ed.
SPT Thank you.
END OF TAPE
SL-IV MC-1411/I
Time: 11:20 CST 42:17:20 GMT
12/27/73
CDR It looked like nearly 24 minutes or so

on those last two exposures.
CC Okay, it makes everybody very happy, Ed.
CC We're about 40 seconds to LOS. See you
over Honeysuckle in 35 minutes at 18:00.
SPT Okay Story, and would you say again the
problem with the star tracker?
CC It looks like we've got an encoder problem.
In other words the output from the outer gimbal angle that's
going back into the feedback loop may not be correct, and we
were worried about it driving itself up against the stop. At
19:37 we'll be putting the power back on and taking a look at
it then.
SPT Okay, thank you.
PAO This is Skylab Control. Madrid has loss
of signal. Next acquisition is Honeysuckle in 33-1/2 minutes,
however the playback of this morning's comet briefing from
NASA Headquarters will be in progress at that time. We'll tape
the Honeysuckle pass and play that back at the conclusion
of the comet briefing, We have the tape of this morning's
briefing with Dr. Lubos Kohoutek, discoverer of the comet.
We'll play that for you now.
END OF TAPE
SL IV MC-1412/2
Time: 12:35 CST 42:18:35 GMT
12/27/73
CDR Okay. Well, I'm sorry. You didn't get it

this time. You got two 256's and then about two and a half
64's.
CC Yes sir. I think that's one on me. I didn't
understand your question and didn't get up to you in time.
CC Jer, since we'll be running these about
three more revs today, wanted to make it - make it sure that
you did understand them now. And that's at one MSOL 64 does take
13 minutes, or as it states on there_ about 12.8.
CDR Yes, that's right. So it's going to
take 52 minutes, and in other words the whole pass to do all
four that they want.
CC Yes sir, and the whole pass is four of
those and none of those M30S 256's.
CDR Okay. I'll make note on all the rest
of the ATM pads so that nobody else does that.
CC Yes sir.
CC Skylab, we're a minute to LOS. See you
over Carnarvon in 19:29, about 27 minutes.
CDR Roger, Story.
PAO This is Skylab Control. Madrid has loss
of signal. Next acquisition is through Carnarvon, Australia,
in 26 minutes. At 2 p.m, central standard time in the
briefing room of Building 1 at the Johnson Space Center, an
authority on the S052 white light coronagraph will be
available for discussions of that instrument's use in
connection with observing Comet Kohoutek. He will also
describe the real-time television from that instrument, which
is expected to be transmitted at 2:17 p.m. central standard
time. The activities in the briefing room will not be
carried on this release line. We will be in a live pass
over the States at that time, and those activities will not
be on the release line in real time. At 19 hours 4 minutes
Greenwich mean timep this is Skylab Control.
END OF TAPE
SL IV MC-1412/I
Time: 12:35 CST 42:18:35 GMT
12/27/73
PAO the comet briefing. Replay of the

comet briefing at NASA headquarters this morning. During
that replay Skylab did make a pass over the Honeysuckle sta-
tion. We have a minute and 45 seconds of tape from that pass.
We_ll play that now,
CC Skylab, AOS Honeysuckle for 7 minutes, and
Jer, we'll need the DAS for dump inhibit.
CDR Okay. You got it Story.
CC Okay.
CDR Houston, CDR.
CC Go Jer.
CDR Roger. The special SO54 procedures that
are listed here for 18:05 Z, is that to start at exactly 18:05
Z or is that just the four asterisk 54's that are in the
building block?
CC Stand by i.
CDR I'm a little confused as to whether 18:05
Z is just designating that particular ATM pass or whether it's
a precise time.
CC Jer_ you can start any time. It's 18:05
now and you're correct - general message 4236 Alfa applies to
this pass, Jer, that general message applies to where the
asterisks are on your ATM schedule pad.
CDR Okay. Thank you.
CC And we're a minute from LOS. Bermuda in
about 40 minutes at 18:45.
PAO This is Skylab Control. That completes
the playback of the Honeysuckle pass. Skylab now 14-1/2
minutes away from acquisition through Canary Island station.
At 18 hours 36 minutes Greenwich mean time, this is Skylab
Control.
minutes, Skylab is about to begin a pass that starts at
Canary Islands tracking station and extends through the
Madrid station.
CC Skylab, AOS through Canaries, Madrid for
12 minutes,
CDR Roger, Story. This is CDR. I'm still
not convinced that SO54 is getting what they wanted. When
you add up four 13_minute passes of this special operation,
that comes to 52 minutes, which is one whole pass, and there
isn't time to do two M30S 256_s or whatever those are. And
so it seems to me that we're still not really where we want
to be.
CC Jer, we show you're running it right
right now and I think that's one on me, I didn't didn't
understand your question so good (sic) the last pass. Now
what we wanted was all HSOL 64's.
SL-IV MC1413/I
TIME: 13:28 CST, 42:19:28 GMT
12/27/73

28 minutes. Skylab being acquired at the Carnarvon station
now, overlapping coverage through Honeysuckle.
CC Skylab, AOS Carnarvon and Honeysuckle,
14 minutes.
PLT Roger, Story.
CC Bill, sounds like you're up at the ATM.
PLT Yep, all ready to go.
CC Okay, at your convenience I want you to
turn the startracker power on and go ahead and drive to the
desired star angles and we'll watch it from down here. We're
checking out that outer gimbal encoder.
PLT I have a little bit of problem here. I
just looked up and noticed I have an open talkback on the
shutter and I can't get I'm not able to select manual.
CC Copy.
PLT Just so that I can make it clear, the
switch 2 normally used to select manual is got a barber pole,
and the other one - the shutter talkback is indicating open
o _p _e-n.
CC Have you turned the startracker power
on, Bill?
PLT Negative, that was it.
PLT I can't drive the outer gimbal, but I'm
indicatin_ a star on the talkback.
CC We're looking at thatp Bill.
PLT - should have been. I'm not getting an
indication on the outer gimbal monitor.
CC That's affirm. We're seein_ the same thing
down here. Bill, we think there's an encoder failure on the
outer gimbal.
CC And, Bill, we'd like startracker power
off, please.
CC And close the shutter.
PLT Startracker power off.
CC Close the shutter and then power off, Bill.
PLT Okay, that's confirmed.
CC Okay, Bill.
CDR Houston, CDR.
CC Go ahead, Jer.
CDR Roger, Story. Looks like I've picked up about
an hour this afternoon that I'm goin_ to have free. Unless
you folks have anything special you want me to do, I'm going
to go into the shopping list and pick up a few items.
CC We'll get with you on that, Jer.
SL-IV MC1413/2
TIME: 13:28 CST, 42:19:28 GMT
12/27/73
CDR Okay, I'm got half of my PT done and

housekeeping 60 Foxtrot is complete.
CC Beautiful.
CC Skylab, we're a minute from LOS; about
35 minutes to MILA at 20:17. Jerry, Houston.
CDR Go ahead.
CC Jer, at the moment the only additional
thing we got for you is an M074 CAL plus a wardroom small
mass measuring device using zero masses and the one 500 gram
mass you have.
CDR Okay, zero mass and a 500 gram.
CC That's affirm, Jer. And at present we've
- have had an encoder failure on the outer gimbal of the
startracker and we had no way of knowing what the outer
gimbal is.
CC Which at present precludes locking on
to a star so we're working that problem.
CDR That there sounds like a job for the
command module G&N.
CC Could be, could be.
PAO This is Skylab Control. Skylab has
moved out of range of the Honeysuckle station. MILA, Merritt
Island, Florida station will be the next acquisiton in 33
minutes. We do expect television real-time downlink at
acquisition there. One of the S052 white light coronograph
authorities will be in the building i briefing room at JSC
to describe the television being seen. Guidance and navigation
control officer believes that the startracker may be lost
because of the outer gimbal problem. However he wants to study the
situation and see if procedures can be worked out to still
salvage the startracker. At 19 hours 45 minutes Greenwich
mean time, this is Skylab Control.
END OF TAPE
SL-IV MC-1414/I
Time: 14:16 CST 42:20:16 GMT
12127173
PAO Skylab Control. Greenwich mean time 20

hours 16 minutes. Acquisition coming through TexasMILA
tracking station in 35 seconds. We'll hold the line up for
this MILA pass.
CC Skylab, AOS through MILA and Bermuda
12 minutes.
CDR Roger.
PLT Story, PLT on the ATM. 55 people prob-
ably wondering why I'm still on GRATING, ZERO, and that's all
I can select right now. The GRATING no - none of the numerals
on the - above the units, excuse me - the i0 digit are oper-
able right now. All I can get is zero through 99 and it keeps
cycling continuously. I went back to OPTICAL REFERENCE, and
got an 80, but I went ahead and set up MIRROR AUTO RASTER
and I'm doing Mars there.
CC Copy, Bill.
CC Bill, Houston.
PLT Go, Story. Break.
CC Bill, could you turn the S055 high voltages
off for us?
PLT Roger. And have them look at the west
limb. I seem to detect a little action taking place over
there.
CC Okay.
CC Bill, Houston.
PLT Go.
CC Bill we got the grating at 26:65. You
can turn those high voltage detectors back on.
PLT Thank you.
CC And we also have seen -
CC And Bill, on the high voltages we want I, 2,
and 3 only. i, 2, 3, and 4.
PLT Okay, 1, 2, 3, 4 you have.
PLT Incidentally I'm reading 27:44 on my
grating, just for ground info.
CC Okay copy Bill. And you can start the
S055 now.
CC Skylab, we're a minute from LOS, 4 minutes
to Madrid.
END OF TAPE
SL-IV MC1415/2
Time: 14:28 CST, 42:20:28 GMT
12/27/73
that we missed the last pass, Bill.

PLT Okay, I'll leave that alone,
CC Yes sir, that'll be fine. And while I
got you I got an update to your detail pad if you got it
in front of you?
PLT Stand by.
PLT Okay, Story, go.
CC That's at 00:34, and replace all you got
there with - just do what general message 4237 Delta which
is on board now.
PLT Okay, the way I read that is at 00:34 I
will do the general message 4237 Delta, and I will delete
everything indicated here on my details at 00:34.
CC That's affirm. And pertinent to that
there's a change to the SWS Systems Checklist, you won't
have time to get that change before getting into that.
But all it says, is that any time you hook up the PCU
composite disconnector, that is anytime you hook up the
LSU the PCU be sure to hook that restraint hook on the left-
hand side to take any loads off the composite connector.
PLT Okay, Story, I got it.
CC And we're a minute from LOS, about 25
minutes from Carnarvon at 21:05, be dumping the data/voice
at Carnarvon.
hours 41 minutes. Loss of signal through Madrid. Next
acquisition in 24 minutes i0 seconds will be the Carnarvon
tracking station in Ha - in Australia. Science Pilot Ed
Gibson performing the MO92/MI71 run, a pair of experiments
this afternoon. Also, followed by the Ml71 a 2-hour block
of time set aside for per - performance by Science Pilot
Gibson of these two medical experiments. Pilot Bill Pogue
still at the control and display panel at the ATM. Next
acquisition in 23 minutes 30 seconds. At Greenwich mean
time 20 hours 42 minutes, this is Skylab Control.
END OF TAPE
SL-IV MC-1416/I
Time: 15:04 CST 42:21:04 GMT
12/27/73

hours 4 minutes. Acquisition coming through Carnarvon in
50 seconds. CAP COMM is Dr. Story Musgrave. Skylab in its
3281st revolution. Carnarvon will by a 9-minute pass.
CC Skylab, AOS Carnarvon for i0 minutes, be
dumping the data/voice here.
PLT Rog Story.
CC And Bill, I got a little update here to
your building block 30.
PLT Okay.
CC Go ahead and run this grating 2999 that
we got in there for you. And then run those other three
mirror auto rasters, all three of them and go ahead and space
them out throughout the pass as you see fit.
PLT All of them at 2999?
CC No, as per the pad, run the last three at
all balls, 0162, and 1042.
PLT Okay.
CC And we're thinking that those the surge
that you saw on the Sun, that the high voltage detectors
were picking that up maybe causing the MI and that was part
of your grating problem, that's the theory we have.
PLT Ah so.
CC Like the - high voltages 6 and 7 off_
please.
PLT Rog.
CC Skylab_ 30 seconds to LOS and about a
minute and a half to Honeysuckle.
PLT Roger.
END OF TAPE
SL-IV MC1417/I
Time: 15:15 CST 42:21:15 GMT
12/27/73
CC Skylab, back with you through Honeysuckle

for 4 minutes.
CC Skylab, we see the VTR running. You got
4 minutes left on it.
PLT Rog, thank you.
CC Skylab, we're a minute to LOS, about
30 minutes to Texas at 21:49.
PLT Rog, Story.
CC And Bill, when we get to Texas you got
a TV downlink. And Jet, you got 2 minutes of WLC if conve-
nient. We'd be very interested in seeing the comet on the
WLC if you could get it for us. And also when we get there
some kind of commentary as to the position of the comet that
with respect to the pylon.
PLT Rog, will do. It's very visible. I
don't know if it's been reported. It's very bright and in
the right position at least according to this chart. So
I'm pretty confident that it is the comet that we're seeing.
CC Okay, well we're real anxious to see it
down here. So lets put some priorty on the WLC TV downlink
over Texas, and I'll remind you on the AOS call.
PLT Okay, thank you very much.
PAO Skylab Control, Greenwich mean time
21 hours 21 minutes. Loss of signal through Honeysuckle,
next acquisition in 27 minutes will be the Texas tracking
station. Pilot Bill Pogue asked to used the White Light
Coronagraph instrument on the ATM to - in attempt to photo-
graph and pass to the ground TV pictures of the Comet Kohoutek.
He said it's he's very confident what he is seeing is the
comet. He said it's very bright and very visible. Half way
point in time for Skylab IV mission will occure 8:35 a.m.
central standard time tomorrow, Friday, December 28th. At
that time Skylab will be over the South Atlantic Ocean between
the Vanguard tracking and the Ascension Island tracking
station. The crew of Skylab IV since their launch on
November 16th will have made 607 trips around the world and
traveled some 17,600 - 17,000,650 miles through space. Their
home in space, the orbital workshop, was launched on May 14th
of this year. It will have made 3,292 revolutions around
the Earth, and will have traveled 95,760,000 miles. Skylab
workshop has been flying in space for more than 228 days
at this time. If during that period it had been on a flight
path toward the Sun and traveling it's present orbital speed,
Skylab would have - be about 5,000,000 miles on the other
side of the Sun, which would provide an excellent view of
Comet Kohoutek. Next acquisition will be Texas in 25 minutes
25 seconds. At Greenwich mean time 21 hours 23 minutes, this
is Skylab Control.
END OF TAPE
SL-IV MC-1418/I
Time: 15:48 CST 42:21:48 GMT
12/27/73

hours 48 minutes. Acquisition through Texas. Change-of-
shift in progress here at the Mission Control Center. Milt
Windler's flight team turning over the reins of the Mission
Control Center to Phil Shaffer.
CC Skylab, AOS stateside for 16 minutes.
PLT Rog Story, I'ii set up the WLC. And
Story, could you tell me when you're getting the TV downlink
I'Ii try to describe it. It won't take long, and I think
it'll be rather obvious as soon as you see it.
CC Okay, unfortunately Bill it's real time
to the site only. It'll be a while before we get it back
here to Houston.
PLT Okay, I'ii go ahead and put it on tape.
CC Bill, we're getting good quality TV at
the site, and you can go ahead and give us your comments
real time if you like.
PLT Rog, Story. Okay, because of the
other instruments that are observing we're roll minus 5400.
So the pylon is on the, of course on the left on that screen.
The comet is in the upper right view on the screen moving
over to the - from lower right to upper left. But course
maintaining a trace above the Sun, as it were, if the left were
down and right were up as you view the ATM monitor. And I've
noticed movement during the two orbits since I've been
here. It's slightly perceptable. Now there's no tail
visible, although there is a trace that appears to be one. I
think it's merely a smear on the vidicon. However I'ii let
somebody else take a look at that and see if they can sort
it out and tell whether it's noise of actually a short tail.
There's no trouble identifing it, it's quite bright. It appears
on the screen as a very small object about 1-1/2 millimeters
in diameter. And I can't say much more about it than that.
That we're very pleased that we're able to pick it up on the
WLC.
CC Okay, thanks.
CDR Looks like you got pretty clear weather
down there story.
CC Maybe we do, l've been - been in this
windowless building so long I couldn't tell you Jer.
CDR (Laughter) Ah, looks like a pretty
strong wind out of the north blowing, a lot of smoke blowing
south,
CC The team coming on says it is a beautiful
day,
CC And Bill, we don't want to interrupt your
ATM ops here, we just were interested in how your grating
SL-IV MC-1418/2
Time: 15:48 CST 42:21:48 GMT
12/27/73
select went this pass.

PLT Fine, no hitches at all, in fact I got
an extra one in at 2665, the one that I missed on last one.
CC Understand you did the 0162 on i042's?
PLT That's affirmative, and right now in a
2665 detectors i, 2, 3, and 4.
CC Beautiful Bill.
PLT And Story, if you still read, I think we're
going to lose the comet on our monitor in probably another
hour and a half.
CC Why is that Bill?
PLT It just - itts moving pretty fast, and
it's within about a quarter of an inch of the edge of the
scope, the CRT. So at the rate it's moving, probably another
hour and a half it'll be out of the field of view, at least
of our monitoring instrument. But of course it'll still be
in the field of view of the instruments.
CC Okay_ understand, thanks, and you got ii
minutes left on the VTR.
PLT Rog.
CC And Bill, when you're done with the TV
downlink, you might pick up with the WLC continuous mode
again.
PLT Okay, I think you probably had enough and
I think that probably you'll be able to detect some motions
in the first of the sequence to the last, the thing is really
moving_
CC Okay, we can't wait.
CC Skylab, wetre a minute from LOS, about
5 minutes to Madrid at 22:10, be dumping the data/voice there.
hours and 6 minutes. Loss of signal through Bermuda, next
acquistion will be Madrid in 3 minutes and 35 seconds. Data
here on the ground showing that Science Pilot Gibson still
operating the bicycle ergometer has part of the MI71 test.
He's scheduled to complete that second part of a - of the medical
test at about 22:15, in about 9 minutes from now. Pilot Bill
Po_ue at the ATM on this stateside pass describing the view he
had of the comet through the TV monitor of the white light
coronagraph. Remarking how fast it was traveling across the
screen, andL by the next rev it should be totally out of the
picture of the TV monitor on board the spacecraft. TV picture
of Comet Kehoutek was passed to the Texas tracking station,
this will be relayed to Houston later tonight and released
tomorrow. Next acquisition will be Madrid in 2 minutes 35
seconds_ CAP COMM is Dr. Story Musgrave.
END OF TAPE
SL-IV MC1419/I
Time: 16:07 CST, 42:22:07 GMT
12/27/73
CC Skylab, AOS Madrid for 7 minutes, dumping

the data/voice here.
PLT Rog.
to Carnarvon 22:47.
hours 18 minutes. Next acquisition in 29 minutes 25 seconds
will be Csrnarvon a low-elevation pass for about 2 minutes
and 30 seconds in duration. Skylab now in its 3,282nd
revolution of the Earth since launch on November 16th.
Spacecraft traveling at a speed of 25,158 feet per second in
an orbit of 244.6 by 226.9 nautical miles. Next acquisition
in 28 minutes and 50 seconds. At Greenwich mean time 22
hours 18 minutes, this is Skylab Control.
END OF TAPE
SL-IV MC1420/I
Time: 16:46 CST 42:22:46 GMT
12/27/73

22 hours 46 minutes. Half-minute (sic) pass through Carnarvon
coming up in 50 seconds. CAP COMM is Dick Truly.
CC Skylab, Houston, hello from the purple
gang. Short pass at Carnarvon for 2-1/2 minutes.
CDR Hello, purple gang.
CC Hi Jer. How y'all doing today?
CDR Real well, thanks.
CC Well, it's been a beautiful day down
here in Houston today. Clear as a bell.
CDR Yeah, we just flew over the Gulf about
15 - oh I guess 30 minutes ago and it looked real nice.
CC Boy it really has been pretty.
CDR Got a pretty good wind going?
CC No it's a nice little breeze, but it's
not really blowing. It's kind of blowing a little more
yesterday.
CDR I noticed all the smoke over on the Gulf
Coast area was all blowing pretty straight to the south.
CC Roger.
CC Skylab, Houston, we're i minute to
LOS. We're going to drop out about 6 or 7 minutes and I'll
call you at Honeysuckle.
CDR Roger.
22 hours 50 minutes. We had loss of signal through Carnarvon.
Next acquisition will be through Honeysuckle in 6 minutes.
That will be a brief 90-second pass. We'll play the - we'll
hold the line up for the Honeysuckle pass and at the close
of the Honeysuckle pass Milt Windler is now - will hold the
change-of-shift briefing in Building 1 newsroom. Flight
Director, Milt Windler presently enroute to Building 1 news-
room.
CC Skylab, Houston, hello at Honeysuckle
another real short pass. We're 1 minute from LOS here. Goldstone
comes up at 23:26.
PLT Roger Dick. We're about to lose the
comet off our white light eoronagraph presentation here. Got
a nice fat coma behind it.
CC Roger.
SPT Good afternoon, Dick and purple gang.
CC Hello, friendly SPT, how are you doing today?
SPT Very good. Dick, I'm wondering if you
could get some information for me please.
CC Sure go ahead.
SPT I'd like to find out when we will be able
SL-IV MC1420/2
Time: 16:46 CST 42:22:46 GMT
12/27/73
to see the comet visually through one of the windows. We

get a close look at it here - a very short look I should
say at the white light coronagraph and we're obscured by
the solar panels right now. It looks as though all the
interesting things are about to happen and we're blocked
by solar panels. I wondering if - if you can tell us when
we'll get solar inertial we'll be able to see it. And if
it turns out to be a pretty long time from now, whether
there's a way we can make a slight attitude maneuver so that
we can see it.
CC Okay, let us talk about that one, Ed,
and I'll get back to you when we get up to the States.
SPT Thank you Dick.
CC Okay.
22 hours 58 minutes, loss of signal through Honeysuckle.
Science Pilot Ed Gibson asking CAP COMM, Dick Truly when
the crew might be able to see the comet through one of
the windows. He's asking if they would be able to make
a slight maneuver - attitude maneuver to see it. Dick Truly
advised they'll look it over and let them know as they
come over the States on this pass. We'll take the line
down at this time for the change-of-shift briefing with
Milt Windler. Next acquisition will be 26 minutes and
50 seconds through the Goldstone tracking station. At
Greenwich mean time 22 hours 59 minutes, this is Skylab
Control.
END OF TAPE
SL-IV MC1421/I
Time: 17:24 CST 42:23:24 GMT
12/27/73

23 hours 24 minutes. Acquisition coming through Goldstone.
During the last pass through Honeysuckle the G&N officer
advised Flight Director, Phil Shaffer that he was turning
the CMG heaters back on to control the CMGs. This on
and off procedure with the CMG heaters has been going
on since mission day 36. CAP COMM is Dick Truly on this
stateside pass, approximately 15 - 17 minutes in duration.
CC Skylab, Houston, AOS stateside for
16 minutes.
CDR Hello, Richard you ready for some
downlink?
CC Stand by about 30 seconds, I'll let
you know.
CDR Okay.
CC And I have a note that I need to get
up here to Bill Pogue if he's available prior to him
starting this S073.
PLT Go ahead and talk,Dick. I'm fixing it up now.
CC Okay, Bill on your details pad we sort
of sent up a bad couple of lines there telling you what to
do in regard to the S073 stow following this ops. Why don't
you just ignore that it - it tells you to look at some - a
certain number of lines on the cue card. What we want you
to do is or, all t hat's required is a camera and filter stow.
And then tomorrow morning Jerry will do a camera and filter
installation and we'll have that on his ops pad. So after
the S073, just stow the camera and the filter and ignore
that remark on your pad that's 0024.
PLT Roger.
CC Okay. And we're ready for a TV downlink.
CDR Okay.
CC And Jerry, for your information this
is not real time to us here in Houston. It's going to
take us a little while to see this.
CDR Okay, it's almost gone.
CC Okay.
CDR Dick, the comet's right at the edge of
the screen.
CC Okay, Jerry. Thank you.
SPT The coma is very bright Dick. But it
is very hard to see the tail just end because of background
noise and the vidicon.
CC Roger.
SPT You can tell its general orientation,
but no detail.
SL-IV MC1421/2
Time: 17:24 CST 42:23:24 GMT
12/27/73
CC Roger. We're really itching to get

some of this TV back here in Houston, so we can look at
it too.
CDR I think the TV that Bill got for you
is probably the best you're going to get.
CC Roger.
CDR Yeah, does anybody have any idea whether -
what's going down on the downlink - and a larger field of view
or not than what we see.
CC Stand by i.
CC Skylab, Houston, all we can say now
is that we have been receiving good downlink TV at the
sites. But we really can't answer you as to the content
of the frames.
SPT Right now it's right at the very edge
of the field of view. And you had to move your head over
underneath the metal rim that we have in order to see it.
The tail itself looks as though it's not radially oriented.
It still appears to be at its grow - old orientation.
Maybe it's moved slightly but it's very hard to tell because
the faintness of the detail.
CC Roger.
CC Skylab, Houston, we're 1 minute to
LOS. Madrid comes up at 23:47.
END OF TAPE
SL-IV MC1422/I
Time: 17:42 CST, 42:23:42 GMT
12/27/73
PAO Skylab Control, Greenwich mean time 23 hours

43 minutes with loss of signal through Bermuda. Next
acquisition in 3 minutes and 15 seconds will be Madrid.
Science Pilot Gibson again re - describing the comet Kohoutek
as viewed through the onboard TV monitor. Here at Mission
Control Center Flight Dire Director Phil Shaffer and his
team of purple flight controllers going over flight planning.
The next mission day for next day off for the crew of
Skylab IV is mission day 49, 1 week from today. It was
originally scheduled for mission day 47, however, it's now
been moved up to mission day 49. Next acquisition in will
be in 2 minutes. CAP COM is Dick Truly. We'll hold the
line up for this Madrid pass.
CC Skylab, Houston, Madrid for 9 minutes.
CC Skylab, Houston. Curiosity question on
our part, with regard to the status, we see EVA C&D reservoir
pressure up some. I'm wondering if you're doing, or have
commenced HK83 Victor?
CDR That's affirmative, Dick.
CC Okay, Jer, thank you.
CC Skylab, Houston, we're 45 seconds from
LOS. Tananarive at 00:08.
hours 56 minutes. Loss of signal through Madrid. Next
acquisition in i0 minutes and 40 seconds will be Tananarive
tracking station. This is Skylab Control.
END OF TAPE
SL-IV MC-1423/I
Time: 18:06 CST 43:00:06 GMT
12/27/73
PAO At Greenwich mean time day 362, the clocks

here at Mission Control Center now moving to December 28.
Acquisition through Tananarive in 35 seconds, CAP COMM is
Dick Truly.
CC Skylab, Houston, Tananarive for 9 minutes.
CC SPT, Houston, if you got a second to
listen prior to getting ready for this upcoming ATM pass.
SPT Sure do, Dick, go ahead.
CC Okay, there's a nuZ update that's scheduled
at 01:50 to 02:00 on the ATM schedule pad for a later - I
guess it's the next daylight cycle for you. We'd like you
to delay that nuZ update until we get AOS Honeysuckle which
is going to be at a time of about 02:10. After we get AOS
Honeysuckle we would like you to try to get a star tracker
lockon while we're looking at our data just for drill, and
see if we can watch you do that.
SPT Okay, you want me to follow nominal procedures?
CC Yeah, we will have to power up the star tracker
prior to doing that_ but we might as well wait'll do dat (sic) -
wait to do that until we get AOS Honeysuckle also.
SPT Okay Dick, I'll wait for your call.
CC Okay, one more thing for you Ed. We
checked on the comet visibility and it turns out that it's
not going to become visible from underneath that ATM wing until
January 8 which is a long time away. We have however, had some
a couple of more glitches on the CMG number 2, one of them
occurred during the EVA and another one occurred today during
the solar inertial steady state period. The only difference
being is this one that occurred today occurred in the upper half
of the region of temperatures in which we're controllin_ that
that bearing. So there's not anybody down here that's real
anxious to do any extra maneuvers of any kind. And since we
don't haw_ a specific requirement for the visual ops or the
233 during this period doin_ the maneuver to take a look at
that comet seems pretty far out.
SPT Dick, I take it the answer is no. (Laughter)
But we agree with you.
CC Well, as a matter of fact, Phil and I have
been debating about this for quite a while. But yeah, it looks
like that's undoubtedly the smartest thing to do.
SPT Dick, what is the grating position you're
reading down there on the ground?
CC We don't have any data here Ed, Tananarive
is S-band voice only.
SPT Okay, I'm reading 2897 up here, and I'm
wondering whether that was the last value which was used or
whether tlhat_s an incorrect value?
SL-IV MC-1423/2
Time: 18:06 CST 43:00:06 GMT
12/27/73
CC 2897 is the last value of the grating we

saw Ed, so that sounds right.
SPT Thank you.
CC And Skylab, Houston, we're 2 minutes from
LOS just in case we drop out early here, Honeysuckle comes
up at 00:33.
PAO Skylab Control, 17 minutes after the hour,
with loss of signal through Tananarive. Next acquisition
will be Honeysuckle in 16 minutes. Tomorrow the crew has the
opportunity on 2 separate occasions, one is at 6:56 a.m.
central standard time and again at 8:33 central standard time
to observe and again photograph the unusual color variations
in the Falkland Current in the South Atlantic off of the
coast of Argentina. The crew earlier had described a red-
brown color in the current which scientists on the ground
describe as probably due to plankton blooms. These plankton
blooms are one cause of the so_ealled red tides. But the
bloom of the color described by the crew and the fact that it
is visible to the crew 270 miles high is a most unusual
occurrence according to scientists at the Johnson Space Center.
Scientists indicate this to be a very significant observation
and it is important that more data be obtained by the crew on
the color and its distribution along the width and length
of the current. The crew, time permitting, is being asked tomorrow
to describe as well as again photograph this phenomena. Next
acquislt_on will be in 14 minutes and 40 seconds through
Honeysuckle. At Greenwich mean time 18 minutes after the
hour this is Skylab Control.
END OF TAPE
SL-IV MC1424/I
Time: 18:32 CST, 43:00:32 GMT
12/27/73
PAO Skylab Control, 32 minutes after the hour.

Acquisition coming through Honeysuckle, Australia tracking
station in 50 seconds. CAP COM is Dick Truly.
CC Skylab, Houston. Honeysuckle for 5 minutes.
CC CDR, Houston, I got a comment on you for
on the urine sample bags, if you've got a minute. If you're
busy doing your PT or anything right now, it can come up
any time this evening.
PLT He's listening Dick, if you want to go
ahead and talk to him.
CC Okay, Jerry, we've racked our brains to try
to figure out where the missing urine sample bags are. And
I talked to Paul Weitz the other night, and - and we're
trying to get ahold of the crew to try to get a hint as to
where they might be. All we can think of now is that they
are on board somewhere, and it's just a matter of us finding
them. Sometime we'd like one of you guys to check the dome
locker 426 and make a recount in there for the urine sample
bags. And also, describe the containers that bags are in
that are up there. Be sure when you do that that you look
in the lid of that same locker. And whenever you do this
do this it's okay to record information on channel A or
air-to-ground of course. And let us know. The reason I
addressed this to you Jerry, was because you did the
inventory for us the other day.
CDR Eureka, there's one more rack of them in
the lid.
CC Aha, how many are in that one? Is that
a - is that a set of 25 or what?
CDR Yeah, that's a set of 25. Let me really
tear that dome locker apart.
CC Okay, why don't you take your time. Sometime
this evening and do that and maybe that'll help the whole
thing for us? And SPT, Houston, I've got a note here for you
on the Sun. We've monitored the type 1 radio storm on the
southwest or off the southwest limb at about 1.3 to 1.5
solar radii. So you might be aware of that. We're about 30
seconds from LOS. Hawaii comes up at 00:54.
SPT Thank you very much, Dick.
CC Roger.
PAO Skylab Control) 40 minutes after the hour.
Loss of signal through Honeysuckle. Next acquisition will
be Hawaii in 13 minutes i0 seconds. This is Skylab Control.
END OF TAPE
SL-IV MC1425/I
Time: 18:52 CST 43:00:52 GMT
12/27/73
PAO Skylab Control, 52 minutes after the

hour. Hawaii pass coming up 6 minutes and 50 seconds in
duration. CAP COMM is Dick Truly.
CC Skylab, Houston, AOS Hawaii for 7 minutes.
CDR Roger, Dick. The sample bag count now
is 106 counting todays. That's four full racks and 6 loose
ones. Got any more of those good ideas?
CC No but we're still thinking. Just so
I don't have to ask you again, cause the question will
probably come up. Where are the four full racks and six
loose one stowed now?
CDR Okay. The - there's three full racks in
D-4260 And I got six loose ones and one full rack down in
823 in the WMC.
CC Okay, Jerry let us continue to think
about it. And I assume you ransacked through D-426 and
that's what you found.
CDR Yeah, I did, I clawed the cardboard
off the walls, and got all the way to metal.
CC [Chuckle) Okay, thank you.
CC CDR, Houston. The count you just gave
us makes us 20 short which sound suspiciously like the box
of 20 that you counted _ you carried up with you in A-6.
Would you verify once again that you have or have not
used thmt particular box this mission_ maybe that's it.
CDR That was in two utility bags. And
those were all half samples and we have all ready used
those up.
CC Okay, Jerry. Thank you much.
CC CDR, Houston, Let me ask you one
more question about your experiences as you've taken out
these new boxes of - of urine sample bags. As it turned
out that the - that the - that the number of urine sample
bags in t]ie cardboard containers has - has it turned out
that they were 25 sample bags or 24? You could tell real
easy because they should if there were 24 and they came
out in even sets of three, if the_e were 25 when you got
to the end you would have one extra that you'd have to
combine with the next box. Over.
CDR Yeah, I've l've counted all the
ones that we've got and there's 25 in each rack. There's
12 on one side, 13 on the other.
CC Okayp thank you.
CC Yeah, Jerry. That last question wasn't
to bug you. But if it turned out that they have been
mispacked and only had 24 in each of those instead of 25
SL-IV MC1425/2
Time: 18:52 CST 43:00:52 GMT
12/27/73
it would have turned out that that was also a total of 20.
That - we thought maybe that's where the discrepancy was,
but we'll eontinue to think.
CDR Okay.
CC Skylab, Houston we're 30 seconds till
LOS. We're going to drop out a couple of minutes. I'ii
call you at Goldstone.
i o'clock. Next acquisition in i minute and i0 seconds
through Goldstone. Discussion with Commander Gerald Carr
concerning apparently some missing urine bags, urine sample
bags. These are used for collection of urine samples for
medical experiments, two separate medical experiments, M071
the minimal balance studies for Dr. Donald Whedon of the National
Institutes of Health, and the bioassay of body fluids M073 for
Dr. CCarolyn Leach of the Johnson Space Center. The crew was
advised conformation passed up to the crew _f a type one radio
storm on the southwest limb of the Sun_ approximately 120,000
miles off the limb of the Sun. Conformation came from the
Culgoora, Australia, radio telescope. These - these radio
waves dependant on the number of heavy - heavy protons
could reach the Earth's atmosphere. However, scientist
here at the Johnson Space Center expect no major change as
a result of th_s radio storm_ classified as a type I.
This is related to last night's activity where numerous
surges were noted by the crew on the west limb of the Sun.
END OF TAPE
SL IV MC-1426/I
Time: 19:02 CST 43:01:02 GMT
12/27/73
CC Skylab, Houston. We're 30 seconds to LOS

Goldstone. Bermuda in 4 minutes.
PAO Skylab Control. Greenwich mean time 1 hour
12 minutes. We've had loss of signal through Goldstone. Next
acquisition in 3 minutes will be the Bermuda tracking station,
as Skylab begins its 3284th revolution, currently in an
orbit 244 by 226 nautical miles. At apogee, the spacecraft
passes over the Great Australian Bight in the south of
Australia in the Indian Ocean. And the perigee at 226 miles
the spacecraft is in the North Atlantic east of Newfoundland.
Acquisition in 2 minutes through Bermuda. CAP COMM is Dick
Truly, as the Skylab-IV crew nears the conclusion of 42nd
day in orbit. The crew should be presently in their evening
meal. One more hour of ATM activity for Science Pilot Gibson
tonight. Earlier on the last pass, the crew was advised that
a type_l radio storm southwest limb of the Sun, approximately
120,000 miles off the limb of the Sun. Scientists interested
in this a_ea. This follows last night's activity of numerous
surges_ streamers in this area. We'll hold the line up for
CAP COMM Dick Truly.
CC Skylab, Houston. Bermuda for 6 minutes.
CDR Hey Dick, are there any calls scheduled
for tonight?
CC Yes, Jerry, and that's yours and it's at
a time of 03:09 at Ascension, and I'm sorry about that. I
thought you had been advised of that earlier this morning.
I set it up for you yesterday afternoon.
CDR Okay. 03:09, and what about the antenna?
CC Hang on. Let me check that. I think it's
it's left to right, Jerry. I_ll remind you just before that
pass.
CDR Okay. Left to right. Thank you.
CC Okay.
SPT Houston, SPT.
CC Go ahead, Ed.
SPT Say_ Dick, I'm wondering whether you folks
have been doing any thinking down there about the control
mode for the next EVA, or the things that we can do to
circumvent some of the difficulties we had last time.
Needless to say, that last EVA was rather taxing.
MCC Oh-h-h.
CC Wow. Roger, Ed. Let me get back to
you. We're about 15 seconds from LOS. And Canary is coming
up in about 3 or 4 minutes. Let me get back to you there.
SPT (Garble), Dick.
CC Incidentally Ed, that last transmission, you
were way down in the mud. I barely could read you. However,
I did copy it and I'll get back to you at Canary.
END OF TAPE
SL-IV MC-1427/I
Time: 19:22 CST 43:01:22 GMT
12/27/73
PAO Skylab Control, Greenwich mean time 1 hour

and 22 minutes. Loss of signal through Bermuda, next acquisition
in 1 minute and 20 seconds will be through the Canary tracking
station. The crew evening meal today will consist of the
high energy food bars on this the 42nd day in orbit. In addition
to the food bars the crew eats i or more items on the
conventional Skylab menu. For instance tonight the pilot and
commander will be having chicken and gravy and mashed potatoes
along with the food bars, 300-calorie food bars. The science
pilot also is having chicken and gravy with his either
chocolate chip bar, crispy bar or flake bar. These bars were
launched in the command module to extend the life of the food
supply aboard the Skylab space station. Acquisition in i
second through Canary.
CC Skylab, Houston. We're AOS Canary for about
7 minutes and Ed if you'll give me about another minute or
so I'ii get up to you here, and I have some words on the
control modes for the EVA.
SPT Okay, thanks very much. If we can get some
words on that today or early tomorrow then Bill and I can
sit down and talk a little bit about it and make sure we all
understand.
CC Okay, han_ on and Itll be right back with you.
CC Skylab, Houston.
CDR Go ahead Dick.
CC Jerry, let me describe a little first
of all let me preface this by saying that we have not chosen
a control mode, we are still looking at several items, and I
thought real quickly I might just run down the different modes that
we have and are still looking at and some of the - some of the
things that are being thought about and researched. There is
an awful lot of work going on now, and a decision I'm sure
will be reached probably early tomorrow I guess, and it - at
least as soon as it is reached you'll be brought up to speed.
But I think I can go through these items here and you can get
an idea of what we (sic)looking at.
SPT Sounds Dick - sounds good Dick, please do.
CC Okay, first one that we've looked at is a
CSM control during H-cages and a CMG control during other times.
There's a couple of complications with this one. First of all
it's procedurally complicated which invites errors and confusions
when things don't go exactly as we had thought of, which seems
to happen in cases like this. And also it - it makes EV-III
do a heck of a lot of shuttling between the CSM and ATM, so that
one at the moment is not in much favor. Second one we've looked
at _s strictly of _ naturally is TACS only. This one - the
disadvantage _ disadvantages here are is it is extremely
SL-IV MC-1427/2
Time: 19::22 CST 43:01:22 GMT
12/27/73
expensive in TACS and furthermore, the deadband in TACS

only is simply too wide to accomplish good data takes on the
Kohoutek experiment. The third choice is CSM only, here
the deadband is marginal but it is acceptable and I guess
if that's the only thing we had at the moment we probably would
use it. llowever, it introduces contamination problems that
we'd just as soon not have. And it - it also would require
some shuttling in between the CSM and ATM DC, I mean the ATM
control panel. A fourth item that is a mixture that we're
looking at and frankly right now it's beginning to look like it
might have some merit, but we have some more work to do, and
that is to have a control mode that would be CMG controlled
during data takes and then when we're not taking data go to
TACS only in between times with a continual H-cage in progress
which will reduce the TACS cost by allow allowing the CMGs
to help _ help hold us in inertial mode there. And then
reserving the CSM only control as a backup. At the moment
this looks most favorable, and we're continuing to look at it.
To bring you up to speed it turns out that most of our problems
occurred not so much when you were in the FAS area, but when
you were either out on the Sun end or the center work
station. Furt_ermore_ the system response that we have seen
as we have dug out the data and looked at it when we built up
a high X_momentum, is very similar to what we saw in the early
stages of Pete's mission, as a matter of fact even before
Pete got t_re when we were operating in the EGIL special
attitude. So this is making us go back to that data and go
t_rough it carefully to make sure that we've learned all
we can and we are doing that -we have been doing that and we
ar_ continuing to do that. So, to review the one that looks
most favorable at the moment but we have not chosen as of now
is one that is CMG controlled during data takes and then a TACS
only mode in between using a continuous H-cage and reserving
the CSM only control for some contingency backup control
mode. Over°
SPT Okay Dick, that last one does sound pretty
good also. And we will not be out at the center work station
or the Sun end_ so we'll be doing most of our work in the
FAS, so tlhat might lighten the load here a little bit. For the
last EVA where we do have to go out to the Sun end, I'm wonder-
ing _f anybody has thought about the _ the torque which we've
induced on the ve_icle and how that depended upon our body
attitude out t_ere, Apparently it must be from the venting from
t_e PCU. And if we could figure out when wetre building it up
_n a given direction and take the time to reverse it, we might
be _ actually _e able to put ourselves in a good posture about
X Ny Just rotat±ng _ rotating our bodies.
SL-IV MC-1427/3
Time: 19::22 CST 43:01:22 GMT
12/27/73
CC Tell you what Ed, I forgot to tell you,

we have done a good bit of thinking about that, there is a
message I think that's coming up tonight about some of that.
We are going to remove the deflectors for this upcomin_ EVA,
I forgot to mention that. So there are some hardware things
and some body orientation and experiment - orientation things
we've been thinking about. So, we are chasing all those
things and they are being pursued. We are about 20 seconds
from LOS here at Canary, Tananarive comes up at 01:46.
SPT Thank very much for the good update Dick.
One question remains in my mind is that when we had a - some
nominal H.-cages were performed, right after that cage we got
a - went right into a automatic nominal H-cage. And I was
wondering what brought that on, and I think that one or two
instances when that happened is when we had a high TACS usage.
CC Rog Ed, we think that was brought on by the
gimbals being on the stops at that time and that's what brought
on that series of cages. I'm about to lose you here at Canary
and I_ll pick you up at - at Tananarive.
SPT Thank you.
34 minutes. Loss of signal through Canary, next acquisition
in ii minutes and 45 seconds will be Tananarive voice relay
station. This is Skylab Control.
END OF TAPE
SL-IV MC1428/I
Time: 19:45 CST, 43:01:45 GMT
12/27/73

45 minutes. We will have acquisition through the Tananarive
- Tananarive voice relay station in 45 seconds. CAP COMM
is Dick Truly.
CC Skylab, Houston, AOS Tananarive for 3 minutes.
CC Skylab, Houston, two things here this
pass. One is I thought I'd take another hack at giving you
an answer again to the question you asked about the AUTO
resets just prior to LOS. I'm not sure you got that - what
I said at the last, but let me say it again, possibly in a
different way. It turns out Ed, that we - we felt like at
the start of that series of events, that we were in a position
in X momentum_ but it was so high that after the first reset,
the gimbals ended up on the stops - - the outer gimbals. So, then
we did another'one, and that happened three times in a row. And
after three times that automatically put us into TACS only. So it
was really, a situation where - where the input condition
almost _ although we didntt realize that at the time was going
to end up with us in TACS only, almost - no matter what we
did.
SPT Okay, the first time that occurred, that
we had a nominal H_CAGE automatically or _ or I should say
that we put it in, we got some pretty high rates out of it.
And what I, did was go to STANDBY and put a reasonable maneuver
time in, hit the SI switch, and I think we got back there and
without expending very much TACS. Howeverp we were out about
30 degrees or so in the X at the time. I asked whether we
should continue to do that if we got that far out. And the
reply was to wait till we got to around 50, which I did. And
I believe that's where we really ran into a a high TACS
utilizatien. And I'm wondering if we run into that
situation again, whether we might not be best off doing a
maneuver similar to what I did the first time.
CC Skylab_ Houston, I think we're going to
have an early LOS here at Tananarive, which is probably good
for me because it_ll give me some time to give you a straight
answer to that question, Ed. We are about 45 seconds from
LOS. Next station contact is Honeysuckle at 02:29. And when
we get to Honeysuckle, we'd kind of like to have the status
of where you are in the PCU check that you were doing. We're
particularly interested in step 6 ! which had do to with pump
noise and bubbles in the LCG.
PLT Dick, we're Just now getting ready to do
the confidence checks. And we_ll give you a pre-reading
on that.
CC Okay, just give us a blow by blow account
as you get to the point where you understand it Bill. Thank
you very by - much.
SL-IV MC1428/2
Time: 19:45 CST, 43:01:45 GMT
12/27/73
SPT Dick, you want to work the star tracker

in that location or subsequent pass?
CC It will be at the Honeysuckle, Ed. We'll
be prepared to watch it when we get there. And I'll - I'll
give you a go when we get there.
SPT Thank you Dick.
CC Okay.
hours 52 minutes. Loss of signal through Tananarive. Next
acquisition in 16 minutes 35 seconds through the Honeysuckle
tracking station. On the Canary and pass Science Pilot
Gibson questioning the ground on what procedures, what modes
for EVA _ what modes of attitude control will be utilized
for the EVA during the Christmas Day EVA. An excessive amount
of TACS propellant, thruster attitude control systems
propellant was used a total of 4_434 impluse pound-seconds
of fuel were used_ reducing the onboard propellant total now
to 21,000 pound-seconds. However_ flight controllers feel that
the amount remaining is sufficient to perform the two
remaining EVAs, one on Saturday, then one near the end of
the mission. 6,000 pound-seconds reserve is planned
after the EVAs and maneuvers for EREP passes. CAP COMM
Dick Truly reviewing with Science Pilot Gibson the modes
of being considered here on the ground, one using the command
and service module, one using TACS only, which CAP COMM
Truly mdw[sed the crew that this is an extremely expensive
mode, using TACS only. And one which is under serious
consideration, which has the most merit is the dual control
mode using the CMGs and TACS only, with the CSM serving as
a back up, Some of the problems which contributed to the
excessive use was the momentum exerted by the crew during the
EVA, specifically, when the crew was at the Sun end of the
ATM. Guidance and navigation officers here at the Flight
Control Center indicate that the buildup in momentum was very
quick when the crew was at the Sun end - when Commander Carr
was at the Sun end working on film retrevial and replacement,
as well as working on one of the apature doors, and removal
of the S149 particle collection device. Excessive momentum
by the crew was also builtup at the center work station.
A contributin_ factor also was the PCU deflectors on the
pressure suits. CAP COM Truly telling Science Pilot Gibson that
these deflectors will not be used on the next EVA. No - no
exact assessment has been made by the G&N officer as to the
amount of buildup of mo - momentum by crew movement. But
Dick Truly reported to the crew that similar momentum build-
ups were experienced during EVA of the Skylab II crew when
Commander Pete Conrad and Science Pilot Joe Kerwin were out
extending the - the solar wing on the orbital workshop.
SL-IV MC1428/3
Time: 19:45 CST, 43:01:45 GMT
12/27/73
Next acquisition in 12 minutes and 55 seconds through

Honeysuckle. At Greenwich mean time 1 hour and 56 minutes,
this is Skylab Control.
END OF TAPE
SL-IV MC1429/I
Time: 20:08 CST 43:02:08 GMT
12/27/73

2 hours 8 minutes. Acquisition coming through Honeysuckle,
Australia tracking station in 30 seconds.
CC Skylab, Houston, we're AOS Honeysuckle
for the next 9 minutes. And we're ready to for the nuZ
update attempt, Ed.
SPT Okay, Dick. Power going on now.
CC Okay.
CC SPT, Houston, ought to clarify what I
just said. We actually have nuZ updates through the ATMDC
inhibited now. We do not want to actually remove that
inhibit. But we do want you to attempt the procedures of
getting a lock on them. I think you understand that. Also
when you get a chance Ed, could you tell me what the frames
remaining on S082 Bravo is?
SPT That's 524.
CC Okay, thank you very much.
SPT Okay, Dick I powered it up and went to
manual. I got the indication of a star. I'm still in
manual but my gimbal readings are plus all balls for the
outer and minus 0011 for the inner.
SPT Would you like me garble?
CC Okay, stand by just a second Ed.
SPT Dick, another piece of data on S055
GRATING readout. At the end of last orbit I jumped up to
our reading of 80 even though I knew I was in zero. So I
ran this one the first MIRROR AUTO raster by just adding
80 onto it. As soon as I started the grating auto scan I
got only i:he first or two digits counting. I gave it a
trusty rap on the panel and it brought the other digits
into coun1_. And apparently from where we ended up I
think we - I think that must have done it. In other words
I think I was getting an accurate reading after I hit the
panel and the three other digits started couting.
CC Roger. ATOM says he appreciates that
and sounds like you've got a more positive malfunction
procedure than we're working on.
SPT It's positive.
CC Roger. And Ed the star tracker pad calls
for inner gimbal of 631. We incidentally - we are reading
the same gimbal angles that you reported just then.
SPT Okay, I'ii go ahead and try to work
it manually.
CC Okay.
CC And SPT, Houston, I got a note for you
on 82 Bravo.
SL-IV MC1429/2
Time: 20:08 CST 43:02:08 GMT
12127173
SPT Go ahead.
CC Roger. We'd like for you - it turns
out today that your pad did not have a short exposure to
clear the comet data. So we would like you not to take
any exposures on 82B from here to the end of this daylight
cycle. Then when you - on this upcoming nightside, we'd
like you to take one 5-second exposure and a short wavelength,
and that will clear the problem for us.
SPT Okay, I sure will.
CC Thank you, Ed.
SPT Okay, Dick I have not driven the outer
gimbal yet. But right now I am getting a flag which is
oscillating between star and open. I've got the inner gimbal
driven to approximately the right location. I'll drive the
outer now.
CC Okay.
CC Incidentally Ed, that first time it looked
to us like you might have been locked onto something that
was moving, a piece of contamination or something the way
the inner gimbal was moving.
SPT Okay Dick, that shouldn't have happened
because I did not go to auto, it should not have tracked it.
I noticed that it did change in the inner gimbal also. But
I was in manual, and that shouldn't have drifted. Or it
must have been all drift.
CC Roger.
SPT Okay, Dick I have no change in the
indication here with movement in either direction of
MPT for the outer gimbal. I did get a we do have a star
indication when I drive it hard over to the right. The
star indication oscillates between star and open. When I
drive it hard to the left you just stay star.
CC Roger, we're ready to close the shutter
and power down. And also we're wondering what the status
is on the M518. We feel like M561 should have been started
by now, and we don't see that.
SPT Bill just hit the switch.
CC Roger, and we're 50 seconds from LOS.
Hawaii comes up a 02:30, and we're going to dump the data/voice
recorder at Hawaii.
SPT Talk to you then Dick.
CC Okay. And I just noticed Hawaii is the
station for the evening status report, so I'ii be standing by
there.
2 hour 19 minutes. With loss of signal through Honeysuckle
next acquisition will be in 10 minutes and 15 seconds through
SL-IV MC1429/3
Time: 20:08 CST 43:02:08 GMT
12/27/73
the Hawaii tracking station. The Hawaii pass will be

devoted to the evening status report. With Commander Carr
giving the food intake, water consumption, film usage for
today's activities. Next acquisition in 9 minutes and
55 seconds, at Greenwich mean time 2 hours and 19 minutes
END OF TAPE
SL IV MC-1430/I
Time: 20:28 CST 43:02:28 GMT
12/27/73

28 minutes. Acquisition coming through the Hawaii tracking
station in 50 seconds. The evening status report scheduled
to be passed down by Commander Gerald Carr to CAP COMM Hank
Hartsfield during this 9 minute and 25 second pass.
CC Skylab, Houston. We're AOS Hawaii for the
next 9 minutes. We're taking the VTR here so we can rewind
it and dump it at the upcoming stateside pass. And I'm
standing by for the evening status report.
SPT Jerry will be right with you, Dick.
CC Okay, Ed.
CDR Okay Dick, the new PCU/LSU combination
passed with flying colors.
CC Okay. Good. Thank you much.
CDR Everything's nice and dry. The bubbles
worked out of the LCG room quickly and everything seems to
be in good shape.
CC Good.
CDR Okay. Evening status report. Sleep: CDR,
7.0, 6 heavy, 1 light; SPT, 7.0, 7 heavy; PLT, 7.5, 7.5 heavy.
Volume: CDR, 2000; SPT, 950; PLT, 1850. Water gun: CDR, 7851;
SPT, 3385; PLT, 9658. Body mass: CDR, 6.316, 6.315, 6.317;
SPT, 6.379, 6.378, 6.382; PLT, 6.248, 6.250, 6.247. Exercise:
CDR, Alfa: minus 2 minutes. I'd like to change my standard
to 28 minutes, rather than the present 30, and then I'ii quit
calling you minus 2 minutes every night.
CC Okay.
CDR SPT, exercise Alfa only; PLT, no change.
CDR on medication: none; SPT, none; PLT, Tinactan as directed.
Clothing: CDR, a T-shirt; SPT, trousers, jacket and shorts;
PLT, none. Food log: CDR, salt, 6.5, plus one cherry drink,
minus 1.0 rehydration water; SPTp salt, i0.0, plus one tea,
no hydration water; PLT, plus 6.0 saltp plus one coffee, minus
2.0 water. Flight Plan deviations: none. Shopping llst
accomplishments: CDR did a wardroom SMMD calibration with
zero and 500 weights. Also CDR did an aroma test, and partial
taste test. The results of both of these shopping list items,
all three of them actually, the SMMD cal, the aroma test, and
the taste test are on tape at about 00:00 Zulu. Inoperable
equipment: none. Unscheduled stowage - stowage item location:
one food canister and that's overage and SO52 film were trans-
ferred from 551 to 552. Urine trays number 9 and i0 were
transferred from 756 to 551. And so that leaves - freezer
553 empty at the moment, and freezer 756 has one frozen
food canister in it, which will probably be gone in the next
t_ree days° Photo log is next.
CC Okay.
SL IV MC-1430/2
Time: 20::28 CST 43:02:28 GMT
12/27/73
CDR Okay. 16-millimeter; Delta Papa 9, Charlie

India 126_ 05, Charlie India 125; Delta Papa 19, Charlie 127,
65, Charlie India 93; Nikon: i, Charlie X-ray 26, 01; 2,
Bravo Victor 48, 32; 3, 4, and 5, no change. 70-millimeter:
Charlie X-ray 52, 020. ETC; no change, EREP, no change.
Drawer A: Alfa i, no change; Alfa 3, 4, and back, no change.
Alfa 2, 05, Charlie India 127, 65, Charlie India 93.
CC Okay. I got all of that Jer. Anything
else?
CDR No, that's it, except I'm wondering what
happened here with VP9. That shouldn't be shown as a no
change. I'ii look that one up and correct that Drawer A
configuration.
CC Okay. Let me confirm one thing, Jerry.
That you were talked to about earlier this morning, so we
can decide whether we need to schedule it or not. We know
that you closed the water dump valve on panel 831 this
morning. Did you get a chance to perform M509-$7 Bravo today?
CDR Yes I did. I did that this morning about
i0:00 and I should have put that on the shopping list for
unscheduled work.
CC Okay. So it's done. Very good. Also, if
the SPT has a moment to listen, I need to - I have a short
note here for him.
SPT Go ahead Dick.
CC Ed, two days ago, on mission day 41, day
360, you - during an ETC prep, you recorded a message on
inspection of ETC magazine and camera interface, and I went
in the back room just a minute ago and listened to it and it's
a beautiful recording. I think there's a bicycle in the
background, but it really was garbled. We did pick up some
interspersed comments on it and I've got a couple of questions
specific questions on it. First of all, please confirm or
not that there was no contamination either on the plug or the
jack .
SPT That's correct Dick. I've looked it over
pretty thoroughly and I could not find any contamination,
not only on the plugs, which they said I'd find, hut on all
of them.
CC Okay. Also, you mentioned something about
a problem you had with the tolerance on the vacuum seal, and
that was just about completely unreadable. Do you recall
what that was? Could you help us out there?
SPT Yeah. I was speculating. We had put the
new seal on and I still had that buzzing noise, and I was
wondering what it was. What I - what I tried to do was move
the seal up a little bit. But it didnVt leave at the very top
of the shart, and then put it on so it was buttoned hard up.
END OF TAPE
SL-IV MC1431/I
Time: 20:36 CST, 43:02:36 GMT
12/27/73
SPT And I was wondering what it was. What -

what I tried to do was to move the seal up a little bit,
but it's just leave at the very top of the shaft and then
put it on so it would buck hard up against the opposing surface,
and that seemed to make no difference at all either. I was
considering putting washers underneath it but now, I elected
not to because the time was running short and it really
didn't pull anything down at all. We can tolerate it, it's
not real problem on our side. But it is - anyway to break
the data then we'll go ahead and troubleshoot it some more.
CC Okay, thank you very much. I don't have
any other specific questions on that piece of tape. If you
can remember anything else that you think was on there and
we might ought to have, you might put it on the voice record
anytime you like. Just turned out that the background noise
on that particular segment_just just about completed wiped
you out. l've still got about 2 minutes left here at
Hawaii, so I'm standing by.
SPT The only other thing I put on there Dick,
was the clock time. I can pick that up give it to them
any time they like. If they need it now or we can pick
it up at the next ETC usage.
CC Ed, thatTs one of the things we did already
get. So, I - I guess we have it all now. Thank you very
much.
CC And SPT, Houston, we noticed you're off the
solar disk in optical reference.
SPT Rog, Dick, I'm just going to let it run
around here again until we get close to ii00 and I'll move
on the disk and pick up the optical signals.
CC Okay. Skylab, Houston, we're about a
minute from LOS. Goldstone comes up in about 3 minutes.
I have some news that I can read you there, or I can - we
still have some other passes later on, if you'd like to wait.
CDR I think we'll be ready for it then. And
I got the change for you, in drawer A configuration, Alfa 3,
should read 06 Charlie India 126, 05 Charlie India 125.
CC Okay, thanks for the update, Jer.
hours 40 minutes. Loss of signal through Hawaii. Next
acquisition in 1 minute through the Goldstone tracking station,
as Skylab-IV crew concludes - near the conclusion of their
42nd day in orbit. Carr reporting on the checkout of the
PCU, the power conditioning unit of the pressure suit assembly
which is worn outside during an EVA. The PCU provides oxygen
and water from the spacecraft system into the EVA suits that
the crew members wear outside. He was passed up a series of
SL-IV MC1431/2
Time: 20:36 CST, 43:02:36 GMT
12/27/73
checklists to go over to verify the integrity of the PCU used

during the previous Christmas Day EVA. Preparations for the
EVA scheduled for Saturday, which calls for Science Pilot
Ed Gibson and Commander Gerald Carr to exit the vehicle and
continue Comet Kohoutek photography, while Pilot Bill Pogue
serving as EVA crew member number 3 remains in the HDA,
multiple docking adapter monitoring and - the activities of
the two EVA crew members, and supervising attitude control
of the vehicle. We'll hold the line up for this stateside
pass.
END OF TAPE
SL-IV MC1432/2
Time: 20:41 CST 43:02:41 GMT
12/27/73
including potential 1976 presidential canidates, the Harris

Survey reports. Federal Energy Chief William L. Simon
announced today establishment of a stand-by system for
gasoline rationing, but he still believes its actual use
can be avoided. Simon said he has ordered the Bureau of
Engraving and Printing to begin printing a three-month supply
of gasoline ration coupons, just in case they're needed.
He said a rationing system would not be ready for operation
until March the first, and the trends in gasoline supply
and demand over the next six weeks would determine whether
rationing is really needed. He said the system being developed
now looks toward a basic - a basic ration avering averaging
about 32 to 35 gallons per month, per licensed driver with
coupons to be distributed to each licensed driver above
18 years of age. The annual retail cost of a market basket
of U.S. produced food rose $14 in November, even though
prices declined at the farm level, Agriculture Department
figures showed today. Unless there is a sharp setback in
trade in December, the United States should finish 1973 with
its first trade surplus in three years. The November surplus
of exports over imports totaled $85.7 million, which put
the over-all surplus for the first ii months of the year at
$65.9 million.
CC We're about 1 minute from LOS. Your
next station is Bermuda at 02:52, which is the med conference.
Ed, you get an A plus again this evening on closing out the
ATM, and we'd like a frame count.
SPT Though you would never ask. 15170,
5526, 188, 523, 7203, 5177.
CC Okay, Ed thank you very much. The pass
after Bermuda is a Canary pass, and I'll be calling you
there at 03:03.
2 hours 49 minutes, with loss of signal through Goldstone.
Next acquisition in 2 minutes and 55 seconds will be the
Bermuda tracking station on the final stateside pass for the
crew tonight. The Bermuda pass will be 9 minutes and
23 seconds in duration. The crew settling down pre-sleep
activities. Science Pilot Ed Gibson for the second night
in a row getting a A plus from the ATM science room for the
placement of the ATM C & D panel into an unmanned mode of
operation, preparing for the 8 hour period with which the
ground will control the ATM instruments while the crew sleeps.
Tomorrow morning 8:35 central standard time the crew will will
reach the half way point in the scheduled 84 day mission.
The space station will be over the South Atlantic Ocean at
SL-IV MC1432/3
Time: 20::41 CST 43:02:41 GMT
12/27/73
this time_, at 8:35 central standard time. At that point

the space station - the crew will have made 607 trips
around the Earth logging 17,650,000 miles in space since
their launch from Cape Kennedy on November 16. The space
station however will have logged 3,292 revolutions of the
Earth or 95,760,000 miles since the launch from Cape Kennedy
on May 14.. Ground control has continued to review data
from the Christmas Day EVA in preparation for upcoming
Saturday EVA, devoted exclusively to Comet Kohoutek
photography) Ground control is looking at new modes of
vehicle a1:titude control as well as EVA procedures to minimize
the momentum buildup, which was experienced during the
Christmas Day EVA, which caused the most excessive
use of TACS in the Skylab program, a;total of 4434 pound-
seconds or nearly 15 percent of the available supply on
board the vehicle. Acquisition coming in Bermuda in
25 seconds. We'll hold the line up for this Bermuda pass.
END OF TAPE
SL-IV MC-1433/I
Time: 20:52 CST 43:02:52 GMT
12/27/73
PLT Houston, Skylab, PLT.

CC Roger, go ahead.
PLT Rog, a question about the housekeeping
i0 Alfa that was scheduled after all this SUS work and it is
essentially the cycling of the SUS loop i pumps.that I - or
have already performed in the process of doing the - the reliabilty
check or the confidence check on the SUS i loop. And what I'm
askin_ is, does was that intended to be a part of the
confidence check, or do you want me to do that again, repeat
that test in fact.
CC Okay, hang on just a second Bill.
CC Bill, what you've already done is okay,
we do not need to repeat housekeeping i0 Alfa.
PLT Thank you very much_ that's all complete,
everythinl_ looks fine, the I'ii get you some temp readings
on 561 before I go to bed.
CC Okay Bill, thank you very much. Sounds
like y'all did good work on that for us tonight.
PLT That SUS loop, that took an awful lot of time,
but I think we're pretty happy with the results.
CC Good show.
CDR Houston, CDR.
CC Go ahead Jer.
CDR We_ve had a pin failure at J3 of television
input station 642. Had a pin break off and come floating
out. So, I don't know if there's anythin_ we can do about
that particular input station but we'll be powering up our
camera from the one up in the forward compartment.
CC Okay, thank you for letting us know.
CDR Do you know if we have any spare J
connecters or anything?
CC Well, as I recall we can swap the input
stations around but not individual connecters. But we'll
certainly check it out and let you know.
CDR Okay.
CC Skylab, Houston, we're about 2 minutes
to LOS Canary. We're going to have a very short break and
I'ii give you a call at Ascension. And Jerry a reminder for
you, this upcoming Ascension pass is your family comm and
the antenna is left to right. And incidentally we've gone
back to our original schedule on crew day off, it's going to
be day 49_ which is January 3.
PLT Rog, day 49, January 3, copy that, and
Jerks up there. You did say left to right.
CC That affirm.
PLT Thank you very much Dick.
CC Skylab, Houstonp Ascension for 9 minutes.
SL-IV MC-i433/2
Time: 20:52 CST 43:02:52 GMT
12/27/73
PLT Rog, Dick.

CC And Skylab, Houston, we've been uplinking
on VHF and so far have heard no response.
PLT Stand by, I'ii check.
CC Okay Bill, thank you.
PLT Dick, Jer says they're reading him but
they're cutting in and out.
CC Okay, thank you, we_ll see if we can work
on it.
PLT And Dick, I got out of sync there on
that 561 where I'm working that SUS loop_ and got the heater
on light, so I'ii give you a temp as late as I can, l'm not
sure l_m going to hit the soak period or not.
CC Okay Bill, copy.
and 19 minutes. Loss of signal through Ascension as Skylab
space station entering its 3285th revolution. Here at the
Johnson Space Center Mission Control room. Ground controllers
are continuing to review data from the Christmas Day EVA which
resulted in the most excessive use of attitude propellant in
the Skylab program. A total of 4434 pound-seconds, more than
15 percent of the remaining propellant supply was used.
Controllers are looking at various modes of providing attitude
control for the scheduled Saturday EVA, one devoted exclusively
to Comet Kohoutek photography. One of 4 plans under study
is a multicontrol mode using CMG oly - only during data takes,
TACS only during non data take periods and utilizing the CSM
as a backup, although this mode requires additional work
on the part of Pilot Bill Pogue who will be the inside man on
this EVA, Ground controllers are confident the - this mode
will keep TACS usage to a minimum. Another step being taken
to minimize attitude problems is - is the removal of a deflector
cover on the power conditioning unit through which oxygen and
water flow from spacecraft systems to the pressure suit
worn by'the EVA astronauts. The PCU normally vents gas and water
through numerous ports in the unit. This exhaust is directed
to the rear from the front vent ports by a deflector which
covers the front of the PCU. This deflector is to diminish
potential contamination of ATM and other scientific instrument
optics. This deflected PCU exhaust directed in a - one direction
to the rear of the EVA astronaut apparently caused moment
additional momentum to the vehicle. Coupled with - coupled
with the excessive mom - movement at the center work station
which is 18 feet from the center line of the space station
and the Sun end which is 25 feet from the center line of the
vehicle. This momentum buildup which fed into the CMGs, the
control moment gyros, set the stage for a series of events which
SL-IV MC-1433/3
Time: 20:52 CST 43:02:52 GMT
12/27/73
ran up the usage of TACS. In addition EVA procedures will be

prepared to minimize the effect crew movements may have on
the Skylab attitude. Deletion of the power conditioning unit
deflector should reduce the thrust of the PCU vents by at least
50 percent according to Flight Controllers. Normally the PCU
vents 8.3 pounds of water/gas per hour, when deflectors are
used the 4 PCU vents are directed to the rear causing 0.05
pounds thrust per hour. Removal of the deflectors should cause
minimal venting through outlets in the front and 2 in the rear,
reducin_ the thrust to .0 -
END OF TAPE
SL-IV MC1434/I
Time: 21:23 CST, 43:03:23 GMT
12/27/73
PAO per hour. Removal of the deflectors should

cause miminual venting through outlets in the front and two
in the rear, reducing the thrust to .018 pounds per hour.
EVA crewmen will manipulate their bodies during EVA to
eliminate contamination to optics of the ATM and other
instruments without the use of the deflector. Contributing
to the momentum buildup during the EVA was also the fact
that Commaner Cart spent more time at the ATM Sun end and
ATM center work station, moving around, performin K various
repairs. For instance, the SO54 filter repair and other chores
spending more time at these two stations durin_ EVA than
an - other previous mission. Although the mo the crew
movement was not as exessive during this EVA as it was on
Skylab II with Commander Pete Conrad and Science Pilot Joseph
Kerwin, fr _ freeing the stuck sa - solar wing. The fact that
Conrad and - and Kerwin were on the vehicle not away from the
vehicle, as was the case with Commander Cart at the end of
the ATM. Tomorrow, Friday, is the halfway point in the mission
for the 4 crew members, at 8:35 a.m. central standard time.
They'll reach the halfway point in the 84-day mission, they'll
have completed tomorrow morning at 8:35, 607 trips around
the world. While the crew sleeps in the morning, 4:24 a.m.
central standard time, Comet Kohoutek will reach the
perihelion. The comet will arrive at the closest point to
the Sun, and be given a good thermal kick as it nears its
closest approach. At that time the speed of the comet will
be 251,00.0 miles per hour, and will be 13,240,000 miles
from the Sun, and i03,900_000 miles from the Earth. Comet's
closest approach to the Earth will come January 15th of next
year, January 15, 1974. At that time the comet will be
74,940,000 miles from the Earth traveling at a speed of
118,000 miles per hour and at that point, on January 15th,
will be 59,970,000 miles from the Sun. Next acquisition in
15 minutes through the Carnarvon tracking station. CAP COMM
Dick Truly will sign off with the crew tonight through the
Guam tracking station in approximately 31 minutes from now.
At Greenwich mean time 3 hours and 26 minutes, this is
Skylab Control.
END OF TAPE
SL-IV MC1435/I
Time: 21::40 CST, 43:03:40 GMT
12/27/73

hours 40 minutes. The daily medical report reads as follows,
the crew enters the second half of the mission in good health.
Crew performance was very good today, signed Dr. Gerald
Hordinsky,. for Dr. W.R. Hawkins, Director of Medical Operations
Life Sciences Director at the Johnson Space Center. Tomorrow
the crew has a busy day. Another pair of medical experiments
with Commander Carr being the subject of the M092/MI71 run,
lower mod - lower body negative pressure device. A block of
3 hours of time spent preparing for the Saturday EVA for
Comet Kohoutek, JOP 18C, joint observations program 18C for
Comet Kohoutek tomorrow evening, as well as 4 hours and
31 minutes manned operation of the Apollo telescope mount.
Carnarvon pass of 8 minutes. Acquisition in 20 seconds, we'll
hold the line up for CAP COMM Dick Truly.
CC Skylab, Houston, we're AOS Carnarvon and
Honeysuckle. And we got you for about 9 minutes.
CDR Roger, Dick. Hey Dick, how much longer
you guys are going to be on tonight?
CC Oh, oh, we're - wer're going to be around
here till about midnight. We - your last pass of the evening
is the next which is Guam.
CDR Okay, I'm working up a little special
message for you and Phil. It'll be going on tape probably
in the next 15 or 20 minutes.
CC Oh my goodness, okay, we'll certainly be
looking for it.
CC Skylab, Houston, we're about 30 seconds
from LOS at Honeysuckle. I'ii give you a holler at Guam for
the last pass of the evening at 03:57.
CDR Roger, Dick.
52 minutes;. Loss of signal through Carnarvon. with acquisition
in 4 minutes and 35 seconds through Guam. Comet Kohoutekls
perihelion to the Sun will be at about 4:24 a.m. central
standard time, about i0 - 10:24 Greenwich mean time, while
crew is still asleep. The comet will be given a good thermal
kick by the Sun at that point and the speed of the comet will
be 251,000 miles per hour. Since perihelion occurred after
the minimum elongation, chances of capturing on film aboard
Skylab of the comet near perihelion are better - actually
after perihelion in the next few days. Actually the best
viewing of the comet near par - perihelion was earlier today
by Skylab instruments. And the crew did report viewing the
perihelion - I mean the comet Kohoutek on the TV monitors
aboard the spacecraft. This is recorded on video tape and
will be relayed to the ground here at the Johnson Space Center
at - later tonight and line eallups are set for 05:15 at Texas,
and 6:45 over Goldstone this morning. The TV lines will be
SL-IV MC1435/2
Time: 21:40 CST, 43:03:40 GMT
12/27/73
called up for i hour for Texas between 5:15 Greenwich mean

time and 6:15 Greenwich mean time, and between 6:45
Greenwich mean time and 7:45 Greenwich mean time through
Goldstone. The pictures of the comet will be later released
over the public release line here at the Johnson Space Center
at about 8:30 a.m. central standard time tomorrow. Comet
Kohoutek =Lakes its closest approach to the Sun tomorrow for
the - on it's spectacular trip through the heavens. The
discoverer of Comet Kohoutek will be here at the Johnson Space
Center tomorrow afternoon. His schedule calls for him to be
at the Missions Operation Control Room and talk to the crew
during a stateside pass tomorrow. This will be about 3 p.m.
central standard time tomorrow. Guam pass should be the
final communications with the crew today on their 42nd day
in orbit. We'll hold the line up for this Guam pass for
Dick Truly, CAP COMM here at the Mission Control Center.
END OF TAPE
SL-IV MC1436/I
Time: 21:57 CST, 43:03:57 GMT
12/27/73
CC Skylab, Houston, Guam for 6 minutes.

CDR Roger, Dick.
CC Skylab, Houston, incidentally this evening
at 10:24 Zulu, the comet is going to pass perihelion. Itls
going to be going at a speed of 251,400 miles per hour and
the distance from the Sun at that time is 13,240,000 miles.
So you guys have a happy perihelion this eyeing. We're 1
minute from LOS. Your wakeup station is Hawaii and it's about
20 minutes after 12:00 Zulu, so you might be sure and set
your alarm clocks. So everybody get a good night sl - sleep
and say good night Dick.
MCC Good night, Dick.
CDR Good night, Dick.
SPT Good night, Dick.
PLT Good night, Dick.
CC Good night.
CDR Stop giggling, Dick.
CC Everybody in here is. We get that way
this late at night.
CDR You're as bad as Crippen.
CC (Laughter). Not only that he's on the back
row and he's worse.
hours 8 minutes. A good night to the Skylab-lV crew closing
out day 42 in the mission of Skylab IV, halfway point being
reached tomorrow morning at 8:35 for an 84-day mission.
Skylab Control Center public affairs console will close at
this time and re-open, Friday morning December 28, at 6 a.m.
central standard time. At Greenwich mean time 4 hours and
8 minutes, this is Skylab Control.
END OF TAPE
SL-IV MC1437/I
TIME: 06:20 CST, 43:12:20 GMT
12/28/73
PAO Skylab Control at 12 hours 19 minutes

and 46 seconds Greenwich mean time. Skylab space station
is now just about to come within range of the Hawaiian Island
tracking antenna. The crew should be up at this time and
be preparing for their daily activities. There was no
opportunity to call them at 6 o'clock for normal wakeup time.
Today's activities include a ATM work as the comet Kohoutek
has now passed the Sun at its closest point. And also a
medical experiment on Commander Carr schedule for this morning,
MO92, MI71 which is lower body negative pressure and metabolic
activity experiments. This afternoon they'll be preparing
for tomorrow's space walk, that will take about 2-1/2 hours
out of the afternoon. We're ahout a minute from acquisition
at Hawaii. We'll bring the line up live now for air-to-ground.
The spacecraft communicator is Robert Crippen, and the flight
director on duty now is Don Puddy.
CC (Music)
CC Good morning, Skylab. Crippen and Don
Puddy with the crimson crew back with you.
CDR Good morning, Crip.
CC How are you gents doing today?
CDR Well, as soon as we get our marbles gathered
up we'll let: you know.
CC Okeydoke, I saw that Truly's coment getting
you to set your alarm clocks worked and you were up and about.
CDR Yeah, could old GNS tell what time we got
up?
CC Well_ I imagine if he goes back and look
at his data he can, but he - can tell me when you come over
the hill if you're awake.
CC Skylab, Houston; we're 1 minute from LOS.
See you again over the Vanguard in 25 minutes, at 12:53. We'll
be doing a data voice recorder dump there. And old SOL's been
so quiet we arenTt even sending you a SAP update; nothing to
update you on.
SPT Roger, Crip.
PAO Skylab Control at 12 hours 31 minutes and
4 seconds Greenwich mean time. Skylab space station has now
passed out of range of the Hawaiian Islands tracking antenna.
We're 21 minutes and 45 seconds from our next acquisition of
signal and that will be at Vanguard. Although Bob Crippen played
up a bit of music for the crew and did say hello to them, they
were awake as we came into acquisition of signal at Hawaii. They
were awaken this morning by their alarms. Next acquisition
21-1/2 minutes away. This is Skylab Control at 31-1/2 minutes
after the hour.
END OF TAPE
SL-IV MC-1438/I
Time: 06:412 CST, 43:12:52 GMT
12/28/73

Greenwich mean time. We're now 16 seconds from acquisition
of signal at the Vanguard tracking ship. The pass through
Vanguard will last approximately i0 minutes. The spacecraft
communicator is Bob Crippen.
CC Skylab, ?uston. AOS Vanguard for i0 minutes.
And we'll be doing a data/voice recorder dump here.
PLT Roger, Crip.
CC And, PLT, if you've got a moment I'd like
to give you a little more reminder for this houskeeping 70
Yankee, you've got coming up today.
PLT Fire away, Crip. I'm listening.
CC Okay. If you remember we've got that
little problem with CBRM 5 such that the relay that stuck
closed in tlhe ATM C&D makes that any command you send to any other
CBRM go to that one. So be sure and check your BATTERY and CHARGER
STATUS lights. If they go out after you've done any commanding,
of things back on to other CBRMs, you need to turn the CBRM 5
CHARGER OFF.
PLT Okay, Crip. I got it. Thank you very much.
CC Also, when we conclude those operations today,
we need to make sure that the power system CBRM SELECT does
go to OFF. And we'll - We'll make a note to give you a
reminder on that one a little bit later today.
PLT Okay.
PLT I've got those duly noted, Crip.
CC Okeydoke.
CC SPT, Houston. Good morning, Ed. You got
time to jot down a note for me?
SPT Go ahead, Bob.
CC Okay. On that MO92 run today that you're
running on Jer, because his legs are getting nice and thin,
we need to change leg bands. It appears that they've dropped
down below the 13 inches and we want to go to Charlie Sierra now
with a backup of Charlie Tango.
SPT Is that the same information we came up on
the med staff's pad?
CC That's affirm. We just wanted to remind
you of it.
SPT Okay. Thank you, Crip.
CC Okeydoke. And that will be from now on
I guess.
SPT We'll have to fatten him up so we can all
use the same leg bands again.
CC (Laughter) Rog.
CC Skylab, Houston. We're i minute from
LOS. We'll see you again in 6-1/2 minutes over Ascension
at 13:08, 13:08.
SL-IV MC-1438/I
Time: 06:52 CST, 43:12:52 GMT
12/28/73
SPT So long, Crip.

CC Bye, bye.
PAO Skylab Control at 13 hours 3-1/2 minutes
Greenwich mean time. Went out of range of the tracking
ship Vanguard in about 4-1/2 minutes from acquisition at
Ascension, where we will have a 7-minute pass. Astronauts
Jerry Carr, Ed Gibson, and Bill Pogue are keeping track of
the comet Kohoutek today as it begins moving away from the
Sun. The comet passed just 13 million miles from the Sun's
surface at about 4:24 this morning, central standard time.
Skylab solar telescopes will photograph the comet changes
today as it begins to dim after reaching a peak a few hours
ago. Skylab crew with 6 weeks of experience in space now
passes the mid-point in the planned 84 day mission this
morning at 8:35 a.m. If everything continues to go well, the
astronauts will splash into the Pacific Ocean at dawn on southwest
of San Diego on February 8th. Later today, the crew will
prepare for another spacewalk, the second of the week. Tomorrow's
work outside the space station will provide additional pictures
of Kohoutek's comet. The distinguished astronomer will be
here this afternoon. He's scheduled to have a conference, a live
TV and live air-to-ground at approximately 21:09 Greenwich
mean time time today, that's 3:09 central standard time this
afternoon. This is Skylab Control. We'll keep the line up
live now for air-to-ground through Ascension. We're still
now about 3 minutes from acquisition there.
END OF TAPE
SL-IV MC1439/I
Time: 07:05 CST, 43:13:05 GMT
12/28/73
CC Skylab, Houston. We're AOS Ascension. We

have you for 6 minutes.
CDR Roger, Crip. Would you send up another
copy of 4340 Bravo - the 6-day forecast. Days 48 and 49 and -
well, 48 and 49 got kind of garbled.
CC Will do, Jer. You got a moment to note
a couple items for me please, sir?
CDR Sure. Go ahead.
CC Okay. Because we got that M561 started a
little bit late yesterday, we want to delete the M518 terminate
that you've scheduled at 00:40 today and that's in your details
and on your summary also.
CDR Okay. I'll do it.
CC And EGIL's been doing some looking ahead
at our Beta angle and worrying a little bit about temperatures,
knowing that it is probably going to get warm with increasing
Beta. In fact, right now we're looking like it's going to go
up around 80 degrees again. And we were pondering some things
we might be: able to do and one of the items that was under
consideration - can you give us an idea of how many lights
you normally have on during the day?
CDR Oh, we usually turn just about everything
on,
CC Okay. Specifically I'm asking about the

OWS and you're saying just about all of them are on.
CDR Yeah and we get along with half or less
probably.
CC Okay. That's - we'll talk about it a little
bit more but that'll probably help the heating problem when
the Beta starts getting up higher.
CDR Okay.
CC That's all I had for right now. Thank you.
CDR Okay. I've got one for you for the camera
folks and that is that Bill and I question the wisdom of
loading Nikon Ol for EVA. Now we_ve had trouble with that -
on the first EVA with that rascal and Nikon 02 worked beauti-
fully last time. I'm for sticking with a going system in-
stead of going back to the one that gave us trouble.
CC So noted; we'll look into it.
CC And CDR, Houston. I guess one other item
I should let you know what weVre doing regarding the star tracker
problem, For NuZ updates, we'll be doing it from the ground
usin_ the outer gimbal backup command. So that'll be taken
care of from here and I guess the prediction is that we can
handle it fairly accurately. Probably down on the order of
three-tenths of a degree.
CDR Roger.
CC We periodically may be using SO19 to check
it but for the most part, we'll be doing it all on the ground.
SL-IV MC1439/2
Time: 07:05 CST, 43:13:05 GMT
12/28/73
CDR Okay.
CC Skylab, Houston. We're i minute from LOS.
Next station contact is Vanguard again in about an hour and
16 minutes. And that's at 14:30, 14:30. We have got you a
new copy of the 6-day forecast on board and you'll probably have
a new team by the time we see you over Vanguard again.
CDR Roger, Bob. You guys have a good day.
CC Same to you, gents. See you manana.
SPT Crip, I've got a question.
CC Try to get it answered, give it to me right
now. We'll get you an answer next time.
SPT Okay. It's day 49 - we're not doing a
JOP 18D. Is that because the comet is fading?
CC We're still checking on that.
SPT Okay. Thank you.
CC We have to take those latter days on that
forecast with a little grain of salt.
PA0 Skylab Control at 13 hours 16 minutes and
30 seconds Greenwich mean time. Skylab space station is now
about to cross the coast of Africa. Wetve passed out of range
of the tracking antenna on Ascension. Our next acquisition
a little less than 36 minutes now, will be at Vanguard. There's
a correction there's a pass through Guam. It's about 36 min-
utes away. That Guam pass has been cancelled because of low
elevation. Our acquisition at Vanguard will be an hour and
14 minutes from now. Skylab crew is now just about to pass the
midway point in their mission. Six weeks under their belts
all ready and having traveled more than 17 million miles in
orbit, they'll pass that midpoint at about 8:35 this morning.
That's based on the scheduled 84-day mission, end February 8th.
This is Skylab Control. Our next acquisition, an hour and 13
minutes away. It's now 17-1/2 minutes after the hour.
END OF TAPE
SL-IV MC1440/I
TIME: 07:29 CST, 43:13:29 GMT
12/28/73

is now just 53 seconds from acquisition at the Vanguard
tracking ship where we'll have about an ii minute pass.
Flight Director Milton Windler has now come on duty replacing
Don Puddy and Dr. Story Musgrave is the spacecraft communicator
replacing Robert Crippen. We'll keep the line up live now
for Story Musgrave.
CC Skylab, AOS through the Vanguard for
ii minutes.
CC Ed, Houston.
SPT Good morning, Story; go ahead.
CC Morning, Ed. We're showing high volt
detector 6 and 7 on. We'd just like 1 through 4, please.
CC Thank you.
SPT Houston, SPT.
CC Go ahead, Ed.
SPT Story, your teleprinter message for the
JOP 18C beginning at 23;12, the last half of that came out
garble. Looks as though it was displaced a half a line all
the way down. Wonder if you could reset that portion of it,
the part that begins with the fine maneuver, steps 13 on, all
the way to the end of that pass.
CC Copy, Ed,
SPT Also, Story, we show a little conflict
here. Apparently we are to begin a M092/171 run on the CDR
and yet I_m still up here at the ATM. Could you clarify what
the scheduling is there, please?
CC Ed, on your Summary Flight Plan it - it
looks like a big jump there but really it's only about a 5_minute
difference.
SPT I show 34 minutes remaining in day here.
What time are we to begin the M092?
CC Ed, we show you leaving the ATM at about
14:40. I1:'s not a whole daylight pass.
SPT Okay, Story_ I hope they can avoid that
kind of operation in the future because we're paying an awful
lot of overhead just to get up here and work it. And while
we got everything up and running it seems like a shame to leave
the panel.
CC Our only other choice, Ed, was not to schedule
any - any ATM at this period at all. We're trying to get all
we can.
CC Skylab, you just passed the halfway mark
in your mission. You've been 607 orbits and about 18 million miles.
SL-IV MC1440/2
TIME: 07:29 CST, 43:13:29 GMT
12/28/73
CDR Roger; thank you, Story.

CDR Hey, Bill wants to know what the mileage
allowance is up here.
CC You guys owe us money.
CC Ed, Houston.
SPT Go ahead, Story.
CC Ed, I'd like to get a verification on
that teleprinter page you need up again. It's good down
to the point of 23:15, the fine maneuver.
SPT That's rightp it's down to line or step 13
which is outlined. The last part which is really legible is
the part that says, "fine maneuver 51060 and 50100." The para-
graph before it starts off, if 5 arc seconds discriminator closes,
and so forth. After that it says, "continued after header" and
even the continued after header is misplaced, and "all the
way there to the end of the orbit" is - needs to be sent up
over again.
CC Okay, and the next orbit's okay?
SPT That's correct; that looks good.
CC Okay, got it.
CDR Story_ it looks like a transmission problem.
It looks like the - it's the same problem we had on the 6_day
forecast that I asked them to resend up this morning. Looks
like it's been shifted over left to about a third of a column
and up abeut 2 or 3 lines.
CC Okay, Jer, and we're going LOS here. See
you over Ascension in a minute.
PAO Skylab Control at 42 minutes and 45 seconds
after the hour. We've gone out of range of the tracking antenna
at Vanguard. Our next acquisition is only 45 seconds away and
that will be at Ascension where we'll have a pass lasting
about 10-i/2 minutes. Skylab crew passed the halfway point
in the planned 84 day mission this morning at 8:35:46 Greenwich -
that's central standard time a.m. That's based on a February
8th splashdown at 9:10 central standard time in the morning.
That splashdown's planned for off of San Diego and, of course,
depends on successful completion of experiment_ medical experiments,
and other things necessary to keep the entire 84 day mission
underway. Earlier this morning the comet also passed its
midway point in this journey. It passed the closest approach
to the Sun early this morning and it's on its way away from
the Sun at this point. Story Musgrave is now back at the
console for a pass over Ascension.
END OF TAPE
SL-IV MCI441/1
Time: 08:42 CST, 43:14:42 GMT
12/28/73
PAO - - Skylab crew passed the halfway point

in a planned 84-day mission this morning at 8:35:46 Greenwich -
central standard time a.m. That's based on a February 8th,
splashdown at 9:10 central standard time in the morning.
That splashdown's planned for San Diego and of course, depends
on successful completion of experiments - medical experiments
and other things necessary to keep the entire 84-day mission
underway. Early this morning, the comet also passed its
midway point in its journey. It passed its closest approach
to the Sun early this morning and then it's on its way away
from the Sun at this point. Story Musgrave is now back at
the console for a pass over Ascension.
CC Skylab, we're back with you through Ascen-
sion for I0 minutes.
CC Bill, Houston.
CDR Go ahead, Story. He's listening.
CC Okay. On initiating housekeeping 70-Z,
their looking at the condition of the battery PCG-6. He won't
find a i00 percent state of charge. The (garble) integrator's
a little bit behind but press on with it.
PLT Roger.
CC Skylab, we're a minute from LOS. About
35 minutes to Guam at 15:28 - be dumping the data/voice there.
Greenwich mean time. Skylab space station now over northwest
Africa, is out of range of the tracking antenna on Ascension.
Our next acquisition is 33 minutes away at Guam. At I0 o'clock
this morning, central standard time, that's about an hour and
5 minutes from now_ we'll have a briefing on comet photography
using the ATM and with a replay of the television of the comet
Kohoutek. That'll be in the building 1 briefing room at i0 a.m.
this morning. This is Skylab Control. It's now 55 minutes
and 28 seconds after the hour.
END OF TAPE
SL-IV MC1442/I
TIME: 09:27 CST, 43:15:27 GMT
12/28/73

Greenwich mean time. Skylab space station is now 55 seconds
from acquisition of signal at the Guam tracking antenna. Space-
craft communicator on duty in Mission Control is Story Mus-
grave. And we'll bring the line up live for air-to-ground
through Guam lasting approximately i0 minutes.
CC Skylab, AOS through Guam for i0 minutes.
Be dumping the data/voice here.
CC Bill, Houston.
PLT Roger.
CC Bill, we'd like a BAT VOLT readout on
CBRMs i0 and 18, and the verification that you did get the
test started on PC G6.
PLT Stand by. I have not started PCG 6.
CC Okay, Bill. We'd like to slit that test
on PCG 6 one rev. We'll let you know.
PLT Roger.
PLT BAT i0 is reading 28.
CC Okay.
PLT And I'm not getting a reading on BAT 18.
CC Okay.
PLT But I have showing in the discharge 9 AMPS.
CC Okay, Bill.
PLT Okay, I just got a EAT VOLT talkback
barberpole on i0.
CC Copy.
PLT And I'm going to step 6 on page 2-20 Bravo.
CC That's good, Bill.
CC Bill, Houston.
PLT Hello.
CC We still got that crosstalk in the CBRM
SELECT switch. We'd like you to SELECT 5 and go CHARGER OFF.
PLT Roger, just getting ready to do that. Thank
you.
CC And, Bill, we'd like you to SELECT 18 and

give us a VOLTAGE readout.
PLT I don't have a VOLTAGE readout on 18 on
the BAT.
CC Okay, Bill.
PLT I don't have a TEMP readout either. Both
of those parameters are full scale low.
CC Copy, Bill. And we don't - still don't
have an answer for why on that.
CC Skylab, we're a minute from LOS, and about
30 minutes to the Vanguard at 16:07.
Greenwich mean time. Skylab space station has passed out
of range of the tracking antenna on Guam. Our next acquisition
is 28 minutes away. This is Skylab Control at 39 minutes
and 13 seconds after the hour. We have a change of - we have
SL-IV MC-1442/2
Time: 09:27 CST, 43:15:27 GMT
12/28/73
a press conference on the ATM Kohoutek television that's

been played back this morning. There'll be an analysis made
of that by Dr. Ernest Hildner of the High Altitude Observatory
in Boulder, Colorado. That's scheduled for i0 o'clock, about
21 minutes from now in the building 1 briefing room. This
is Skylab Control at 39-1/2 minutes after the hour.
END OF TAPE
SL-IV MC-1443/I
Time: 10:49 CST 43:16:49 GMT
12/28/73

Greenwich mean time. Skylab space station is now out of range
of any tracking antenna, and we're 18-1/2 minutes from our next
acquisition. However, we did record about 4-1/2 minutes of
air-to-ground from Vanguard, Canary Island, and Madrid, and
we'll play that back for you at this time.
CC Skylab, we've got you through the Vanguard
for i0 minutes.
SPT Hello, Houston.
PLT Right, Story. I have a little information
on 18 now. Do you read the (garble) volt reader? The volt
reading and the temperature reading suddenly returned. Just about
before sunrise I got down to 29 and ii amps on the
battery 18. And then suddenly at sunrise it went to discharge
of 1 amps and now it's reading just about 30 volts.
CC Thanks, ill. And that is a common relay
that goes to both to BAT I0 and volts.
PLT And it's reading about 30.5, 30.5 volts
on BAT 18.
CC And Bill, that relay does not power the
talkback. The talkback should be valid.
PLT Okay, then I'll press on with this.
CC Okay, and we'd like you to start PCG
6 at about 16:33.
PLT Okay, that's what I've got my timer set
for.
CC Great.
CC Bill, we're really keeping you busy here.
We'd like the GRATING OUT on S054. We're showing it IN down
here.
PLT Thank you, Story.
PLT Story, PLT.
CC Go ahead, Bill.
PLT I'm going to put the full story on the
debriefing tape on ATM debriefing, but it seems I have a little
problem with the limb pointing feature on 82B. I finally
ended up using the fine Sun sensor to get to 40 arc seconds
off the limb because when I went to limb pointing feature
I couldn't get a stable indication on 82B monitor 3 reading.
So I'm doing it that way, but they may start thinking about
that now. It was unstable, it was - it would not do the limb
scan feature and hold steady on a particular off set. It kept
jumping around as much as 5 to i0 arc seconds.
CC Copy, Bill.
PLT And I tried limb scan and limb pointing.
CC Okay.
CC Skylab, we're a minute to LOS, i0 minutes
to Canaries.
SL-IV MC-1443/2
Time: 10:49 CST 43:16:49 GMT
12/28/73
PLT I'm here, Story.

CC Skylab, AOS Canaries and Madrid for 14 minutes.
CC Skylab, we'll be dumping the data/voice
here at Madrid.
CC Bill, Houston.
PLT Go, Story.
CC Bill, we're expecting you on - to get a talkback
on 18 this next night pass. You've got a GO for PCG 6. And
i0 is completed we'll be commanding the REG on here.
PLT Okay.
PLT And I'm just going to be standing by here
so I'll be in the STS f you or one of them make any further
comment.
CC Okay. And I've got a little update to
your PLT details here at 18:10.
PLT Go.
CC Okay, at 18:10 that's housekeeping 70 Yankee.
PLT Roger.
SPT Houston, SPT.
CC Go ahead, Ed.
SPT Story, I just wanted to report that we got
a pretty good photo and observation on that fire down in Argentina
The smoke plume itself carries almost all the way across the
east side of South America and comes out right about MAR all Plata.
Pretty consistant streaks, (garble) relatively large area to the
right. I was really surprised by the light of the (garble).
CC Copy, Ed.
CC Skylab, we're a minute from LOS. See you
over Guam in 17:08. It's about half an hour till your ATM
conference. And Bill we see you rotated the pot on PCG 6.
You probably put it where you had it before. Don't need
to do the fine adjust after sunset.
PLT Yeah, thank you, Story. I just got a little
ahead of myself.
30 seconds. That concludes the passes over Vanguard, Canary
Islands, and Madrid. During the very end of that pass Ed Gibson
was reporting that he had photographed an area, large burning
area in Argentina and said that the light was extremely bright
and he was quite surprised by that. That area where there is
an extensive fire had been reported in the last few days. He
said that he had taken some photographs this morning of that
during this last pass. 12-1/2 minutes to our next acquisition
of signal at Guam. At 56 minutes after the hours this is
Skylab Control.
END OF TAPE
SL-IV MC1444/I
Time: 11:07 CST, 43:17:07 GMT
12/28/73

53 seconds from acquisition at Guam. The spacecraft communi-
cator is Story Musgrave. We'll have a ATM conference here
at the Guam pass. We'll leave the line up live now for the
ATM conference with the crew from Mission Control.
MCC Good morning, Skylab, Houston with the
ATM conference. Over.
SPT Morning, ill. Go ahead.
MCC Okay. First thing I've got for you here
this morning is to get a hunting license for the three of you,
regarding the operations of ATM. The things that we would like
to suggest here is - one, is that you continue making inputs to
our planning as you have been doing through me to the extent
that you can you record or over air-to-ground, mention what-
ever it is you're thinking or what you see as you observe the
various displays you have. And then the real part of it here
is that you've got license to change whatever you want to on
the ATM schedule, unless we have indicated, please do not in-
terrupt or do not change, something of that nature, like we
have done on some of the JOP 12's where we say do not interrupt
for flares. Other than that, anytime that you, who by that
time should know what the ATM schedule for the day is about
what we had intended to do both from the SAP and from talking
with me, anytime in your opinion there's something more in-
teresting o11 the Sun to look at, whatever it is, be a better
target for what we had selected - an emerging flux region,
a prominence, a bright point, or whatever, go ahead and do it.
Tell us about it afterwards and we would encourage you to seek
help in getting from us to the extent that we can help you out
And this is just trying to take advantage of the fact that by
the time yon start in the morning, the plan that you're looking
at was based on a Sun front that it's now 24 hours old by the
end of the day, the finding was on the front about 36 hours
old and we'd like to take advantage of you being up there
looking at the Sun right now. How about any thoughts youVve
got on this? Over.
SPT Well Bill, we appreciate that very much.
I think well probably not plan to exercise that option very
frequently but I think the few times that we do, I hope we get
much better data from it. I know you are really at a disadvantage
at trying to plan 24 hours in advance from the Earth's (garble)
large surge activity on the left limb, like we've just
seen or active region start to really come alive or a large
prominence appear on the limb, like we saw before, and you try
to catch it a day later and sometimes you've missed a better
observation. We certainly appreciate the option there and
we'll try to make good use of it.
SL-IV MC1444/2
Time: 11:07 CST, 43:17:07 GMT
12/28/73
CC Okay. Good. We want to encourage you

to whenever you feel that this is the case, to go off and do
it. We're with you i00 percent. The experimenters feel that
they get their best data when you're off doing things in real
time. Look like the interesting thing to do. Okay. We don't
have too much going on ATM solarwise here over the next few
days. The plan for tomorrow has a late pass with a prime
target of an 18 Delta - a backup to that of the synoptic solar
orbit depending on the EVA length and things such as that.
So that there's not too much happening there. We will not have
a conference tomorrow being an EVA day that's full. We're
still trying to get one scheduled for Sunday. Right now, it
looks like we're trying to get 8 pounds into a 5 pound bag,
but I'm hopeful that we'll pull some time out somewhere here so
that we can have one Sunday. That's about the time frame when
we'd be ready to start talking S054 changes. We're on a clock
here about i0 seconds from LOS. Honeysuckle is 5 minutes
from now and apparently we'll be able to talk here some-
what over the hill. Go ahead with any comments you have.
SPT Plans on the 18 Delta after the EVA, I
hope that we can finish the EVA up in time enough to get in
and get a good look at the Delta information because it's -
that takes a fair amount of planning thinking on our part,
in order to pull it off, and we will need that time. Secondly, I
in looking at the Sun, I do not see (garble) anything significant
coming around the corner except for that one plage which was
mentioned in the corona. And the area right above 00, it seems
to have a very enhanced streamer. The rest of the range pretty much
unchanged (Garble) also and a little bit of more (garble) work
because it zequires (garble) some of the details which are called
out there. I'm (garble) so far, though, by the way 18 Delta's has
come on and 19 A (garble)
CC Okay. Break, break, Ed. You're disappearing
in the static here. We'll talk to you on Sunday and the - of
course, the regular route here with the CAP COMIM is always
available.
SPT Thank you, Bill.
passed out of range at the antenna at Guam. We're about 3-1/2
minutes from aquisition at Honeysuckle, Australia. During
this pass, Bill LLenoir, a scientist-astronaut, conducted the
daily science conference on solar astronomy. One of the
things he pointed out to the crew was that - the ground is
now expecting the crew to play a much larger roll in determining
solar experiment operations, the reasoning being that the
SL-IV MC1444/3
Time: 11:07 CST, 43:17:07 GMT
12/28/73
crew has immediate data on solar activity while the ground

is somewhat behind as they plan 24 hours or more in advance
of a day's activity. And along that line, Science Pilot Ed
Gibson indicated at the end of the pass that he had seen a
relatively little activity on the Sun but an enhanced streamer
had been observed above active region 00, which is now passing
on the right edge of the Sun. Active region 00 is the most
active area on the Sun during the past couple weeks. Produced
several M-class or medium sized flares and also it generated
a sunspot that's the largest that's been seen on the solar
disk this year, approximately 20,000 miles across and that
sunspot is expected to stay there for quite some time. Sunspot
did produce a surge of material off the solar disk a couple
of nights ago. We're about 2 minutes from acquisition of
signal now. Tomorrow, after the space walk, there may be time
to do 18D which is Joint observing program that's scheduled
for the purpose of observing the comet Kohoutek. That will
depend on the length and success of the space walk tomorrow
which is for the purpose of photographing the comet itself.
We're about 1 minute and 50 seconds from acquisition. We'll
bring the line up now for Story Musgrave the spacecraft com-
municator.
END OF TAPE
SL-IV MC-1445/I
Time: 11:15 CST, 43:17:15 GMT
12/28/73
PAO - - by material off the solar disk a

couple of nights ago. We're about 2 minutes from acquisition
of signal now. Tomorrow after the spacewalk there'll may be
time to do a 18D which is a joint observing program that is
scheduled for the purpose of observing the comet Kohoutek.
That will depend on the length and success of the spacewalk
tomorrow, which is for the purpose of photographing the comet
itself. We're about 1 minute 50 seconds from acquisition.
We'll bring the line up now for Story Musgrave, the spacecraft
communicator.
CC Skylab, we're back with you through
Honeysuckle for 5 minutes.
PLT Rog, Story. And I've got a barber pole
on BAT 18 at 17:14 and I reconfigured according to step 6.
CC Okay. Looks good, Bill.
CC And the redo - -
PLT It brings up a ques -
PLT A question was 18:10 70Yankee, if I'm
reading the procedures correctly, we have completed 70 Yankee.
CC That's affirm, Bill. We're just pressing
on with 70 zebra right now.
PLT Rog. Understand.
CC And the redo on that ATM schedule pad
didn't come out so good the first time is on board now.
PLT Rog. I'm just looking at it.
SPT Roger. Story. Thank you. I took a look
at it and all looks good. Thank you very much.
CC Okay, Ed.
PLT By the way, Story. I've got one more
glitch on that relay that's sticking on BAT 18. It was
about - I was just after I reconfigured, according to step 6,
I went back to check BAT 18 again, and didn't get anything
on volts and temperature and changed - switch - flitched the
switch to 1-12 to 13-18 again and it came back.
CC Copy, Bill.
PLT I don't think the switching had anything to
do with it. It had just a little time delay before I got it.
CC Okay. We've seen that in the past.
CC Skylab, we're a minute from LOS about
45 minutes to Canaries at 18:06.
over north island of New Zealand. Our next acquisition is
about 42 minutes away at Canary Islands. Late this afternoon,
Skylab astronauts will run the joint solar observing programs
designated 18C. That program is primarily intended to examine
the X-ray structure of the comet Kohoutek. Space JOP 18C
is set for 1 hour beginning at 23:30 Greenwich mean time.
The experiment will be repeated 15 minutes later and again
at 2:30 Greenwich mean time late in - late in the evening,
SL-IV MC-1445/2
Time: 11:15 CST, 43:17:15 GMT
12/28/73
Astronauts Carr and Gibson will be operators for the three

sessions. The JOP 18C experiments are performed with the
space station instruments oriented toward the Sun. No
maneuvers are required for today's study. Fine pointing
for the experiment is done using the S052 white light coronagraph.
The instruments to be used in today's experiment will be the
S054 x-ray spectrographic telescope, which produces high-
resolution photographic records of soft x-ray sources. Also,
used will be the S056 x-ray telescope and the S055 ultraviolet
scanner. The SO55, unlike the other ATM instruments record
readings on magnetic tape and the data is sent to the ground
by telemetry. The instrument contains ultraviolet sensors
covering 7 wavelengths simultaneously gathering data
over all 7 invisible bands of ultraviolet light. The S056
instrument records data in the form of x-ray filter grams
in 5 wavelengths. We're now 40 minutes from our next acquisi-
tion of signal at Canary Island and 26 minutes and 20 seconds
after the hour, this is Skylab Control.
_D OF TAPE
SL-IV MC1446/I
TIME: 12:05 CST, 43:18:05 GMT
12/28/73

40 seconds Greenwich mean time. The skylab space station
is now 55 seconds from acquisition of signal at Canary Island.
This pass, an overlapping one through Canary Island and Madrid,
will last approximately 14 minutes. The spacecraft communicator
is Story Musgrave and the flight director on duty in Mission
Control is Milton Wiudler. He'll be going off shift about
4 o'clock this afternoon and there will he a change of shift
sometime after that. At that time the Skylab crew will be
engaged in EVA preparations for tomorrow's space walk. We're
alive now for air-to-ground at Canary Island and Madrid.
CC Skylab, AOS through Canaries and Madrid
for 13 minutes. Be dumping the data/voice over Madrid at
18:12.
CC And, Bill, we're showing 32.8 volt down
here on BAT 6. We'd like an onboard confirmation.
PLT Well, I'm reading a little over 33, but
I'm going to use your number and I'll go ahead and terminate.
CC Stand by on that.
CC We'd like to use your number, Bill.
PLT Okay, I'm just standing by here waiting
for it to get to 33 and I'll tell you.
CC That's just what we want.
PLT Incidentally, that battery's hanging in
like a mule. I set it at 15 amps discharge and it increased
to 17. I set it back to 15 once then I let it go. It's now
still showing 16 discharge amps.
CDR Houston, CDR. How do you read on the
special audio hookup?
CC That's loud and clear, Jer.
CDR Okay, looks like we got a good system.
CC Okay.
CC Bill, while I got you there and not too
busy, I'd like to discuss shading of the Sun with the ATM
solar arrays; like you did last time. Of course, this time
we'll be rolling beyond where we did last time and will be
shading the Sun on the trailing edge of the solar array. And
we need to - we're a little more critical this time because
the comet's closer to the Sun. And we want to shade all of
the Sun but just barely shade it so that we don't cover up the
comet as well. We're wondering, you did so well last time and
you had a good perspective and all that on the problem, I
wondered how much procedures did - you'd need or like in this
area.
PLT The only thing that really bothers me, what
I was doing I was just sort of guessing and Ed was putting the
SL-IV MC1446/2
TIME: 12:05 CST, 43:18:05 GMT
12/28/73
maneuvers in. All I would like to know is the conformation

that all we need to do is make very small adjustments in
rule. And also your recommendation on the incremental changes
that we should make. In other words, a sort of minimum or
maximum incremental change we should make to follow eyeball
instructions from the EVA crewman directing us.
CC Okay.
PLT That way we'll have a, you know, we'll
feel like we're making intelligent approach to the problem.
SPT Story, I can give you a few more words
on that.
CC Go, Ed, you'll be doing it.
SPT Okay, last time we went out an extra
2 degrees above what was recommended, and then we tweaked
about there. We went out in increments of one, we went out
two more additional degrees and ended up tweaking back incre-
ments of one two degrees. So the net results is that we
ended up two degrees further out than was called for, and
I think we ought to use that as a starting point, and if Bill
can show me exactly where he put the 201 on the truck, then
I think we've got at least a logical starting point.
CC You did understand that we will be using
the other side of the 'ray. We'll be rolling beyond where
we were and you'll be catching the comet on the trailing
edge of the array this time.
SPT Okay, - yeah, I haven't had a - I didn't
hear you because we had all those speakers off here. Okay,
well, I guess we'll have to - to start on the first whack
afresh. What you gave us last time, I thought, was a reasonable
approach to the problem and we got there in a reasonable length
of time. And I don't see any real problem with it.
CDR Yeah, Story, I think you ought to just
go ahead and and use the same format you shipped up to
us last time. That was easy to understand and easy to use.
CC Okay, I will do that, Jer. The only
real difference here is, of course, being on the other side of
the array. And also, that this is more critical. The comet
is closer to the Sun. We need to cover up the whole Sun
but just barely.
SPT Well, I think that's pretty much what
we did last time too. We had the Sun just tangent to the
leading edge.
CC Yeah, beautiful. We - -
PLT (Garble) 1-degree increments are small
enough, Story?
SL-IV MC1446/3
TIME: 12:05 CST, 43:18:05 GMT
12/28/73
CC Stand by i.
SPT I think that can be figured out rather
easily by knowing the distance between the - the array and
201. And the distance out from the comet.
CDR May not be a bad idea to go for half degree
increments, Story.
CC Okay, I will we'll work that one over
and get an answer to you. We're settling down on the control
mode of - of CMG for the data takes, CMG control for the data
takes. And for the nondata takes TACs only in CMG inhibited.
And with the CSM only as a backup.
CDR Roger.
CC Bill, I've got a change to your handling
of cameras here which will allow you to use Nikon 02 in the
EVA.
PLT All right stand by, I'll copy.
PLT Okay, Story. Go.
CC Yeah, this change is because you know the
cameras better than we do and yon think Nikon 02 is a better
camera. During the S073 stow download Bravo Victor 48 from
Nikon 02, and load Bravo Echo 05 for the TO25 prep. And leave
a leader on Bravo Victor 48 for future use.
PLT Roger, understand. During SO73 stow
download Bravo Victor 48 on a Nikon 02, leaving a leader for
reuse in the future; load Bravo Echo 05 for T025 prep.
CC Yes, sir, that's it.
PLT And I'm sure they've already seen that
I've discontinued the (garble) discharge on PCG 6.
CC Yes, sir.
PLT As long as I've got you here, might as well
give you the numbers. I went down to 33 volts, at which time
I was reading 16.5 amps. After I turned the battery off I
had a reading of 35.5 volts and zero amps, of course.
CC Got it.
PLT I'll be waiting for the next sunrise to
continue the procedure. That's step 3 on page 2-22.
CC You can do that right now if you'd like, Bill.
PLT Beautiful; thank you.
CC And, Bill, no need to acknowledge. We're
putting 18 back on; the light will go out.
PLT Please stand by.
PLT Story, that was at 17:14 when I got the
talkback barber pole, at which time the reading was about 28
volts and ii amps discharge. And, of course, that went to about
1 amp discharge after I - after I reconfigured for ground future
- ground activation of the regulator. And right now I'm reading
SL-IV MC1446/4
TIME: 12::05 CST, 43:18:05 GMT
12/28/73
34 volts.
CC Okay, Bill, we'd like the first line
of step 4 performed also.
PLT Stand by.
END OF TAPE
SL-IV MC-1447/I
Time: 12:17 CST 43:18:17 GMT
12/28/73
PLT I thought you were still talking about

CBRM. Roger. I was just interrupted there. I'll get on
with that.
PLT Story, correct me if I'm wrong, but that
completes 70 Yankee and 70 Zulu with the exception of reenabling
the caution and warning on PCG 6 battery low.
CC That's correct, Bill, and getting the
STATUS LIGHTS OFF.
PLT I'll get that as soon as we get above
50 percent.
CC And Skylab, we're going LOS here. See
you over Carnarvon in about 28 minutes at 18:46.
PLT Roger, Story.
PAO Skylab Control at 18 hours 20 minutes,
is now owsr eastern Europe. We're 26 minutes away from our
acquisition at Carnarvon Australia. This morning Science Pilot
Ed Gibson reported that he had spoted and photographed Argentina
brush fires in the pampas. Those are reported to have destroyed
more than i000 square miles of the very valuable brush land
in that area. Argentina, of course, in the Southern Hemisphere,
is now experiencing its summer. Also scheduled today is obser-
vation, visual observations of the Falkland Current, where
_ a red-brown color has been described by the astronauts probably
due to a plankton bloom. These blooms are one cause of the
so-called red tides. But a bloom of the color described in
the size visible to the Skylab crew is _ has been mentioned as
an unusual occurrance. The Skylab crew was asked to observe it
again today and to give some additional mention on the tapes for
the staff here in Mission Control. We're now 25 minutes from
our next acquisition of signal and 21 minutes and 42 seconds
after the hour. This is Skylab Control.
47 seconds Greenwich mean time. Skylab space station, now about
to cross Java, is coming within range of the Carnarvon, Australia
tracking station. The pass will begin about 45 seconds from
now with spacecraft communicator Story Musgrave. This pass
through Carnarvon and Honeysuckle is an extended one lasting
about 15 minutes.
CC Skylab, AOS Carnarvon and Honeysuckle
14 minutes.
CDR Roger, Story.
SPT Reg. Hello Story. How is it clear to you
this transmission?
CC That was about 5 by 4, Ed.
SPT Thank you.
CC It was 5 by 5 then.
SL-IV MC-1447/2
Time: 12:17 CST 43:18:17 GMT
12/28/73
SPT Okay, I've got the secret.

CC Jer, on a noninterference basis of course
with your present ATM ops, I've got a rather lengthy change
to the JOP 18C pad that's there at 23:12. So we've got some
time to get that up to you. And it's a result of a SWS run
we just finished. We got that SWS just about 2 hours ahead
of you guys.
CDR What was the time on that again, Story?
CC That's the 18C starting on the orbit of
23:12.
CDR Okay, go ahead.
CC Okay, and dontt - don_t let me interrupt
your ATM run here. Go ahead and turn me off when you need to.
CDR Okay.
CC Okay, ops at 23:15, the fine maneuver.
Change that to 50315, which is 2.05 degrees.
CC And 50664, 4.36 degrees.
CDR Okay, 50315 for 2.05, and 50664 for 4.36.
CC That's correct. And a couple of lines below
that, expect comet at, that'll be minus ii0, minus 40.
CDR Okay, minus ii0, minus 040.
CC Okay. And skip ahead down toward the end
of that page 4 to beyond the nucleus in step i0 to that fine
maneuver. Let me know when you have it.
CDR Okay.
CC Okay_ that fine maneuver should be 51110,
which is minus 0.72 degrees, and 51040 for minus 0.32 de_rees.
CDR Okay, 51110 for minus 0.72 and 51040 for
minus 0.32,
CC That's correct.
END OF TAPE
SL-IV MC1448/I
Time: 12:52 CST, 43:18:52 GMT
12/28/73
CC - - which is minus 0.72 degrees and 51040

or minus 0.32 degrees.
CDR Okay. 51110 for minus 0.72 and 51040
for minus 0.32.
CC That's correct.
CC Then stepping on to page 6 of the ATM
schedule pad and that's at - -
CDR Okay, I'll have to cut you off for now while I
get going on this building block.
CC Okay. Let me know when you got some more
time.
CDR Houston, CDR. How do you read?
CC Loud and clear, Jer.
CDR Okay. We got a couple more minutes now.
CC Okay. Page 6, the ATM schedule pad op-
posite 0057.
CDR Okay.
CC Instead of a perform reverse of maneuver
made at 23:15 Z, just say perform maneuver to reacquire the
comet in the WLC.
CDR Okay.
CC And moving on down to the end of that
section to that,, find maneuver there and let me know when
you have it.
CDR Okay. Go ahead.
CC Okay. Change that 51060 minus 0.4,
change that manevuer there to 5110 for minus 0.72 degrees and
51040 for minus 0.32 degrees.
CDR Okay. 51110 and 51040 for minus 0.72 and
minus 0.32.
CC That's correct and just got one more
maneuver change for you here.
CC Okay.
CC That's on page 8 down at the end of that
section, just prior to 39 minutes remaining, and it's a fine
manevuer of 51060 for minus 0.48 degrees. Let me know when
you've found that.
CDR I've got it.
CC Okay and that change is to 51110 for
minus 0.72 degrees and a 51040 for minus 0.32 de_rees.
CDR Okay. 51110 for minus 0.72 and 51040
for minus 0.32.
CC That's correct. I'm sorrry to trouble
you but we want to get (garble) outputs up to your mission.
CDR No sweat,
CC Skylab, we're a minute to LOS. In about
35 minutes to MILA at 19:34.
SL-IV MC1448/2
Time: 12::52 CST, 43:18:52 GMT
12/28/73
PAO Skylab Control at 19 hours 1 minute and

crossing the south island of New Zealand. 32-1/2 minutes
from acquisition at Merritt Island, Florida. At the present
time here in Mission Control, the Earth resources officer is
requested that some additional investigation be done in looking
at a cyclonic storm that's located about a i000 miles to the
east of Madagascar - the island of Madagascar in the Indian
Ocean. That cyclonic storm - very much like a hurricane in
the western hemisphere, covers several hundred miles across
in the Indian Ocean and it's a very distinct storm that's
been photographed by satellites. No doubt the Skylab crew
will be taking a look at it in the next few days. At the
present time, workers going ahead for tomorrowts spacewalk,
expected to take about 3-i/2 hours. It'll begin at 11:30
tomorrow morning, central standard time or 17:30 Greenwich
mean time. And here in Mission Control, EVA procedures are
being completed and there will be a review of those with the
crew later this afternoon. Expecting at about 3:09 central
time, tha_ Lubos Kohoutek_ the discoverer of the comet named
for him last March, will be here in Mission Control to talk
with the crew with television being provided from the space
station. This is Skylab Control. It's now 3 minutes and
4 seconds after the hour and we"re about a half an hour from
our next acquisition.
END OF TAPE
SL-IV MC1449/I
TIME: 13:32 CST, 43:19:32 GMT
12/28/73

Greenwich mean time. Skylab space station is now passing
over Columbia about 53 seconds from acquisition of signal
through the Merritt Island tracking antenna in Florida. This
pass through Merritt Island will last about 6 minutes and
25 seconds. It'll be followed immediately by a Bermuda pass
giving a total time of about ii minutes. We'll bring the
line up live now for air-to-ground. Story Musgrave is the
spacecraft: communicator.
CC Skylab, we're AOS through MILA and Bermuda
for ii minutes.
SPT Hello, Story.
CC Go ahead.
SPT Story, back on 359 a message was sent up,
40:51 Alfa about TV 77 plans. We looked it over and if you got
something you's like, I think we could probably do it in the
time constraints layed out. And anytime you want to schedule
it in the next couple of days will be just fine with us.
CC Okay, Ed, is that TV 77?
SPT That's affirm.
CC Okay, and Jerry, Houston.
CDR Go ahead.
CC Jer, we're seeing a surge at active region
00. And if you could give us a STANDARD on S052 would be
fine.
CDR Coming up.
CC Skylab, we're a minute from LOS. See
you over Madrid in 3 minutes.
Greenwich mean time. Skylab space station is now over the
North Atlantic. It has passed out of range of the tracking
antenna oll Bermuda, and we're about 2 minutes and 40 seconds
from acquisition at Madrid. Skylab Science Pilot Ed Gibson
made use of the time-tested repair technique to solve a problem
with the timer on board Skylab space station. The timer
yesterday failed to count properly and Skylab Science Pilot
Gibson gave it rap that seemed to clear up the problem. This
is Skylab Control. We're about 2 minutes from acquisition
at Madrid. And spacecraft communicator on duty right now
is Story Musgrave, the Flight Director is Milton Windler.
Lubos Kohoutek is expected to be arriving in Mission Control
probably in the next half hour and he'll be here for a direct
discussion with the crew. That's expected to be shortly
after 3 o"clock central standard time today. We_ll leave
the air-to,ground line llve now for conversation between
the crew and Story Musgrave.
SL-IV MC1449/2
TIME: 13:32 CST, 43:19:32 GMT
12/28/73
CC Skylab, got you through Madrid for 8 minutes.

CDR Roger, Story.
CC Jer, let me know when you got a minute
to talk.
CDR Okay.
CC Jer, we'd like the S054 GRATING in OUT
for the unattended ops.
CDR Say again, Story.
CC We'd like the S054 GRATING OUT for un-
attended ops.
CDR Okay.
CDR Okay, Story, go ahead.
CC Jer, with the Beta angle increasing and
the workshop picking up a little more heat, we'd like to
know what the condition of the twin pole sail was that you
observed on your Christmas EVA. And, if possible, is there
any kind of adjustment we could do to it to provide more
shade?
CDR Well, Story, it's still wrinkled up in
the back. I don't know what sort of an adjustment you could
make on it without putting a stiffener bar or something across
the back, and that way you could widen it out. But I Just
wondered how brittle that material is. I would almost be
afraid to fool with it for fear of breaking it or cracking it
and then losing everything.
CC Okay, but otherwise it looked like it
was aligned pretty straight and you didn't see any obvious
adjustment that could be made or improvement to it?
CDR No, the only obvious one would be to
stretch it out, get the accordian folds out of the end of it.
I shouldn't have said back, I meant the end that faces us.
You know the two straps dontt really have enough separation
in them to completely spread the sail, and you got accordian
fold along there on the near edge. And if you'll put a stiffener
pole in there you can probably straighten it out. But I would
first want to know from somebody that there's no danger of
cracking the material and losing it.
CC Okay, thanks, Jer.
CDR Story, Bill suggested a little notation
here on the coloring of that sail. Itts got to the point now
where it's sort of a light brown or beige color; it's got
a lot of darkening.
CC Taking on a tan, huh?
CD_ That's affirmative.
END OF TAPE
SL-IV MC1450/I
Time: 13:50 CST, 43:19:50 GMT
12/28/73
CC - - taking on a tan, huh?

CDR That's affirmative.
25 minutes to Carnarvon at 20:21. Be dumping the data/voice
there.
SPT Story, I have a question about the 19 Charlie
that's coming up. On the first one, they say to terminate with 2
minutes time remaining and on the second one, with 6 minutes time
remaining. I had a reason for that difference there. Actually,
would like to run these things down as far as we possibly could,
but I was wondering which one was really the correct one.
CC I'm afraid you're going to have to say
that again. You're too far down the mud for me to under-
stand it. We got about 20 seconds here.
SPT Story, it's on the 18 Charlies which we're
going to do later today. The first one has us running it down
to 2 minutes time remaining. The second one, we truncate at
6 minutes time remaining. Which one is correct? We would
like to run it as far as possible.
CC Okay. Got it.
CC We'll get that to you at Carnarvon.
Greenwich mean time. Skylab space station is now over eastern
Europe. We've passed out of range of the tracking antenna at
Madrid. :24 minutes to our next acquisition at Carnarvon. During
this last pass, Commander Carr was asked about the status of
the twin ]pole sail which was used to provide Sun shielding
for the Skylab space station. Right now, there's no problem
with temperatures are very comfortable inside the workshop at
about 75 degrees. However, the Beta angle which gives exact
time on tile amount of time the Skylab space station will spend
in the Sun is expected to be going up shortly and by mid-January,
the Skylab space station will be in sunlight for virtually
all of its orbit. And during that time, it's expected tempera-
tures should rise about i0 degrees in the Skylab space station.
And so for that reason, the ground is taking a look at what
things might be done to keep it a little bit cooler. Twin pole
sail was reported to still be wrinkled up in the back by Commander
Carr and he said it's also darkened in color. This is Skylab
Control. It's now 59 minutes after the hour. We're 23 minutes
from our next acquisition.
END OF TAPE
SL-IV MC-1451/I
Time: 14:21 CST 43:20:21 GMT
12/28/73
PAO This is Skylab Control at 20:21 Greenwich

mean time. 50 seconds from acquisition at tracking station
station Carnarvon, Australia, revolution 2,295 for the space
station Skylab. StandinR by for AOS Carnarvon.
CC Skylab, we're AOS through Carnarvon/
Honeysuckle for 15 minutes. Be dumping the data/voice here
at Carnarvon.
CC Skylab, we're a minute from LOS, about
35 minutes to stateside at 21:08. At that time your conference
with Dr. Kohoutek will be coming up. And your flight plans
for tomorrow are onboard.
PAO This is Skylab Control. Loss of signal
through Honeysuckle Creek, Australia tracking station, 29 minutes
to acquisition at Texas for a stateside pass. Briefly passing
through the control room en route to the Kohoutek experiment
Staff Support Room was Dr. Lubos Kohoutek, a visitor today
to Mission Control, escorted by mission scientist Dr. Robert
Parker, Later on during this upcoming stateside pass it is
likely that Dr. Kohoutek will have a brief exchange with the
Skylab crew. We'll return in 29 minutes for stateside. At
20:39 Greenwich mean time, Skylab Control.
END OF TAPE
SL-IV MC1452/I
TIME: 15::07 CST, 43:21:07 GMT
12/28/73
PAO This is Skylab Control, 21:07 Greenwich mean

time. Dr, Lubos Kohoutek standing by here in Mission Control
plugged into the Flight Director's console preparing to have
a conversation with the crew of Skylab IV. All three of the
crewmen's wives are present in the viewing room behind
Mission Control here. And we're getting the first fragments
of the TV picture from the space station. Dr. Kohoutek
today is accompanied by Dr. Sdeneka Sekanina of the Smithsonian
Astrophysical observatory. He's a fellow astronomer and
will serve also as his interpreter where needed. Dr. Robert
Parker, the mission scientist is also with Dr. Kohoutek here in
the control room.
CC Skylab, we're AOS stateside for about
14 minutes and be picking up MILA in about 1 minute for a
real_time TV with your conference with Dr. Kohoutek and let
us know when you're ready to go.
CDR Roger, Story we're ready to go now.
CC Okay in about a minute from now also we'll
be handing over to MILA so you may break up for about 15 seconds
but she's all yours.
CDR Okay.
MCC Good afternoon Skylab, we have a special
science conference scheduled today as you know, to celebrate
the perihelion passage of Kohoutek and we have here in the
MOCR to carry on the usual Kohoutek Science Conference with
you today_ standing in for the other Kohoutek Pls, we have
Dr. Luhos Kohoutek, the discoverer of the comet and he would
like to a_sk you a few questions when you're ready. Over.
CDR Roger, Houston we're ready to go.
CDR Good afternoon Dr. Kohoutek.
KOHOUTEK Good afternoon. I'm very glad to have an
opportunity to following the comet 1973F_s viewing. It's
most emi_ical day during its perihelion passage and from
the place where most research of that comet is concentrated.
Especially it is a great pleasure for me to greet you
Mr. Gibson, Mr. Carr and Mr. Pogue as the first human beings
studying a comet from outer space. Your mission is
indeed very important for astronomy. I have the following
questlons_ you observed the comet visually last Sunday and
Monday, you compared it in brightness with Mercury and
suggested that there were colored features in the coma. Do
you have anythin_ more to say on those observations?
CDR Not too much to add to that sir because
we have not seen much of the comet visually since those last
observations. The one time in which I was the one who observed
the color, I have not seen the comet since. The next time I
saw the comet was on the S052 white light coronagraph.
KOHOUTEK Oh yes and how about a tail, for example?
SL-IV MC1452/2
TIME: 15:07 CST, 43:21:07 GMT
12/28/73
CDR The tail we have found as it comes more

forshortened(?) to us became much wider and let me give you the
figures that are relative to the display we have on the ATH.
I would say that the coma, the bright coma was approximately
3/16, 1/8 to 3/16 of an inch in diameter. And I would say that
the tail that we could see, however forshortened extended
only about one-quarter inch away from the coma and
spread like a fan to approximately 3/8 of an inch at its
outermost end.
KOHOUTEK Have you glimpsed the comet since Monday,
I mean visually.
CDR No sir, we have not.
KOHOUTEK I saw a transmitted picture of the
comet, you got with the coronagraph yesterday. There's a sudden
indication of the tail on the copies available down here,
I wonder ]low much of the tail were you able to see up there?
CDR Dr. Gibson made that observation and took
a polaroid picture that we have up here with us, and I'll let him
speak to that.
SPT Dr. Kohoutek, it looked to us that the
tail fanned out as Jerry said and it was about 20 degrees as
far as the fan from the axis. And we were able to see it back
to a distance of around 3 times the size of the coma. After
that it was lost in the noise of the white light display.
KOHOUTEK How is the brightness changing from day
to day, you are the only people who see this comet at present
and therefore your information is very valuable.
SPT Well_ unfortunately we are not able to see
it by eyep we can only tell by what we see on the white light
coronagraph display. That display has indicated that the
brightness certainly is increasing. The display itself has a
the filtering function which allows the allows you to see the
corona much better so that its a factor of a hundred from edge
of the occulting disk all the way out to the edge of the display.
So we were only able to see it at the very beginning very close
to the edge of the display. Now we can see it pretty much
right up next to the - fairly close to the occulting disk,
so I'm sure we're at least up to a factor of I0 from that
when we first saw it and perhaps greater than that.
KOHOUTEK Yes, calculations suggest that the comet
may have a sort of sunward spike around the New Year day.
Could you-watch for this phenomenon?
SPT We certainly will_ we'll be watching
for the sunward spike and also for two tails and for perhaps
for a break of which if that happens we'll be looking for it.
Why don't I hand it over to Bill Pogue and let him discuss
the brightness also.
SL IV MC-i452/3
Time: 15:07 CST, 43:21:07 GMT
12/28/73
PLT When we first started making - When we

first started making visual observations of the comet, (garble)
first week in December. It was not visible up until that time,
or even find in visually by using first binoc -
END OF TAPE
SL-IV MC1453/I
Time: 15:14 CST 43:21:14 GMT
12/28/73
PLT We first started making visual observations

of the comet first week in December. It was not visible up until
that time. We were able to find it manually by using first
binoculars until - in order to get the location proper because
the observation manually by eyeball is some what awkward because
of the windows we have to use in and - and the angles at which
we have to look. We also not only have awkward angles inside
the spacecraft looking out, but we also have intervening
structures, large solar panels. And although it may sound like
we'_re hedging some part of your question, but we're givin_ you
honest answers, because sometimes its just hard to see it, and
we do have problems with intervening structure. And this is
going to also compromise our ability to see some of the more
potentially dramatic events that are going to occur in the next
few days as it's still behind some of this intervening structure.
About the first week in December we picked it up visually, and it
became brighter and brighter. I was able to see it visually and
point it out to the other crewmen. And we started monitoring it
objectively from day to day. And then it didn't seem to change for
about i0 days and then there was a very dramatic increase in the
brightening _ the decrease in magnitude or increase in brightening.
And it was appearing to grow quite dramatically the last few
days that we were watching it. I estimated the length of the
tail one day 2 degrees and about a day and a half later Dr. Gibson
estimated it about 4 degrees, so it was growing very rapidly and
then of course we lost it behind the structure. We'll be making
every effort to reacquire it visually and of course as soon as
we're able to see it, we will resume photographic data taking.
SPT Dr. Kohoutek, we have a question we would
like to ask you.
SPT Well, first let us say that wetre very
appreciative of _ of you coming down and talking with us.
And I think everybody interested in the comet is very
appreciative of your early discovery of the comet, so that
we could marshal our forces, which we are putting to bear
on the problem, and get very organized and go about it in a
very systematic way. I think we'll learn an awful lot now
because you were able to pick it up so early. I have a couple
of questions. And that is what have you seen in it so far in
terms of the chemical compostiion, and what would that indicate
to you, as far as its origin? And also, what is its eccentricity
and how does that reflect on its origin?
SL-IV MC1453/2
Time: 15:14 CST 43:21:14 GMT
12/28/73
CC The answer will be coming right up to

you, Ed.
SPT We though we'd gone LOS, Story.
KOHOUTEK Yes, it is very probably a new comet, and
the determination of the orbit the exact - exact determination
of the orbit is very important. Because if it is a new
comet, it could release some information about - not only about
comets, but about the origin of the solar system, and it's
very important.
KOHOUTEK Oh _es, to back to you question about the
composition. Of course all observation about composition
are very valuable, but especially observations made during
perihelion passage are very important. Because as I said
already you are the only people who can see the comet now.
SPT When you were able to see it and you
were looking at some of the visible emissions were you
able to detect any molecules?
KOHOUTEK One question. Ground based observation of
the H_alpha emission was reported some time ago. Have you
ever detected the comets H-alpha emission?
SPT No we've not. We have certainly tried
to see it. WE've looked for it with both H-alpha displays, which
of course is geared for a much higher solar emission. And
we've also looked for it our extreme ultraviolet monitor. And
we have not been able to detect it so far at - at it's
brightest point. That is what we're working on this after-
noon, and we may be able to see it.
KOHOUTEK Yes, thank you very much for a most
interesti_ng talk. Let me congratulate you up - upon
accomplis]hment you achieved so far, and wish you the best
of success in your further observations and flawless splash
down in February. Thank you very much.
CDR Dr. Kohoutek, on behalf of the S
Skylab III crew. l'd like to tell you that we're honored
to have this opportunity to speak to you sir. And we'll
do our best to get the best data we possibly can. Good day
sir.
CC Skylab_ CAP COMM's back with you for
2 more minutes. We've handed over to Bermuda and there is
no more live TV.
CDR Roger.
END OF TAPE
SL-IV MC1454/I
Time: 15:21 CST, 43:21:21 GMT
12/28/73

to Madrid.
CDR Roger, Story.
PAO This is Skylab Control, loss of signal
through Bermuda, 3 minutes across the Atlantic to tracking
station Madrid. Fairly lengthly conversation including live
television from space station Skylab as they discussed comet
observations with the discoverer of comet 1973F, know otherwise
as Comet Kohoutek, with the discoverer of said comet,
Professor Lubos Kohoutek. We're estimating the appearance of
Dr. Kohoutek in the Houston news center at about 4:14 for a
press conference. Back to Skylab, Commander Jerry Cart and
Science Pilot Ed Gibson will take part tomorrow in a 3 hour
EVA. The EVA is scheduled to begin at 17:30 Greenwich mean
time. About i0 minutes into the EVA, Carr and Gibson will
begin set1:ing up the S020, X-ray ultraviolet camera. The
camera will be mounted on the ATM strut near the hatch. The
X-ray ultraviolet camera is designed to photograph invisible
extremely short wavelength, not visible through Earth's dense
atmosphere. Extra thin metal shutters - filters are used to
remove near ultraviolet and visible light. The S020 records
the information on film strips, i0 of these strips are fitted
into each film canister. Twenty minutes into the EVA, the
S020 should be set up and the crew will begin set up for the
T025, coronagraph contamination instrument. The camera is
designed to measure the particular contamination of the Earth's
atmosphere surrounding the workshop, and the local distribution
of particles in the - or gohal distribution of particles in
t_e Earth'_ atmosphere. The T025 will he attached to a boom
assembly which in term is mounted to an ATM strut. The camera
is the 35_millimeter Nikon with motor drive and a 55-millimeter
f/12 normal focal lens. At 18:11 Greenwich mean time. We're
about 41 minutes into the EVA, the T025, and SO20 instruments
will be turned on over Carnarvon. That will be sunrise time
for the orbiting laboratory, one of two sunrises and three
sunsets. The team of Cart and Gibson will see from outside their
space home on this EVA. An hour and a half after the start of
the EVA, Bill Pogue, the EVA monitor or inside man will keep
check on a 50 degree roll maneuver for the Skylab. This maneuver
is necessary for the $201, far ultraviolet camera. This
device similar to the one carried to the Moon by Apollo 16,
electronically implifies light and then records this greatly
intensified imagery on film. An hour and 7 minutes after the
$201 maneuver, the space station will be returned to its normal
attitude pointing towards the Sun. A little over 3-I/2 hours
after the hatch opens, the crew will begin their closeout
activity. Should be acquisition here at Madrid, we're standing
by.
SL-IV MC1454/2
Time: 15:21 CST, 43:21:21 GMT
12/28/73
CC Skylab, AOS, Madrid 7 minutes.

CDR Roger, Story. We're hustling on with the
EVA pre-prep now.
CC Okay, Jer, and now you might check with
Bill and see if he did get the caution and warning on PCG
6 enable?
CDR Roger, he hadn't but he will now.
CC Okay, and all those bat test came out just
fine. There's no big surprises and EGIL passes on many
thanks to Bill for a good job on that.
CDR Okay.
CC Bill, Houston.
PLT Go, Story.
CC Bill, could you verify on panel 225, the
cabin pressure regs are both open?
PLT That's affirmative.
CC Skylab, we're a minute from LOS, about 30
minutes to Carnarvon, at 22:02. CDR, Houston.
PLT He's listening, Story, go.
CC Okay, on the matchup between PCU and LSU,
just a reminder to keep 16 to 16 and i0 to 7. That's PCU i0
and LSU 7_ and keep the other two 16s together.
PLT Roger, we have that. And note on configuration
the 02/N2 solenoid valve is selected to off. However, I
think that: was done because of the enrichment problem.
CC Thanks Bill, and that where we wanted it
in off.
PLT Hey, Story, I know you're going over
the hill, but do plan for us to use the 16_millimeter EVA
tomorrow?
CC That's affirm.
PLT Thank you.
PAO This is Skylab Control loss of signal
through Madrid tracking station. Next station in 26 minutes
will be Carnarvonp Australia. Final Carnarvon pass for
several hours until the orbit precesses westward halfway
descending node back through Carnarvon. The next 3 or 4
passes will be through Honeysuckle, but missing Carnarvon
altogether. We'll return at that time for Carnarvon and
after a brief gap Honeysuckle. Space station Skylab now in
the early part of its 3,296 Earth revolution. At 21:37
Greenwich mean time, this is Skylab Control.
END OF TAPE
SL-IV MC1455/I
Time: 16:01 CST, 43:22:01 GMT
12/28/73
PAO This is Skylab Control, 50 seconds to

acquisition at Carnarvon, Australia, tracking station. A
gap of about 7 minutes between Carnarvon and Honeysuckle
for which the circuit will be left up live. And we're
estimating about 4:15 for the press conference, in the
Building 1 news center, with Dr. Lubos Kohoutek. AOS at
Carnarvon in about 15 seconds.
CC Skylab, AOS, through Carnarvon for 4 minutes.
PLT Thank you, Story.
CC And for Ed, he can take a second JOP 18
Charlie, right on down to 2 minutes of time remaining.
SPT Okay, Story, thank you. I saw that the
first one had 2 minutes the second one 6, and the last one
14.
CC Yes sir, that's a good call on the second
one. The reason for 14 on the third one is to get back to
SI and I_ll let Jerry get the pad.
SPT Okay.
CC Skylab, we're a minute to LOS, 7 minutes
to Honeysuckle.
from Carnarvon, Australia. The other Australian station
at the opposite end of that sub continent will come over the
spacecraft horizon in 5 minutes. Honeysuckle Creek and
as it'S said in some quarters we will hold the line up for
Honeysuckle, 4 minutes away. At 22:08 standing by, Skylab
Control.
CC Skylab, Houston, hello at Honeysuckle Creek
from the purple gang. We're - got a very short pass here about
a minute from LOS. Texas comes up at 02:43. And we're
going to dump the data recorder there.
CDR Hello, Richard.
CC Hello, Jer.
SPT Hello, Dick and purple gang.
CC Hello, Ed°
SPT Hey_ Dick_ I wonder if you could come up
with an answer for me. I'ii give you a real quick question.
CC Okay.
SPT As we're looking out minus or plus-Z at
the Sun and we have our heads along minus-Y, like we might
on EVA, wl_at direction or how many degrees clockwise in
XY would we see the comet tomorrow during the EVA?
CC Okay, Ed, that if I can figure out the
question l'm sure somebody else could figure out the
answer. I got it and we'll get you an answer.
SPT Okay, thank you. Wetre just trying to
come up with a real sh real quick way to make sure we're
looking in the right place, because we won't have long to
look.
SL-IV MC1455/2
Time: 16:01 CST, 43:22:01 GMT
12/28/73
CC Okay, and as we go over the hill Ed,

incidentally, I'm going to spend some time this evening
putting together some technical information that we've
learned o11 the comet this evening. And that'll be comin_
up to you before you go to bed tonight.
SPT Hey, that'll be most useful, thanks very
much, Dick.
CC Okay.
through Honeysuckle Creek, Australia tracking station.
Next station in 27 minutes will be the Texas station at
Corpus Christi. However, as soon as Dr. Lubos Kohoutek
and his party arrive from the training building from the tour,
crew training building, in the Houston newsroom, there will
be a press conference with the astronomer for whom the
comet is named. Any Skylab air-to-ground over the States
during that press conference will be recorded for delayed
playback. At 22:16 Greenwich mean time, this is Skylab
Control.
END OF TAPE
SL-IV MC1456/I
TIME: 17:02 CST, 43:23:02 GMT
12/28/73
PAO This is Skylab Control, 23:02 Greenwich

mean time about a minute and 40 seconds away from acquisition
at Madrid. We're estimating a change-of-shift briefing with
the off-going Flight Director Milt Windler in about a half
hour or about 5:30 central time. Meanwhile we have some
6-1/2 minutes of air-to-ground tape recorded over this
stateside pass that took place during the Professor Kohoutek
press conference. We'll play back that tape and play catchup
through the upcoming Madrid pass. Let's roll the tape.
CC Skylab, Houston. Hello stateside for
15 minutes, we're dumping the data/voice recorder here. And
SPT, Houston, when you get a second I have an answer to your
question about the comet location tomorrow.
SPT Go ahead Dick.
CC Okay. If a person should stand looking
towards plus Z, right at the Sun, with his head_towa_d_minus
Y, the comet will be clocked 80 or approximately 85 degrees
clockwise from the top of the Sun as that guy looked at it.
And another piece of information for you is during the EVA
the elongation is changing quite rapidly, but during the
EVA tomorrow the elongation will be somewhere in the order
of 6-1/2 degrees if you'd like to estimate the distance by
looking at the diameter of the Sun.
SPT Okay, thanks very much. 85 degrees out
and elongation at 6-1/2 degrees.
CC Or something like.
SPT I'm gonna peer out of a few more windows here
thinking about solar panel shading, the Sun, and just where we
would actually be seeing it then
SPT Dick, got one other relatively simple question
for you.
CC Okay, Ed, go ahead.
SPY Which direction are we planning on rolling
the about X in order to get the solar panel occulting the Sun?
CC Stand by. SPT, Houston, the X-rotation is
minus 54 degrees, which is the same direction as we went last
time except about 3 or 3-1/2 times as far.
SPT Okay, very good, then 1'11 make sense,
thank you very much, Dick.
SPT One last one Dick, and I'Ii leave you
alone for a little while.
CC Rog.
SPT When's my private comm set up for?
CC Well as a matter of fact, let me tell you
here. It's 02:19, at Canary and Ascension, Ed.
SPT Thank you very much, Dick.
CC Roger.
SL-IV MC1456/2
TIME: 17:02 CST, 43:23:02 GMT
12/28/73
CC And Skylab, Houston, we still got about

6 minutes in this pass. No big hurry here but we'd appreciate
a status on how you guys are doing on the EVA pre-preps.
CDR We're just about all complete Dick.
CC Good show, everything going good I hope?
CDR Yeah, it went very quickly today, Bill's
still got to get the digital thermometer out and get it stowed.
And l'm trying to get the checklist, all the update put into
the checklist.
CC Okay, good Jerry, thank you.
PLT Say Dick, about that digital thermometer,
would it hurt to put a little dab of that thermal grease on
the back? I think that'll give us a little more accurate
reading and also make it a little easier to take.
CC Stand by, let us think about that one.
CDR Dick I got a question on the change sheet,
the very last item.
CC Okay, stand by and let me get a - it in
front of me before you ask it.
CC Okay, go ahead.
CDR Okay, it says EVA 3 (M143, stow meteriod
cover).
CC Yeah, I'm looking at it.
CDR Should that be EVA 4, I thought we were
not bringing in any of that stuff on 3?
CC Jerry, the answer to that question is
negative. We've changed, orginally you are right however,
but we've changed this item. We do intend to bring in the AM
meteriod cover on EVA 3 and that change is made to the balance
of general workload between the EVA. So we do want to bring
it in tomorrow.
CDR Well I just carefully deleted all that stuff
out of the stuff up above, didn't I, on pages 2.3-15, 16, 17,
and 182
CC Okay, hang on Jerry, let me make sure.
CDR It's the area between two lines it says
Note, do not mark through the following item as they,will
not be done on EVA 3 but will be done on the last EVA."
And then it says " Do not perform DL24 ops, $230 collector
retrieval, $228, and sail sample retrieval." That's up about
8 inches above the one we were just talking about.
CC Yeah, Jerry I was looking at it when yon
said it and we're having a discussion here as to the - really
it's to how best to explain it to you. We think the checklist
is right. We'll just talk about it a little bit and I may
get Rusty on the phone here, shortly, either here at Madrid
and straighten it out in your and our mind.
SL-IV MC1456/3
TIME: 17:02 CST, 43:23:02 GMT
12/28/73
CDR Okay.
CC Skylab, Houston, we're about a minute from
LOS here at stateside. Madrid comes up at 23:04 and Jerry
we're getting an answer together for you and we'll have it,
probably, at AOS Madrid.
CDR Okay, Dick.
CC And SPT, Houston, in answer to your question
about the digital thermometer, it is okay to use the thermal
grease.
SPT Thank you, Dick.
CC Skylab, Houston we're AOS Madrid for about
9 minutes= and I'll give you Rusty - Jerry if you're listening
I'll give you Rusty for a minute or so and I'll let him explain
this discrepancy.
END OF TAPE
SL-IV MC1457/I
Time: 17::09 CST 43:23:09 GMT
12/28/73
CC Jerry, if you're listening, I'll give

your Rusty for a minute or so and let him explain this
discrepancy.
SPT He's listening Dick, go ahead.
MCC Okay, CDR, we goofed on the pad we sent
up to you there and generated a little confusion. Jerry's
sharp eye there picked up our inconsistency. We do want to
retrieve that SEVA sail material that was deployed on
Skylab II and it's located on a DA truss - a DA strut near
ATM deployment rel, and we do want to brin_ that in and
stow it on this one. Our intent was to simply strike that
out of that section for the next EVA when we got to it,
but you caught us ahead of time. So we do want to bring
it in. The other thing that - that we want to clarify is
that the piece of meteoroid cover that we want to bring in
is the one located immediately over the EVA hatch hinge line.
That is if you partially close the EVA hatch, it's the
piece of material that's i0 inches wide and I think, 50 inches
long that covers the hinge line of the hatch. It got it
should have at least two snaps on it and the rest of it is
velcro.
SPT What color is it Rusty?
MCC It's white. It's the same meteorite
shield material that's all over, it's the cloth that lines
the whole FAS.
SPT Okay, this was not something that was
specially deployed then.
MCC That's that's right. This was not
deployed. This was just a piece of the meteorite shield
there wit]_ that thermal paint on it that covers the whole
inside of the FAS area, And this particular one should
have one little section that had Sun on it the whole mission
and the rest of it inside of the shade is the FAS. And
we wanted to bring it home to analyse it.
SPT Oh, okay, very good. What's it got
about a dozen or so snaps on it?
MCC No, it has two snaps and the rest velcro,
SPT Okay, very good.
MCC Okay. And it is the one i0 inches
wide 50 inches long that physically covers the hinge line
of the hatch.
SPT So what you have to do is go on out and
partially close the hatch in order to get to it.
MCC That's affirmative.
SPT Okay.
HCC Don't let anybody close it on you.
SL-IV MC1457/2
Time: 17:09 CST 43:23:09 GMT
12/28/73
SPT Not all the way.

CDR Don't worry about a thing Rusty. I'll
be in the airlock module.
MCC It's not me that's worried.
CC Everybody say good by to Rusty.
SPT Good night, Rusty.
CDR Good night, Rusty.
PLT Good night, Rusty.
PAO Skylab Control, that completes playback
of the tape and we're caught up live for the remaining minute
of the Madrid pass.
through the Madrid station. Eleven minutes to voice
relay station at Tananarive. Change-of-shift briefing with
Flight Director, Milt Windler will be approximately no
earlier than about 5:30 p.m. central time in the Houston
newsroom. Returning in ii minutes for Tananarive this
is Skylab Control at 23:14 Greenwich mean time.
END OF TAPE
SL-IV MC1458/I
Time: 17:24 CST, 43:23:24 GMT
12/28/73

mean time, 50 seconds to acquisition at voice relay station
Tananarive. As space station Skylab crosses the east
African coast into the Indian Ocean, we're standing by
for acquisition at Tananarive.
CC Skylab, Houston, AOS Tananarive for 7
minutes.
PLT Roger.
CDR Houston, CDR.
CC Go ahead, Jerry.
CDR Hey, while I'm picking at your pad, I
might as well pick at details 2350, I think they got the
tray numbers all reversed.
CC Okay, let me pull that one out, hang on.
PAO This is Skylab Control, Flight Director
Milt Windler, who's now handed over to the purple team,
headed up by Phil Shaffer is now en route to the Houston
newsroom. And we_ll pick up with the change-of-shift
briefing at LOS here at Tananarive.
SPT Houston, SPT.
CC Skylab, Houston_ say again?
SPT Yeah, Dick, I wanted to give some information
to the Flight Planners.
CC Okay, go ahead, Ed.
SPT Okay, for the next i0 days, I'll be cutting
my PT back to 1 hour, I'd like to try it for i0 days and
see how it works, just plan to ride the bike on every other
day and then work the weights, and the Thornton device
on alternate days.
CC Okay, Ed, got that. Thank you much.
CC Skylab, Houston, th - we're about to
go over the hill at Tananarive. Honeysuckle comes up at
23:50. And Jerry, I'm not going to have a straight answer
for you here on that details pad, on the trays.
PAO This is Skylab Control, the communications
technician out at Tananarive voice relay station has reported
loss of signal. Next station in 15 minutes will be
Honeysuckle. That pass likely will be taped for delayed
playback, in as much as the change_of-shift briefing with
Fli_ht Director Milt Windler should start momentarily in
the Houston newsroom. At 23:34 Greenwich mean time, this
is Skylab Control.
END OF TAPE
SL-IV MC1459/I
Time: 17:49 CST, 43:23:49 GMT
12/28/73

mean time. Acquisition of space station Skylab in 50
seconds through Honeysuckle Creek, Australia tracking station
as Skylab sails through the open sea - or over the open sea
between Australia and New Zealand, midway thrcugh revolution
3,297.
CC Skylab, Houston, AOS Honeysuckle for 4
minutes.
CC And CDR, Houston, I have an answer for you
on the urine trays.
CDR Go ahead, Dick.
CC Roger, eagle eye this is your day to catch
us. You're absolutely correct. The locations are reversed
on your details pad. And you probably already done it, but
if you haven't, here's what we'd like to have this afternoon.
We'd like to move trays 9 and i0 from F551, where you put
them last night, to H810 in the head. And we would like to
move trays 7 and 8 frem H810 in the head to $551. Okay?
CDR Okay, that's all been done and I'm showing
the location of 7 and 8 in 551, of the unscheduled transfers.
CC Okay, Jerry, thanks - -
CDR - - stowage location.
CC Roger, Jerry. Thank you very much.
CC And CDR, Houston.
CDR Roger, go ahead.
CC Roger, Jerry, I - I wanted to say this to
you when on our first AOS pass here this evening, but
things have been kind of hectic around here, even for this
place on a detail shift. And we've been snowed with paper.
Late last evening, just as Phil and I were leaving, we did
get that tape that you put on cued up and we listened to it.
We are working on it. You asked some good direct questions
and we're going to give you some good direct answers. Some
of them possibly later this evening, I'm not sure. We are
working on aquverall summary for you. What we intend to do
is get that pulled together and Bob Parker and company are
working on that during the night tonight. What we plan on
doing is for the general summary we - we hope to get it in
a - in a form where we can uplink it to you so you can have
something to to kind of soak in and understand. And then
probably Phil and I have two more detail shifts, one tonight
and one the next night. And probably later on tomorrow night
or more likely the next evening, we can sit down and talk about
it for a while.
CDR Okay, that'd be great, Dick. Thanks a lot.
CC Roger.
SPT Okay, Dick, I'm working away on 18C. I picked
up the cemet at minus 140 and a minus 20. It's exceptionally
SL-IV MC1459/2
Time: 117:49 CST, 43:23:49 GMT
12/28/73
bright now in the coma. The tail appears to have fanned out
to around 20 degrees half angle or 40 degrees across. It's
up - the tail is up in my display and I think I can see
some slight evidence of a tail or some - some emission at
the end of the display anyway. It's going off to the right
which I believe's the sunward direction, but it's very
faint and I'm going to try and get a better look at it,
and maybe get a picture of it.
CC Roger, that sounds like a - a fun display
to be looking at right now. And we're about 30 seconds
from LOS. La - Hawaii comes up at 00:12.
SPT Would you like any on the VTR, or is that
for subsequent passes?
CC Roger, Ed, we got about 5 minutes on the
VTR you can have. And we would like to have it.
SPT Okay.
CC And Ed, about 5 minutes is about all we
have, so you might
SPT keep it down - keep it down to
around i or so.
CC Yeah, okay, that's what I was going to suggest.
One or two here, and then if something comes up later you'd
like to put on again before we're dumping it, have at it.
We'll let you know when we have to take it to start our
dump cycle.
SPT Okay, I think just a couple of quick looks
at it now and then might show you more than one long one.
CC Okay, concur.
through Honeysuckle, 20 - as you were 14 minutes to Hawaii.
Science Pilot Ed Gibson in the midst of running ATM joint
observation program number 18 Charlie. Said that he had
a fairly good view of the Comet Kohoutek on the ATM television
monitor. That the comet's tail was continuing to fan out
appreciably. And he asked if any time were available on
the video tape recorder on board the space station and he
was given a go to record about 5 minutes of video tape, the
white light coronagraph, which likely will be dumped over
the upcoming stateside pass. A brief pass over Hawaii,
coming up in 13 minutes, low-elevatlon angle off to the
southeast horizon from the Hawaii station. Only 3 degrees
above the Hawaii horizon. We'll return at that time. And
at 23:58 Greenwich mean time, this is Skylab Control.
END OF TAPE
SL-IV MC1460/I
TIME: 18:10 CST, 44:00:10 GMT
12/28/73
PAO This is Skylab Control, i0 minutes past

midnight Greenwich mean time. 50 seconds away from the
rather brief pass at the southeastern most edge of the Hawaii
tracking station horizon. We'll stay up during the brief
gap after Hawaii LOS and Goldstone acquisition of signal.
30 seconds now until Hawaii picks up space station Skylab and
we're standing by.
CC Skylab, Houston we're AOS Hawaii for 3
minutes.
CC SPT, Houston, we n_tic_ that there's about
a minute or so of something on the VTR and the switch was
in PORTABLE, when we last saw it and it's still in _TABLE.
_nd we assume that you switched over to ATM to put the comet on
the VTR.
SPT No I didn't Dick.
CC Okay, you might take that under consideration
next time you have a good view of it - do that again, we still
have 3 or 4 minutes left. And for Jerry, there's in the
teleprinter, sometime in the last couple or three hours is
a permanent general message 019 Alfa that replaces number 19
which has to do with EVA/CMG sail. And Jerry for your details
pad that we uplinked a while ago for tomorrow, there's a
mistake on it that has to do with that number. At the time
of 13:50 on your tomorrow's details, you should change PM019
to 019 Alfa. One more thing on that, during the next half
an hour to an hour or so, Rusty's is going to be in to answer
any questions you have on that particular general message and
also there's one in the work that's on the way about maneuver
monitoring for tomorrow. Incidentally, we have chosen
that hybrid type control mode that we talked about last
evening but Rusty'll be in to fill you in on all the details
about that here shortly.
CDR Okay, Dick, we'll go out and check on our
mailbox.
CC Okay. And Skylab, we're i minute from LOS,
Goldstone comes up at about 4 minutes from now, 1'11 call you
there.
CDR Dick, do we have a evening status report
time, I don't see it in my details.
CC Well as a matter of fact we're going to have
guest evening status reporter in the form of a PLT, this
evening. It is scheduled in his details because of your late
ATM run. It's scheduled at Goldstone at 03:37 and then the
later _art of that stateside past, we're going to handover to
the doctor for the last pass of the evening for the med conference.
CDR Good whow.
CC Roger.
SL-IV MC1460/2
TIME: 18:10 CST, 44:00:10 GMT
12/28/73

at Hawaii a minute and 40 seconds to reacquisition through
Goldstone, in the series of stations across the United States.
Standing by live for the upcoming stateside pass.
CC Skylab, Houston, AOS stateside for 9-1/2
minutes.
SPT Houston, SPT.
CC Go ahead.
SPT Okay, Dick let me describe the Polariod
which I did get up and which shows it a little bit better than
I was able to veiw it by eye. Relative to my display
there is the one tail going up which has fanned out quite a
bit, and that is around 12 octal units or maybe a tenth of a
degree or so that I could see it here. I also seen a spike
which is moving almost in the opposite direction. It's
inclined if you want to take up as 12 o'clock, at maybe down
to around 5 o'clock. It's a very faint spike but I believe
it is discernible. There is also - that spike is around twice
as long as the other one, maybe 2/10 or so of a degree but it
is much fainter. The coma is not spherical it also has
a very tiny spike going off at say 3 '0 clock, a very small
dot, but I have seen it by eye and it does show up very
faintly on the photograph.
CC Rog - Roger, Ed I copied all of that.
SPT I have looked for it in H-alpha as well
as XUV monitor and with no success.
CC Okay.
END OF TAPE
SL-IV MC1461/I
Time: 18::25 CST 44:00:25 GMT
12/28/73

from LOS. Bermuda comes up about 4 minutes from now, and
I'll call you there.
CC Skylab, Houston, Bermuda for 3 minutes.
SPT Roger, Dick.
SPT Dick, I'm looking at the next pad for
the next pass coming up on 18C, and I think the building
block 30, they want me to perform is building block 30
Bravo, rather than 30 Charlie, it's called out at 41 minutes.
CC And Roger. We'll check that one Ed.
And one thing for you we'd like to close the H-alpha i
door. And we'd on S056 we'd like a start and then a stop
to close the shutter. Over.
CC Roger.
from LOS. Canary comes up at 00:41. We just uplinked page
I of a page of a 3-page message into the teleprinter so
leave it in the teleprinter, and we_ll uplink the - ne - the
second and third pages of it at AOS Canary. That message is
the maneuver monitor message and Rusty will be standing by
at Canary, Jerry to discuss briefly that message and the
permanent general message 19 Alfa.
SPT Okay, Dick.
through Bermuda. Two and a half minutes until reacquisition
through Canary Islands overlapping Madrid. We'll stand by
live as space station Skylab crosses the north Atlantic and
comes into view of the antennas at the two European stations.
END OF TAPE
SL-IV MC1462/I
TIME: 18:39 CST, 44:00:39 GMT
12/28/73
CC Skylab, Houston, we're AOS Canary for

9 minutes and SPT, Houston, l've got an answer for you on
18 Charlie.
SPT Okay, Dick go ahead.
CC Okay as you have discovered, we got clever
with the letters because in the JOP Summary Sheets there are
only 2 building block 30's - Alfa and Bravo and during the
day where we're going to do a total of four of them, the second -
the third one and the fourth one got named Charlie and Delta.
Both of those two, one of which is in your upcoming daylight cycle
and the other one is in Jerry's daylight cycle later on in the day
or step 117 in position Bravo, so both of those should really
be a Bravo.
SPT Okay, I thought that's what it was but
I wanted _to make sure. We had changed the JOP Summary
Sheet for the night. We want to make sure nothing got - escaped
us. Thank you_ Dick.
CC Yes, a good question, glad it came up.
MCC Okay, CDR, Rusty here.
CDR Go ahead, Rusty.
MCC Okay, I'd like to talk with you and Bill
regarding message 4433, that's the EVA/CMG fail message.
That's permanent gereral message 19 Alfa which replaces 19,
you got it there?
CDR Sure do.
MCC Okay, if you've had a chance to smoke it
over, you!ll note that there are very few changes between
this and 'what we gave you for the last EVA. I want to call
your attention to the fact that because of the star tracker
fails t when you activate the CSM tomorrow morning, you'll
have to do CSM optics P51, P5 just P51 rather than the
star tracker,
CDR Roger.
MCC Okay, and we got that in the note there in
the first part of it. Also we should have with the timing
we_ve got in the Flight Plan some station coverage about that
time. And if you want to check with us_ we can probably
update your clock - your CMC clock and TFM if you want us to
do that and it looks like the timing is good. That's your choice
and we_ll stand by on your call, otherwise you can just
follow what you did the other day.
CDR Okay, very good, I_ii probably need as
much time as I can get to find the stars.
MCC Okay, going down into the body of it there.
For Bill, who_s going to be monitoring during the EVA, of
course we don't expect any problems with the CMGs however
_f we do have a problem, you'll have set up the CSM in
P20 there and you'll note that the differences here, that
SL-IV MC1462/2
TIME: 18:39 CST, 44:00:39 GMT
12/28/73
we're specifying all three registers of NOUN 78. If you

go to step 2 there where we talk about the cluster roll for
the 201 camera shading, you'll notice that we've called out
VERB 25, NOUN 78 and specified all three. I want to
call your attention to the fact that R2 has a discontinuity
in it at ]80 degrees. If If you go on down to the caution
note, you_'ll notice that if R2 is greater, if - in the tweaking
maneuvers:_ if R2 is greater than 180 degrees, that you need
to tweak over there. We need to make sure that we change
R3 to 358.93, that is it's 180-degree change in R-3. Depending
on which side of 180 R2 is. Now that sounds pretty confusing,
I'd like you to look over that caution note and if you have
any questions come down to us again with it.
CDR Okay, I think I understand that, Rusty.
CC Okay, the consequence there if we do not
change R3 there as we go through 180 on the R2 is that the
CSM will 1:ry to yaw that big moose 180 degrees in orbit there.
That's that Amicron definition.
CDR Right, I kind of had a hunch that's what
was tied up in there and I was wondering why the shift in
numbers, but your explanation pretty well answers the question.
MCC Okay, Fine if you grab the APS control message
4434 then stand by just i. Okay the total message is up there
in the teleprinter, if you haven't already ripped it out. And
while you _
CDR Okay, we're going to go get it now.
MCC Okay, I'Ii tell you what, I'ii just go
ahead and tell you what we're doing here. What we're doing
tomorrow, is during all of the fine pointing either for
alignment of the telescopes or the data take periods we're
running in CMG control either in SI or ATT HOLD, for
the 201 maneuver. However, when we're not taking data, that
is through the night passes, we are inhibitinK CMG control
which turns it over to the TACS and then we're calling a
nominal H-cage. Now what that does is put - put us in TACS
control but the CMGs track nominal H all the time. This way we
keep our momentum state to a very nice condition, just before
the data take we turn it back over to the CMGs which gives
us a nice fine pointing and also a control momentum.
CDR Roger, understand.
MCC Okay, if you've got the message, what I'd
like to do is - you'll notice down there where we say, when
ready for tweat maneuver.
CDR Roger.
MCC Okay, you'll have been going through a
night pass there which means you'll be in TACS control,
SL-IV MC1462/3
TIME: 18:39 CST, 44:00:39 GMT
12/28/73
CMGs inhibited and when you're ready for the tweat maneuver
we go ahead and put in the 201 maneuver, still in TACS
control. That is
END OF TAPE
SL-IV MC1463/I
Time: 18:48 CST, 44:00:48 GMT
12/28/73
MCC - - and when you're ready for the tweak

maneuver, we go ahead and put in the 201 maneuver still in
TACS control. That is it says when ready for 201 maneuver,
we just go ahead and put in a maneuver time and maneuver
under TACS control. That means that you can be any where
within the 3, 2, 2 deadband when you command the 201
maneuver. Since the maneuver is from your present attitude
that means when you arrive at the 201 attitude you may be
3, 2, 2 off of where we plan to be. But you guys can take care
of that during the tweak. So, in other words we're saying,
that maneuver to the 201 attitude may leave you up to 3
degrees off in roll.
CDR Okay, understand.
MCC Okay, going on to the second page of the
message. I want to make sure that - to let Ed know here that
we considered going to the half degree increments or less by
allowing you to tweak, using a fine maneuver rather than
coarse. However, in looking at 2-1/2 degrees or something
like that,, that's 250/100 of a degree which you got to convert
to octal. So, we figure i degree grandularity is good enough,
since the elongation of the comet should be about 6 degrees.
SPT Yeah, I agree with you Rusty. I didn't
realize the elongation was moving out that fast.
MCC 0kay_ fine and that saves you converting
all kinds of things to octal for the tweak maneuvers.
Okay, down another few steps Jerry, where it says when 20 -
$201 data take complete to point the camera away from the
Sun and then we're going - we cycle the ACS MODE switch to
ATT HOLD CMG,
CDR Okay, we found it.
MCC Okay, fine. Now, the reason that we're
cycling the switch there is in case there's any small attitude
error. It centers the deadband right where you are and - and
then you go ahead and inhibit CMG control and the TACS
maneuver back to the solar interial attitude is nice and smooth.
What we want to make sure of is that you don't get confused
there. You are at that time calling ATT HOLD CMG, even though
you are about to inhibit CMG control. And that's no problem.
You will be actually in TACS control but we do want you to
cycle the switch as listed.
CDR Okay, understand.
MCC Okay, on the last page of the message
we have a caution note in the attitude monitor scheme. Let's
see we are going LOS here and we're picking up Tananarive
in about 11 minutes in case we go over the hill while I'm
talking. Okay, during the monitor scheme, that caution note
SL-IV MC1463/2
Time: 18:48 CST, 44:00:48 GMT
12/28/73
should apply before the DAS entries. That is if we are in the 201
attitude and we have a problem that you have to take over
with TACS, we want you to - Bill should let Ed know as
soon as possible to repoint 201 to keep the Sun from
blindin_ it.
CDR Good point, Rusty.
MCC Okay, that's about all we got.
through Canary Island station and Madrid. Nine minutes to
voice relay station at Tananarive for the final time this
evening. We_ll return at that time. And at 52 minutes
past midnight Greenwich mean time, this is Skylab Control.
END OF TAPE
SL-IV MC1464/I
Time: 19:01 CST 44:01:01 GMT
12/28/73

mean time. And 50 seconds away from acquisition through
voice relay station at Tananarive. Final Tananarive pass
tonight, and Rusty Schweickart is standing by to continue
the discussion with the Skylab-IV crew on tomorrow's attitude
control management during the extra vehicular activity
number three. Twenty seconds to AOS Tananarive.
CC Skylab, Houston, we're AOS Tananarive
for 5 minutes. Rusty has one more small point he'd like to make
to you on the conversation that you were having. So, I'll turn
it over to him.
MCC Okay, Jerry you there?
MCC Hello, Skylab, Houston.
MCC Okay, Skylab, Houston, in the blind
in case you're reading us. What we're talking about is the
caution note there for $201 in case we run into an attitude
problem during monitoring. Our suggestion, rather than
just point: it away from the Sun, is to go power off and
point it away. That will save the remaining frames in
that sequence. Then after you get back in attitude we'll
do power on and reset to initiate the next sequence.
See you tomorrow.
if indeed we ever had acquisition through voice relay
station at: Tananarive. All calls from the control room
here were in the blind with no response through the station.
Apparently the people out at Tananarive were having trouble
locking up the antenna on the space station Skylab. So
that pass was a dead loss, 15 minutes to Honeysuckle, at
which time we shall return. 01:i0 Greenwich mean time,
Skylab Control.
END OF TAPE
SL-IV MC1465/I
Time: 19:25 CST 44:01:25 GMT
12/28/73

mean time. Acquisition through Honeysuckle, in 47 seconds.
Halfway through revolution 3298. This pass over Honeysuckle
is almost directly over head the station - of the station,
87 degrees and coincidentally over Hawaii. This upcoming
pass at the same elevation angle, just 3 degrees away from
straight up. Fourteen seconds to acquisition, Honeysuckle
standing by.
CC Skylab, Houston. Hello at Honeysuckle,
for 9 minutes.
SPT Hello, Dick.
CC Hello there.
CC And CDR, Houston, we had a problem in
acquiring the spacecraft at Tananarive. We never did get
a good acquisition until just about LOS time. Rusty made
one other minor point on general message 4434 in the blind,
and I'm not at all sure that you heard him at all, did you?
CDR Negative, we didn't Dick.
CC Okay, do - sometime this evening, now
if you got it out. But sometime when you got that message
in front of you, I can make that same point. Rusty has left,
but I think I understand it.
CDR Okay, go ahead.
CC Okay, Prry down there toward the right
toward the tail end of the message. Oh, I guess maybe 15 or
20 lines from the bottom where it talks about if the gimbals
approach their stops, and - and/or the attitude exceeds half
a degree in any axis and lists some DAS commands. And then
there is a caution note about $201 right below that.
PLT Dick, you dropped out there would you
say again. All after "if gimbals approach their stops."
CC Okay, I was just trying to get you to
look at that that part of the message it's toward the
tail end, it's little some little DAS commands. And I
want make to a make note about that caution note concerning 201 - -
PLT Houston, Skylab.
CC Skylab, Houston, how do you read.
PLT Rog, you dropped out there Dick. Say again
all after "if gimbals approach their stops."
CC Roger.
CC I want you _.to be looking at that caution
note concerning 201, that's what I want to make a point
about.
FLT Okay, I'm looking at it.
CC Okay, the caution note when we uplinked
it just said point the instrument away from the Sun to prevent
SL-IV MC1465/2
Time: 19:25 CST 44:01:25 GMT
12/28/73
damage. After we uplinked the message just here in the last

hour we got some additional information. And what we would
also like for you to do is turn the power off - turn the
power off $201 at the time that happened. And then following
the point where the Sun could damage, he said, "and power back
on . fl
CC Just to make that clear I want the reset

and the power on after you've accomplished the repointing.
PLT Rog, understand. Do _a _es_t and then
go turn the power back on.
CC Roger, it's power off when it happens
and then after you repoint it power on and then reset, in
that order.
PLT Roger, after repointing power on and
then reset.
CC Right, Bill. Thank you much.
CC And SPT, Houston, one configuration on
S055 we desire grating auto scan and no interlock.
SPT Yeah, Dick, you also had included in
step where we were supposed to try to find it with the
mirror. At least that's what I was lead to believe by the
pad. If you want me not to attempt that I'll just press
on with the grating - grating scan, no INTERLOCK.
CC Okay, Ed. I guess that was a premature
call. We didn't realize exactly where you were. We would
like for you to continue so just ignore my last call.
PLT And Dick, I erased the line. I just
want to confirm now after repointing, power on and reset
or is it reset and then power on?
CC It's power on and then reset Bill.
PLT Okay, I got it right. Thank you.
CC Roger, thank you.
SPT Dick, would the S056 people like a long
exposure if possible or the one specified.
CC Stand by.
CC SPT, Houston, we'd like it 20 minutes
as specified.
SPT Thank you.
CC Reg.
SPT Dick, and I looked for it on S055. We
occasionally see a two or a three flicker up, but we cannot
ever go back and find it. I think the drift has got us,
and I'm not sure we really were right on the nucleus with
the 55 although we did see a couple two's and three's.
But as I say we can never go back and relocate them. I
suggest we try just a little bit longer and then
SL-IV MC1465/3
Time: 19:25 CST 44:01:25 GMT
12/28/73
go on with the GRATING AUTO SCAN no interlocks.

CC SPT, Houston, we agree with that. We
don't want you to try too much longer, and then go ahead
and press on. We're about 30 seconds from LOS, Hawaii
comes up at 01:46.
through Honeysuckle, 9 minutes and 25 seconds until
reacquisition through tracking station Hawaii. We'll return
at that time and at 01:36 Greenwich mean time, Skylab Control.
END OF TAPE
SL-IV MC1466/I
TIME: 19:44 CST, 44:01:44 GMT
12/28/73

mean time and 50 seconds away from acquisition through
Hawaii. Pass directly overhead, the Hawaii tracking station
on the island of Koonia (sic) Kauai, 87.8 de_rees elevation
angle, 0.21 de_rees away from absolute vertical over that station.
And we have almost continious coverage from Hawaii across
the States_ through Canary and Ascension for about the next
25 minutes or so for the next almost 50 minutes with
brief dropouts between stations.
CC - - for about i0 minutes and we're going
to take control of the VTR here to start our dump cycle.
SPT Okay, Dick. I think it might be a little
more interesting this time in looking at the pictures we took
two more this past time and moved them right on to the very
edge of the field of view around minus 140 in X. And it took
pictures of both scopes, And it does show a definite but still
very faint: light from the coma going off to about 5 o'clock in
our direction. I can see it out to around 0.4 degrees. I believe
that's probably the solar direction but I'm not - I know that's
the general direction but I wouldn't want to say it's quite and
exactly solar. The other tail is more diffuse, perhaps a little
brighter, but it doesn't extend quite as far, at least not in
our ability to visualize it or see it. There still is that very
small asymmetry of the coma going off to around 3 o'clock. It's
very faint: but still noticable, it's just the coma being oh about
say 3 or A/IO0 of a degree and the other asymmetries being 1/6
or 1/8 of that.
CC Roger, Ed. It sounds real interesting and
we're looking forward to taking a look at it for ourselves.
And PLT, Houston I've got two or three - a couple of mission
notes this evening I'd like to start working off so I can get
my work done here and a couple of them for you.
PLT Go ahead Dick.
CC Okay, tomorrow morning, you've got the first
ATM pass so you're likely to be the one that activates
ATM/C&D loop and we'd like to turn on pump Charlie vice
pump Bravo in the morning.
PLT Rog, understand pump Charlie.
CC Rog, and that'll - we think that will be
our normal procedure from now on. I have another question
that's really kind of for anybody and sort of dealer's choice.
You reported last night that TV input station had the tin
come out of it. We've got two choices, and it's kind of up
to you. We do have a spare that we can swap out for that
on that failed down there in experiment compartment. If
you'd like for us to do that we'll schedule it, it's
SL-IV MC1466/2
TIME: 19:44 CST, 44:01:44 GMT
12/28/73
HK-80 _IKE, if you'd rather just go ahead and it's not too
much trouble to use either the forward, one in the forward
compartment or the one in the dome that's okay with us too
so let us know.
PLT Hey, Dick would you put that on the
shopping list?
CC PLT, Houston I guess - we've had a little
conversation down here and I guess we prefer its no problem
for us to schedule it it's about a 20 minute task and
we'll - so if it's okay with you we'll just block out the time
in one of these upcoming days and put it on somebody's flight plan
ratker than go through the trouble of the checklist change
to change the shopping list. In any event
PLT Roger, Dick.
CC Okay, good. Also when Ed gets off the
ATM sometime this evening Ed_ we haven't heard much on the
gypsy motl_ and if you get a chance sometime before the
evening's up_ you might fill us in on what - what moth friends
are doing.
SPT Not too much action in the moth world
right now, Dick. I'Ii go out now and take a look but I've
been looking for the past two nights - two or three nights
and even the moth carcasses if you will are pretty hard to
find except for one or two of them. I'ii keep looking though
and give you a little further discussion tonight.
CC Okay good, thank you much.
SPT Dick, I have a question for you.
CC Go ahead.
SPT On the next pad for the next JOP 18C that
Jerry will be running at 02:33, they say perform reverse
maneuver made at ..., is that supposed to be crossed out as
it was in mine and go ahead and reacquire it the same way we
did this orbit?
CC That's affirmative SPT, you're right.
END OF TAPE
SL IV MC-1467/I
Time: 19:53 CST 44:01:53 GMT
12/28/73
PLT Just passed over the Hawaiian Islands,

Dick, and I got a picture of the entire string with the
exception of Kauai. They're reasonably good. Had some
cloud cover.
CC Roger, Bill. Thank you much, and SPT,
Houston, we're wondering if you were able to see cycle -
daylight cycle to daylight cycle changes in the comet?
SPT Dick, that's very hard for me to estimate,
because of the faintness of all the features. The only thing
I can say is that maybe it's my photography and the fact
that I moved the comet out a little bit further so that
the magnetic (?) function was not quite as strong for the two.
But I was able to see the sunward spike a little more plainly.
I believe it's probably my positioning and photography though.
Any changes I think would be down in the noise level of
my ability to see it.
CC Okay. Copy. Thank you much. We're
about a minute from LOS. We're going to drop out just a
couple of minutes, and I'ii call you at Goldstone.
CC Skylab, Houston. Goldstone for 6-1/2
minutes.
PLT Roger. Hello Dick. One thing I did
forget to mention is that - and again it's just a very
subjective look at it, and that's the brightness of the
coma appears to be about the same brightness as I saw in
Mercury the other day. Perhaps a little brighter.
CC Okay. Thank you.
CC And CDR, Houston. A reminder for you
on the HKCM-7. We see the OWS heat exchanger is off, and
the secondary glycol loop still running. Just be sure prior
to going to bed this evening that you finish squaring away
that procedure.
CDR Good point, Dick. Thanks.
CC Roger.
CC Skylab, Houston. One minute to LOS.
Bermuda in 5 minutes. I'ii call you there.
CC Skylab, Houston. We're - -
END OF TAPE
SL-IV MC1468/I
TIME: 20:10 CST, 44:02:10 GMT
12/28/73
CC Skylab, Houston we're AOS Bermuda for

about 8 minutes and two things here. Bill I have an explanation
I believe for your problem earlier today about unlocking on
the 82B and then since there's very few opportunities this
evening to get the three of you when you're not doing an ATM
or something this evening. I've got a little bit of news.
PLT Go ahead, I think we can listen.
CC Okay Bill on the deal with S082B and the
limb pointing when you lost lock at about 16:00 Zulu this
morning. We looked back at the data and the loss of lock
occurred when you were about 40 arc seconds off the limb.
Turns out the pointing reference system's limb pointing mode
outer limit is 45 arc seconds and it will not hold at that
point, between 40 and 45 arc seconds, the system is pretty
marginal and may break lock if the XUV slit is not absolutely
parallel with the limb so we think that's probably what caused
you to break lock and it wasn't sny hardware problem or
anything like that.
PLT Okay, I accept that I was out there originally
but I went back to the limb too and tried to get out there
and step it out, and I couldn't do that either. So I did
recognize there were problems of limitation there. I can't
recall the exact chain of events, but I did go back toward
the limb using the white light, and then shifting back to
limb pointing, but I couldn't manually step.
CC Okay, well, I tell you what if we learn
anything different than the explanation that I just told you
we'll get back to you and we still got about 6 minutes here if
you guys - we have some short news here, I can read up
to you.
CREW (garble)
SPT - - on the same problem Bill had. I
reported on tape about the operation maybe two days ago.
And I did have some problem when I was only around i0 or
15 arc seconds off the limb and it did have a little
instability in it, that is it was jumping around, plus or
minus 3, 4, 5 arc seconds, exact details have been reported
on tape.
CC Okay, well, perhaps we have been a little hasty
in this. At any rate, we'll take another quick - another
look at the data and get back with you.
PLT Okay, Dick. Hit us with the news.
CC Okay, the dollar improved on most European
money markets Friday for the second straight day. The price
of gold also rose. Dealers attributed the advance of the
American currency to a widespread belief that the United
States would suffer less than Europe from oil price hikes.
U. S. Steel and Armco Steel announced on Friday that they
SL-IV MC1468/2
TIME: 20:10 CST, 44:02:10 GMT
12/28/73
were imposing higher prices on certain heavy steel products.

U. S. Steel said in November the products involved are used
in the manufacture of everything from bobby pins to
railroad tracks. Israeli and Egyptian officers negotiated
the problem of troop pullbacks around the Suez Canal appeared
to make progress in their talks here Friday. Then they broke
off thei_ sessions to await national elections in Israel on
Monday. The United Nations, which is chairing the talks,
sounded guardedly optimistic, saying in a communique:
"Consensus was reached on some principles of disengagement."
Justice Department officials pondered on Friday a way to
serve a summons on Howard Hughes, a recluse billionaire
indicted on conspiracy and stock manipulation charges.
Hughes has been living on the upper two floors of the I
can't pronounce it - Hotel in Freeport, Bahamas, where he
arrived Irom London a week ago last Thursday. The Air Force
plans to test fire unarmed Minuteman intercontinental
ballistic middles - missles over the United States territory
for the first time in early 1975 the Pentagon announced.
The four Minuteman II lauching from Malstrom Air Force Base
in Montana will carry the missiles southwestward across
Montana, Idaho and Oregon towards impact in the Pacific Ocean
8,000 miles away. I also read that the Air Force said that
they would not - not take part in this test program without
specific congressional approval. Finally, asked how it felt
to talk with the astronauts, Dr. Kohoutek said this afternoon:
"It was unbelievable for me to discuss with astronauts who
were so far away. It was my first time to talk with people
in outer space." Dr. Kohoutek said the last time he and his -
he saw his comet was with binoculars in November. He said
he will be at an observatory near Santiago, Chile in early
January for a study of the comet during its prime viewing
period on Earth. We still got about 3 minutes here at Bermuda
and I'm standing by.
SPT Roger, it was a real pleasure for us to
talk with him today, Dick. We enjoyed it.
CC SPT, Houston could you tell me did you
zero the offsets after the last 18 Charlie?
SPT Sure did, we hit the SI switch; went
back.
CC Okay, thank you, sir. We're about a minute
from LOS, and Canary comes up 2 minutes from now, Ed that's your
family comm site, and the antenna is left to right, the right
shouldn't: be required except for the last couple of minutes.
SPT Thank you.
END OF TAPE
SL-IV MC1469/I
Time: 20:18 CST, 44:02:18 GMT
12/28/73
CC Skylab, Houston, AOS Canaries for 6-1/2

minutes.
CDR Roger, Dick.
CC Skylab, Houston, we're about 20 seconds to
LOS. We're going to dropout just for 20 or 30 seconds.
And then I'll give you a call when we're locked up with
Ascension.
CC 8kylab, Houston, we got you at Ascension
for 6 minutes.
CDR Roger, Dick.
CC CDR, Houston.
CDR Go ahead, Houston.
CC Hey, Jerry, we think we're in a funny
situtation here, and we still got about 3-1/2 minutes prior
to LOS. And I'm talking about the maneuver that - for
pointing that you're going to have to make in order to
accomplish this next ATM JOP 18 Charlie. What we believe
has happened is Ed, hit the SI switch after his last pass,
which took the bird from EPC and pointed at the comet and
moved it back to solar interial. This and we shouldn't
have done this, we shouldn't have removed the SI offsets,
and we should have stayed in EPC. This problem now is we
don't readily have a maneuver because - to take you to
point at the comet because Ed's final attitude there was
his original maneuver, plus the necessary comet motion
compensations that he made. Very shortly here, I will have
I think some numbers that should take you and and point
you back. But I think you're probably going to need some
assistance from Ed there to make sure you find it.
CDR Okay. I guess if I don't see the comet on
your maneuver I'll have to sort of set up a square search?
CC Roger, ably assisted by the SPT. (Laughter)
CDR Rog.
CC CDR_ Houston. I do have what's our best
quess at the maneuver, And if you'd like to copy this down
I_ll read them to you, X_ Y and Z, and the first number
will be a octal number and then the decimal equivalent.
CDR Okay, go.
CC Stand by. Okay, Jerry, here's the maneuver.
And we think that this maneuver will put the comet square
in the center of the occulting disk and then you'll have
to get Ed to help you move it out so you can find it. Okay,
here we gop X_ray_ 50221_ 1.454 degrees. Yankee 50405,
4.05 de_rees, Zulu, 5 plus 4 ballsp 0.7. Over.
CDK Okay, that's a fine maneuver. 50221.
50405. 50000.
CC That's affirm Jerry, it was a good read back
so try that one. And again that will put the comet in the
SL-IV MC1469/2
Time: 20:18 CST, 44:02:18 GMT
12/28/73
center. And then you'll have to offset from there to

get it from behind the occulting disk.
CDR Okay, that shouldn't be any great problem.
CC And Skylab, Houston, we're going LOS,
Ascension. Carnarvon comes up at 03:01.
mean time. Next station in 25 mintues will be Carnarvon
followed by Honeysuckle. Two overlapping on - Australian
stations, and following that a skim by Guam only a degree
and a hall! above the horizon, too low to be called up at
that station. And then the final Hawaii pass, 24 minutes
until reaequisition at Carnarvon. This is Skylab Control
at 02c36.
END OF TAPE
SL-IV MC1470/I
Time: 21:00 CST 44:03:00 GMT
12/28/73

mean time. Carnarvon, Honeysuckle, Australia tracking
stations upcoming in 50 seconds. Overlapping coverage
lasting about 9-1/2 minutes, and we're standing by.
CC Skylab, Houston, we're AOS Carnarvon,
and Honeysuckle for 8-1/2 minutes.
CDR Roger, Dick. We finally got it located
I'm getting ready to move it into the center.
CC Okay, Jerry. And SPT, Houston for your
information the there's a general message that we put together
about the comet, that's in the teleprinter. We just uplinked
it, that has in it the spectral lines that have been reported
todate. That you asked Dr. Kohoutek about this afternoon.
And he did not have that information right at his finger
tips. but it is listed on the message.
SPT Okay, thank you very much Dick. I
appreciate getting that information. Hey, I'm sorry I was
on private comm at the time when the discussion came up
on how to maneuver back here. The way I did the previous
orbit was to use the same maneuver_ and the thing had only
moved around 20 units in octal and it would probably move
around 20 or so again. And that was well within the range
of our ability to pick it up, because it started out pretty
far out. And even if it did move in a little bit close you
know whic]1 direction it is and we can very easily have made an
maneuver ]mack out. I think that's a convenient way to do
it in the future_ unless you want to sit at this offset.
I thought there was a disadvantage of setting at that offset
any longer than you had to so that's why I got rid of it.
CC Okay, we don't think it makes a whole
lot of d_fference. As matter of fact, I'm not sure that we
realized that you had gone back to SI in between the last
two_ and in any case the 18 Charlies are over, so it's
kind of academic now.
SPT Your right.
CC Skylab, Houston, we're going LOS,
Honeysuckle. Hawaii comes up at 03:25.
CC And CDR, Houston, as we're going over
the hill.
through Honeysuckle. Thirteen minutes to acquisition at
Hawaii for the final time this evening. The flight path
of space station Skylab does barely peak over the southeast
horizon from tracking station Guam. But only a degree and
half above the horizon, therefore the station will not be
called up for this pass. Hawaii in 13 minutes, and we'll
return at that time at 03:12 Greenwich mean time, Skylab Control.
END OF TAPE
SL-IV MC1471/I
Time: 21::24 CST, 44:03:24 GMT
12/28/73

mean time_. 50 seconds to acquisition Hawaii. Final Hawaii
pass toni_ht for space station Skylab. And this stateside
pass coming up will be the final pass of the evening with
the evening status report scheduled at Goldstone, and the
medical conference with the crew physician over Bermuda will
be the final conversation of the night. We are getting data
from space station and Spacecraft Communicator Dick Truly
should be calling the crew momentarily.
CC Skylab, Houston, we're AOS Hawaii for about
4 minutes. And Bill it might be a good idea if we - if you
could get prepared to go ahead and start giving me the first
part of - start giving me the evening status report for this
evening, if you are prepared to do that. That might get us
out of a bind at Goldstone in case we have any questions
about it ]prior to the med conference.
PLT Okay, I'm ready to start_ then. Sleep:
CDR, 6.5 excellent, 6.5, for the SPT, (garble); PLT, 6.5
excellent.
CC Rog, and PLT, Houston, request you speak
up you're very very weak.
PLT Hog, disregard the previous comments.
CC Okay, why don't you start over that one
was very loud and clear, that was good.
PLT Okay, Sleep: CDR, 7.0, 6.5 heavy, 0.5 light;
SFT, 7.5, 6.5 heavy, 1.0 light; PLT, 7.5, 7.5 heavy. How are you
reading me?
CC Roger, reading you clear, but still you
got a little bit weak towards the end, but I - I'm reading
you, go alhead.
PLT Okay, Urine: CDR, 850; SPT, 1850: PLT, ii00.
Water gun: CDR, 7893; SPT, 3519; PLT, 9741.
CC Okay.
PLT Body mass: CDR, 6.320, 6.320, 6.320: SPT,
6.363, 6.369, 6.369; PLT, 6.258, 6.258, 6.256. Exercise:
CDR, no change; SPT, no Alfa done today; PLT, no change.
Medication: CDR, none, and clothing, shorts and socks.
SPT, none_ PLT, tinactin as directed and one shirt. Flight
Plan deviation: none, Shopping list accomplishment; PLT,
aroma and taste test on the tape, CDR, completed the taste test.
Inoperable equipment; none; Unscheduled stowage; urine trays
7 and 8 stowed in F551, that's Foxtrot 551.
CC Okay.
PLT Let's see, Food log: CDR, salt zero,
deviations, minus coffee with sugar, minus tea, rehydration
plus 1.0t SPT, salt pack, 4.0, jam deviations, minus a jam,
minus bacon bits we couldn't find, rehydration, water minus
2.0; PLT, salt, no rehydration water, minus 2.0.
SL-IV MC1471/2
Time: 21::24 CST, 44:03:24 GMT
12/28/73
CC Okay.
PLT If we still have enough time, I have the
film log ready. Film log, okay, and the DAC, no 16-millimeter
used today. 35-millimeter Nikon, i is Charlie X-ray 37, 66
is the count. Nikon 2, Bravo Echo 05, with a count of 43.
Nikon 3, 4, 5 no change. 70-millimeter; Charlie X-ray 52,
a new load, the count is 040. ETC, no change; EREP, no change.
And Drawer A configuration, no change.
CC Roger, Bill, and why don't we stop right
there. We're about 15 seconds from LOS. I'll give you a
call at Goldstone at 03:37, and if there's anything else
you can complete it there. As I go over the hill, Jerry,
it's okay with us if you ahead and close the 82 Bravo shutter,
we've accomplished the - the objective of that short final
82 Bravo exposure.
CDR Okay, I'ii terminate.
CC Okay.
through Hawaii. And in as much as it's only 5 minutes to
acquisition Goldstone, why don't we just listen to some more
scratchiness as the space station goes over the horizon at
Hawaii. Goldstone and resumption of the evening status
report in 5 minutes. At 03:32 and standing by. Skylab
Control.
END OF TAPE
SL-IV MC1472/I
TIME: 21:32 CST, 44:03:32 GMT
12/28/73
PAO Skylab Control, data beginning to come in

now from tracking station Goldstone, and the final pass
across the States this evening before the crew of Skylab IV
goes to bed.
CC Skylab, Houston we're AOS, Goldstone I'ii
have you for 7 or 8 minutes prior to the handing over to
the Bermuda for the medical conference. And Bill I need
one item of information to complete the evening status report
Bravo, Victor 48 was downloaded today and we need to know
how man frames were remaining at that time.
PLT Okay, Dick I wrote it on the little tape
tab, I'll get that and give it to you later. I'ii have to
dig it out of the film vault.
CC Okay, we would appreciate that and I need
an ATM frame count from one of the guys that's the end of
what I need for this evening.
PLT Okay, while we're squaring out, I've got
a couple for you.
CC Okay, go ahead.
PLT Subject to S020 in particular, the film
magazine that's desired for tomorrow's activity. I, in the
absence of any other instructions, I would have loaded the
same mag we had in it the other day, I think it's mag 3 and
my question is that correct and the thing that motivates it
is that the protocal has been changed and it appears as
though one may be able to go through the entire, one entire
mag out there if we lucked out tomorrow. In a difference
vein the instuctions, special instructions for maneuver
monitoring and the attitude rate monitoring tomorrow, is
the first two, there is the first two, the gimbal limits
you know if the gimbals approach the limit, and my question
is does this merely applies to the outer gimbal or does it
apply to inner and outer gimbal limits?
CC Okay, Bill, let me - let's talk about that
one a second, hang on.
SPT Hey Ed, you ready for the frame count?
CC Roger, go ahead.
SPT Okay, 14993, 5433, 185, 510, 6583, 5035.
CC Okay, thank you.
CC And PLT, Houston in answer to your two
questions,, first of all in S020 film magazine, magazine number
3 is okay. Secondly on the maneuvering - maneuver monitoring,
the gimbal limits as described - the monitoring of the gimbal
limits as described in that message do apply to both the outer
gimbal and the inner gimbal.
SPT Okay_ Dick, thanks we copy that. We'll
p_ck up on S020 then on frame number 5.
SL-IV MC1472/2
TIME: 21::32 CST, 44:03:32 GMT
12/28/73
CC Okay.
PLT Rog, and Dick the Bravo, Victor 48 was
downloaded at a frame count of 26.
CC Thank you, Bill.
PLT Do you think - does that fill all the squares?
CC I'm sorry, say again. Bill.
PLT Is that fill all the squares?
CC Yes sir, that fills all the squares for
the evening status report, sure appreciate it.
PLT Rog, thank you for the info.
CC And Skylab, Houston again you guys got a
A plus on the ATM closeout we're very satisfied with it and
we just uplinked a picture map into the teleprinter of the
$201 field of view. The position of the comet and the Sun
with respect to a couple of sections ATM panel that Bill and
Ed might like to take a look at now.
PLT Okay, that'll be very useful, thank you
very much, appreciate it.
SPT Yeah, that have turned out to be extremely
useful in the past.
CC And Skylab, Houston we're close to handover,
where you'll be getting the medical conference, the wake up site
in the morning is Vanguard at 12:09, so if you'd like to wake-
up exactly on time you might set your alarm clocks.
SPT Thank you Dick, so long.
CC Roger, Goodnight.
CC Skylab, Houston it does turn out that I've
got about 45 seconds more here at Texas prior to the handing
over to Bermuda for the med conference. Final reminder since
this is the last time I'll be seeing you this evenin_ and won't
get to talk to you again probably, be sure and get the ATM coolant
loop turned off prior to going to bed and in the morning
pump Charlie. See you in the morning and have a nice EVA,
we'll _ I guess we'll be seeing you tomorrow afternoon.
SPT Thank you very much Dick_ who's going to
be on for the EVA?
CC Story, and Rusty'll be here also.
SPT Okay, very good talk to you tomorrow after-
noon.
CC Great.
END OF TAPE
SL-IV MC1473/I
Time: 21:45 CST 44:03:45 GMT
12/28/73
PAO This is Skylab Control loss of signal

through the Texas station. About 7 seconds to acquisition at
Bermuda where the crew physician, Dr. Jerry Hordinsky will
be conducting the medical conference with Skylab-IV crew.
A summary of that conference will be forthcoming. Had
the final air-ground communications with the crew of
Skylab for today. We'll return as soon as possible
with the summary of the medical conference. At 03:46,
END OF TAPE
SL-IV MC1474/I
Time: 22:14 CST, 44:04:14 GMT
12/28/73

mean time. We have the crew surgeon - crew physician's
status report after the medical conference which is a study
in brevity'of one sentence. Which reads as follows: "The
crew is medically cleared for tomorrow's EVA." Signing
off until 6 a.m. cten - central standard time, Saturday.
This is Skylsb at 04:15 GMT.
END OF TAPE
SL-IV MC1475/I
Time: 06::08 CST, 44:12:08 GMT
12/29/73

44 seconds Greenwich mean time. Skylab space station is
now 54 seconds from acquisition of signal through the Vanguard
tracking ship. We'll have the wakeup call. Flight Director
on duty now is Don Puddy and the spacecraft communicator
is Bob Crippen. This will be the wakeup call for the Skylab
crew today. On this day, we have a space walk planned. We're
live now for air-to-ground at Vanguard. The pass will last
approximately 9-1/2 minutes.
CC (Music: Joy to the World by Three Dog Night)
CC Good morning, gents. That ought to put you
in the mood for an EVA. We're with you for 6 more minutes
through the Vanguard, doing a data/voice recorder dump.
CDR Morning, Crip. Nothin_ like a little
Christmas music to start the day off right.
CC Rog. Sorry we were getting that a little
bit late here. We're slow but we get there eventually.
PLT Morning, Crip. Thanks for the good music.
CC Yeah, yeah. I hope it gets you up swinging.
Really, we played that for our benefit down here to wake us
up after all night.
CC Skylab, Houston. i minute to LOS. We'll
see you in 7-1/2 minutes over Ascension and that's at 12:26.
gone out of range of the trackin_ ship Vanguard. Our next
acquisition, currently scheduled to be Ascension, is about
6 minutes away. This morning, crew was awakened with Three Dog
Night's ".Joy to the World," and just at the end of the pass, the
environmental control officer here in Mission Control, indi-
cated that the average temperature in space station right
now is - in the orbital workshop area, where the crew lives,
is 74 degrees. There is some concern that temperatures will
rise by mid-January when the Sun angle is a little bit dif-
ferent and long periods in the Sun may brin_ the temperature
up to about i0 degrees higher than its present level. Space_
craft com_municator Bob Crippen and Don Puddy now completing
an overnight shift that began about midnight. This is Skylab
Control at 21 minutes and 18 seconds Greenwich mean time.
END OF TAPE
SL-IV MC1476/I
TIME: 06::21 CST, 44:12:21 GMT
12/29/73

Greenwich mean time. Skylab space station is now 53 seconds
from acquisition of signal through the Ascension Island
tracking antenna. The pass through Ascension is a very brief
one at a low elevation, only a 4 minute pass. The maximum
elevation of 2 degrees above the horizon. Bring the line up
live now for Bob Crippen and this pass. After the Ascension
pass we're going to have a long period of LOS, lasting about
an hour and a quarter until we get back to Vanguard. We're
live now for air-to,ground at Ascension.
CC Skylab, Houston; AOS Ascension 4 minutes.
SPT Hello, Crip, the crimson team.
CC How are all you guys doing this morning?
SPT We're up, warm, and our eyes are open.
CC Figured you were getting that way.
CC All ready to go outside and take pictures
of the comet?
SPT Sure are, Crip; looking forward to it.
CC That's good, you guys have been doing some
good work. We're here in the middle of the night getting to see
some of the TV and the stuff that you did on the previous
day.
SPT Were you able to see the spikes out front
about 5 o'clock or so?
CC Haven't had a chance to look at that
particular one yet.
CC Read your description of it though, it
sounded pretty good. Sounded like it might even had a
third tail perpendicular to all of those.
SPT Well, it was just a very faint hint of it and
I think I gave the a faintness as the size of it. We just don't
really have the resolution I'd like to see it.
CC Roger.
CC SPT, Houston. In case you're starting
to look at pads this early in the morning, we have a JOP 18D
pad already on board, but we changed a couple of little items
like the maneuver time and asking you do a nominal cage.
So we're going to uplink an entirely new pad over your next
site. So _ so you can forget about the one you've got there
and we"ll - we'll be sending that. Imagine you're not going
to have a chance to look at it until til you get back in
from your EVA. And as we said previously, I'd like to
reemphasize that doing the JOP 18D, of course, is dependent
upon how long it takes you on that EVA today.
SPT Okay, Crip, is there a way of just slipping
SL-IV MC1476/2
TIME: 06:21 CST, 44:12:21 GMT
12/29/73
it a rev? Have you got some (garble) times that we could

just slip in there in case we do get back in and want
to run it off?
CC hope, no, it would occur too late.
CC We're going to be getting lots of comet
observations though in the upcomin_ days. We got lots of
JOP 18D's scheduled.
SPT Unfortunately our friend is going to start
to fade out.
CC Yeah, we're , we're concerned about that
also. We're 1 minute from LOS now. And we'll see you again
over the Vanguard at 13:47. That's about an hour and 17 minutes
away. One little reminder is, I think maybe they've already
mentioned it to you, Ed. On your ED41 they do want to make
sure that - that you turn that off and disconnect it after
the AM run is completed so it won't interfere with the data
later on _ well, if we're in the EVA.
SPT Okay, Crip; sure will. Thank you. So long.
CC Okeydoke.
CC One item that we put on that JOP 18D, by
the way, Ed, is that nominal cage right at the beginning because
that insures us that we'll have a good momentum profile for
the JOP 18D no matter what occurs during the EVA.
SPT Understand, Crip.
CC Thank you.
about to cross the coast of Africa. Our next acquisition of
signal is an hour and a quarter away at Vanguard. This morning
the crew awaken about i0 minutes after 6 with the song, "Joy
To The World." Bob Crippen the spacecraft communicator on
duty now. They'll be preparing this mornin_ for their space
walk. The spacewalk is scheduled to begin at 17:30 Greenwich
mean time and conclude about 21:00 Greenwich mean time today.
Most of the remainder of the afternoon is scheduled for post
EVA cleanup. Final arrangements before the JOP 18D they'll
have a short period of physical exercise for the Pilot who
is going to be the monitor for today's experiment scheduled
late this afternoon and then all three of the crew members
will be eating between 6 and 7 tonight. And following that
the Science Pilot is scheduled to conduct JOP 18D, that's
Joint Observing Program for the comet Kohoutek. That's scheduled
to take place just before the crew retires this evening between
8 and 9 o'clock. The crew retires tonight again at i0 o'clock
as they have on previous days. This is Skylab Control, and
hour and a quarter to our next acquisition of signal at Vanguard.
It's now 33 minutes after the hour.
END OF TAPE
SL-IV MC-1477/I
Time: 07:46 CST 44:13:46 GMT
12/29/73

Greenwich mean time. Skylah space station is now coming
within acquisition of signal of the tracking ship Vanguard.
Pass through Vanguard will last about ii minutes. We're in
the process of having a handover, here in Mission Control.
With Flight Director Don Puddy turning things over to Milton
Windler and spacecraft communicator Bob Crippen is preparing
now to hand over to the oncoming communicator. We're live
now for air-to-_round at Vanguard, an ii minute pass.
PAO Story Musgrave has now sat down as
spacecraft communicator. So, he should be givin_ a callup
here.
ii minutes.
CDR Hello, Story.
CC Good morning.
CC Jer, Houston.
CDR Go ahead.
CC We'd like ACCEPT on the updata switch.
Get your state vector updated.
CDR Okay, I'm on my way to the command module
now.
CC Jer, If you can get turned around in the
middle of your float there, we see you're not powered up in
the CMC yet so, we can wait on that.
PLT He's on his way, Story.
CDR Okay, Story, got PO0 and ACCEPT.
CC Okay, Jer.
CC Skylab, we're 20 seconds til LOS and about
2 minutes to Ascension, it's at 14:00. We got your clock
sinced, your vector in, you can go back to block and press on
with your TSM update.
CDR Roger.
CC Jer, I guess, all that's left for you is
a P51, during the next night pass.
CDR That's right.
45 seconds Greenwich mean time. Skylab space station has
passed out of range of the tracking ship Vanguard. Our next
acquisition is a minute and 45 seconds away at Ascension.
The pass through Ascension will last almost ii minute and
hand over is now virtually complete, here in Mission Control.
Flight Director Don Puddy, going off duty and Milton Windier
now sitting at the flight director's console. Story Musgrave
has been the spacecraft communicator during this last pass
after replacing Bob Crippen. Astronauts were up at 6 a.m.,
SL-IV MC-1477/2
Time: 07:46 CST 44:13:46 GMT
12/29/73
this morning, ready to begin preparation for the crew's

second spacewalk in 5 days. Scientist Gibson and Skylab
Commander Carr will begin their work outside the space station
this morning, about 11:30 a.m. central standard time. The
3-1/2 hour excursion will allow the astronauts to photograph
the comet Kohoutek with a pair of special cameras they'll take
outside. The comet is now beginning to decline in brightness
after passing near the Sun, Friday morning, and it should
become visible to earthbound observers late next week after
it has moved a little further from the brilliant sunlight
that inhibits our view. We're coming up live now on air-to-ground
from Ascension. We'll bring the line up for Story Musgrave.
END OF TAPE
SL-IV MC1478/I
Time: 08:00 CST, 44:14:00 GMT
12/29/73
CC Skylab, AOS through Ascension for ii minutes.

We'll be dumping the data/voice here.
CC And we need the DAS - DAS to give you a
NuZ update and your new JOP 18D pad is on board.
CDR Rog. We got it, Story. Thank you.
CC And Jer, we think we see you bringing your
clock up. Your clock is synced.
CDR Just checking your work. That's all.
CC Okay.
CDR I'll give you guys an A+ for that.
CC Okay.
CC Skylab, we're a minute and a half to LOS
for about 35 minutes to Guam at 14:44.
PAO Skylab Control at 14 hours 12 minutes Green-
wich mean time. Skylab space station is now over northwest
Africa out of range of the tracking antenna on Ascension
Island, Our next acquisition is about 32 minutes away. That
will be at: Guam. This is Skylab Control at 12 minutes and
15 seconds after the hour.
END OF TAPE
SL-IV MC1479/I
TIME: 08:44 CST, 44:14:44 GMT
12/29/73

Greenwich mean time. Skylab space station is now crossing
the southern part of Japan, about 52 seconds from acquisition
of signal tlhrough the Guam tracking antenna. The pass through
Guam will last a little less than I0 minutes, and the spacecraft
communicator is Story Musgrave.
CC Skylab, AOS through Guam for 7 minutes.
CC And, Skylab, we'll be bringing up a second
pump in the primary loop. You got Bravo on now. We're bringing
on Charlie and you're going to get a caution and warning.
CDR Story, what's a good NuZ to use on this
NOUN 78?
CC Minus 1.07, Jer.
CDR Roger.
CC Skylab, I'm not sure I got up to you the
first time, but we're bringing on a second pump in the primary
loop. You'll be getting a caution and warning, just punch
it off. You'll be in Bravo and Charlie.
PLT Roger, Story.
CC Skylab, your CMC_s looking good.
CDR Roger, Story. The stars there on 51 were
12 and 14.
CC Okay, got them.
CC Skylab, we're about 40 seconds to LOS; about
an half an hour to the Vanguard at 15:24. Primary coolant
loop is looking good. We're all done now with the VTR recording
and at your convenience you can power that down and remove
the cable running through the airlock.
PLT Okay, thank you, Story.
out of range of the Guam tracking antenna as preparations
for today's spacewalk are now underway. 27 minutes and 40 seconds
to our next acquisition of signal at Vanguard. This is Skylab
Control.
END OF TAPE
SL-IV MC-1480/I
Time: 09:23 CST 44:15:23 GMT
12/29/73

is now west of Chile, about to be aquired through the
Vanguard tracking ship. We're 49 seconds, now, from acquisition
of signal at Vanguard. The pass will be about ii minutes. We'll
bring up the line live now for air-to-ground through Vanguard.
i0 minute_.
SPT Hello, Story.
CC Hello, Ed.
CC Ed, Houston.
CC Ed, the - your ATM JOP 18D, at the end
of the day, is based on hatch closure at about 21:00, so we
did put considerable pad in the EVA prep, and if you do get
ahead, you got a GO for early hatch open, up to an hour. If
you get more than an hour ahead, I will have to think about
that.
SPT Okay, thank you, Story. I already reviewed
the pad and I got to put it in the JOP summary sheet, so I
really won't need too much time once we get back in pretty
much, just enough time to get out of the suit and get squared
away and get that nominal H cage done.
CC Okay, and while I got you, one other
thing. When you're operating $201 out there, there's a
possibility that you may get a gimbal on the stop and a reset,
something like that. If you go off attitude at - during $201
ops, turn the power off, point the instrument away from the
Sun. After you've gotten stable and back in attitude, repoint
the instrument, put the power on and hit reset. That'll get
you another sequence going.
SPT Okay, Story. I sure will. What offset
can they tolerate? I forgot that particular figure. I know
it's in the EVA checklist, however. That's angle from the
Sun, before they start seeing instrument damage.
CC I'll get you an answer on that.
SPT Thank you.
CC And, the answer to that is 15 degrees.
CC Skylab, we're a minute til LOS, about
6 minutes to Ascension. And no need to acknowledge, Ed, just
like to clarify your previous question. If the $201 instrument
sees the Sun at all, there is a possibility of damage. If you
get the instrument pointed at least 15 degrees away from the
Sun, it is protected. So you want to go at least that far
away_ for protection, and the more the better.
SL-IV MC-1480/2
Time: 09:23 CST 44:15:23 GMT
12/29/73
SPT Roger, I understand, Story. We'll be as

conservative as possible.
CC Okay.
Greenwich mean time. Skylap space station is now over Brazil,
out of range of the tracking antenna at Vanguard. Our next
acquisition is about 5 minutes away at Ascension. This is
Skylab Control at 36 minutes and 13 seconds after the hour.
just 55 seconds from acquisition of signal through the
Ascension tracking antenna. This pass will be an overlapping
one through Ascension, Canary Island, and Madrid. The total
length of the pass is expected to be approximately 17 minutes.
We'll bring the line up live now for air-to-ground. Story
Musgrave is the spacecraft communicator, and the onduty Flight
Director now is Milton Windier.
CC Skylab, AOS through Ascension for 2 minutes.
CC Skylab, we're a minute from LOS and a minute
from Canaries.
CDR Roger, Story.
CC Skylab, AOS, Canaries and Madrid for about
12 minutes. Be dumping the data/voice at Madrid at 15:50. Is
anybody up near the STS or MDA?
PLT Rog, Story, I'm up here.
CC Okay, Bill. We'd like a MPC roll INHIBIT
on the ATM panel.
PLT Rog.
CC And somewhere along - -
PLT Anything else?
CC Just have a few things about 2 or 3 minutes
of discussion here, prior to the EVA. When you're ready.
PLT Fire away.
CC Okay, in case there's any problems with
the primary or secondary loop, which we're not anticipating.
They're looking real good now. Primary loop we're running on
inverter 2, Bravo and Charlie. Secondary loop is also
inverter 2 and that's pump Bravo. Same as last EVA.
END OF TAPE
SL-IV MC1481/I
Time: 09:47 CST, 44:15:47 GMt
12/29/73
CC And during the $201 TACS maneuvers, you can

expect oscillations about the rates that we put in your
monitor pad and about Y and Z, maybe plus or minus about 0.005
in X. They'll be small in Y and Z. So there will be oscil-
lations about those - those rates.
PLT Roger.
CC And also during the $201, we're showing
that you may get some gimbals aapproaching the stops or on
the stops during the data take. Particularly_ that'll be
the outer gimbal in CMG number 2 and that's due to of course,
our gravity gradients, the ATM being out there at 50 degrees
roll. So expect possibly having to do a nominal H cage during
that data take as per your pad.
PLT Roger. You said most likely occur during
the 201 data take.
CC Yeah, and that'll be the outer gimbal of
CMG number 2.
PLT Okay. I'ii be watching it.
CC During our last EVA, we used most of the
TACS in going back to a deadband attitude in going to TACS
only when the vehicle was out of the TACS deadband attitude.
And we're not expecting to get out of attitude, due to the
monitering techniques you got and all that. If you do find
yourself out of attitude, what we want to do is go to some
attitude hold, either CMG or TACS, and do a control maneuver
back to attitude. And also, we can reduce momentum problems
by keepin_ the CDR and the SPT in the FAS as often as we can.
CDR Roger, Story.
PLT Rog. Understand.
CC And thatts it for now.
CDR Okay. Would you hit the secondary (loop(?))
configuration again, Story? I'm not (garble) write that down.
CC Secondary's inverter 2 and Pump Bravo.
CC And Bill, did you understand that - that
$201 shading pad that we sent up to you all right?
PLT Yeah, Ed and I looked at it. We I drew
the picture the way I looked at it and we had understood the
previous verbal description. But this was sort of nailed
it down. It was very helpful.
CC Okay and the important thing here, as I said
also yesterday was to just barely shade the Sun. The comet's
a lot closer to the Sun this time than it was when you
did it.
PLT Okay.
CC Skylab, we're a minute to LOS. About 25 min-
utes to Guam at 16:23 and PLT_ Houston.
SL-IV MC1481/2
Time: 09:47 CST, 44:15:47 GMT
12/29/73
PLT Go ahead, Story.

CC Bill, we don't think you're this far ahead
but on your APCS control pad here, the reconfiguration you
do just prior to lock compartment depress, we don't want you
to do that until we complete the momentum dump this nightside
pass, and that'll be completed about 16:35.
PLT Okay. I know what you're talking about. I
won't I don't think I'll be there anyway yet.
CC Okay.
PAO Skylab Control at 15 hours 59 minutes Green-
wich mean time. Skylab space station now over eastern Europe
is out of range of the tracking antenna at Madrid. We're
24-1/2 minutes away from acquisition at Guam. Everything
seems to be going along smoothly this morning for preparations
for today's space walk - a 3-1/2 hour walk, to begin at 11:30
central standard time. During this last pass, Story Musgrave
informed the crew that there would be some possibility of
one of the control moment gyros coming up against the stop,
that is, not being able to completely control attitude during
the $201 comet cam_a photography and steps are - have been
taken now to maneuver back to attitude either with TACS or the
control moment gyros if that should happen. That's something
that was discovered in the simulation. It's no news to people
in Mission Control. They just informed the crew that that
was somethking to be watching for during the pass and that
has been factored into the amount of TACS usage expected today.
Commander Jerry Carr and Science Pilot Ed Gibson will be
participants in today's 3-hour EVA. The space walk is scheduled
to begin at 17:30 Greenwich mean time. About 17:40, Carr and
Gibson will begin setting up S020, the X-ray ultraviolet camera.
The camera will be mounted on the ATM strut near the hatch.
The X-ray ultraviolet camera's designed to photograph invisible
extremely short wavelengths that can't be seen through the
Earth's dense atmosphere. Its target today is the Sun. Ori-
ginially, the camera was designed for use in the scientific
airlock that faces the Sun. However, that scientific airlock,
at the beginning of the first mission, was occupied by a
parasol to block out the Sun's rays that were overheating the
side which had lost the meteoroid shield. When S020 was not
made available for use in those previous missions because
the scientific airlock on the solar side of the vehicle was
in use, plans were layed for taking it outside on space walks
this mission. It's the first time that's been done. It was
done on Christmas Day to photograph the Sun. Again it will
photograpl_ the Sun today. The X-ray ultraviolet camera, S020,
SL-IV MC1481/3
Time: 09:47 CST, 44:15:47 GMT
12/29/73
has extrathin metal filters that are used to block out near
ultraviolet invisible light. S020 records its information
on film strips. Ten of these strips are fitted into each
film canister. About 20 minutes into the space walk, the
S020 should be set up and the crew will be - begin setting
up for the T025 coronagraph contamination instrument. That
camera was originally designed to measure the particulate
contamination of the atmosphere surrounding the Skylab work-
shop, and it also is used to measure the distribution of
particles in Earth's atmosphere. T025 will be attached to
a boom assembly which in turn is mounted to an ATM strut,
that is one of the struts that supports the solar instruments.
Camera is a 35-millimeter Nikon camera with motor drive
and a 55_millimeter F-I.2 lens. At about 18:11 Greenwich
mean time, or about 41 minutes into the EVA, the T025 and
S020 instruments will be turned on over Carnarvon. That will
be sunrise time for the orbiting laboratory, one of the two
sunrises and three sunsets, the team of Carr and Gibson will
see from outside their space home on the extravehicular
activity. An hour and a half after the - -
END OF TAPE
SL-IV MC1482/I
TIME: 10:02 CST, 44:16:02 GMT
12/29/73
PAO That will be sunrise time for the orbiting

laboratory. One of the two sunrises and three sunsets the
team of Carr and Gibson will see from outside their space
home on the extravehicular activity. An hour and a half after
the start of the spacewalk, Bill Pogue, the monitor for the
extravechicular activity, the man who stays inside, will be
keeping check on the roll maneuver that's used on the Skylab.
This maneuver is necessary for $201, the (garble) ultraviolet
electroni_iraphic camera, a device similar to the one carried
to the Moon on Apollo 16. In fact, this particular camera
is the backup model for Apollo 16. The camera electronically
amplifies light and then records the greatly intensified
imagery on film. An hour and 7 minutes after the $201
maneuver the space station will be returned to its normal
attitude pointing towards the Sun. A little over 3-1/2 hours
after the hatch is opened the crew will began the closeout
activities and expected to be back in by about 3 o'clock
this afternoon central standard time, or about 21:00 Greenwich
mean time. The 3-1/2 hour EVA is the second in 5 days for the
Skylab crew. The one on Christmas day, of course, was a record
setting 7--hour EVA with Commander Carr and Bill Pogue working
outside the space station. This is Skylab Control. We're 20
minutes from our next acquisition of signal at Guam. It's now
3 minutes and 28 seconds after the hour.
and 29 seconds Greenwich mean time. Skylab space station is
now about to come within range of the signal through Guam.
The pass through Guam will last about 7 minutes, and the
spacecraft: communicator still is Story Musgrave. We're coming
up live now, we'll bring the line up.
CC Skylab, AOS through Guam 7 minutes and
we'll be using the DAS here.
CDR Roger, Story, we're nearly suited.
CC Skylab, the DAS is yours.
CDR Story, we may have grown an inch and a
half but our suits haven't.
CC Okay, Jet, thatts a confirmation of what
we saw on the anthropometric data.
CC And most of that growth from the middle
on up to the shoulders?
CDR That's sure where it feels like, Story.
CC Okay.
CC And we're a minute from LOS. About 6 minutes
to Honeysuckle at 16:35. Be dumping the data voice there.
SL-IV MC1482/2
TIME: 10:02 CST, 44:16:02 GMT
12/29/73
PAO Skylab control at 16 hours 31 minutes

has passed out of range of the Guam trackin_ antenna. About
3-/12 minutes remain before it'll be reacquired through
Honeysuckle. The pass through Honeysuckle is a fairly brief
one, about a 4-minute pass and we'll keep the line up live.
We're still 3-1/2 minutes away from acquisition there.
END OF TAPE
SL-IV MC-1483/I
Time: 10:34 CST 44:16:34 GMT
12/29/73
CC Skylab, got you through Honeysuckle for

3 minutes. Dumping the data/voice here.
CC And, we need the DAS, Skylab.
PLT Got it, Story.
CC DAS is yours.
CC DAS is yours.
PLT Okay, thank you.
25 minutes to the Vanguard at 17:04.
25 seconds Greenwich mean time. The Skylab space station is
now out of range of Honeysuckle Creek, Australia tracking
antenna. Our next acquisition is 42 minutes away. This
time the Skylab crew should be very near complete with the is
EVA preparations. They'll be about to go outside in the next

40 minutes. So, we'll expect when we come back into acquisition
of signal at 17:30, we'll have the crew ready to go outside.
This is Skylab Control. We're 42 minutes from our next
acquisition. It's now 40 minutes and 57seconds after the
hour.
END OF TAPE
SL-IV MC1484/I
Time: 11:03 CST, 44:17:03 GMt
12/29/73

passin_ just off the coast of Chile and we're about 50
seconds from acquisition of signal at Vanguard. Vanguard
is below the normal elevation minimum for reception of signal.
However, wetre going to bring them up for about a 3-minute
pass here.
SPT Watch your feet, Jer.
SPT Hey, Bill.
SPT Yeah.
CDR Okay. I got it, Bill. Okay, Bill. Why
don't you just move on back to the MDA and we'll be all set.
SPT Okay. Are you clear?
SPT Okay, Jer?
CDR Okay. We'll start - yeah, just let me Just
get cleared of your umbilical. Okay. It looks clean as a
hound's tooth.
CC Skylab, we're reading you loud and clear
through the Vanguard for 2-1/2 minutes.
CDR No, Ed. We're not stuffin_ it in the sphere
We're puttlng it in the aft lock here.
SPT Yeah, well I just thought I'd get a little
extra on t]_e way cause you don't need all that today.
CDR All right. Okay,
SPT A little more working room for us.
CDR Okay.
CC And Bill, we need the DAS here.
CDR Stand by, Bill. l'm not even in yet.
CDR Okay. I'ii just wrap this - I guess I'ii
just have to pull it in and clear with you in the aft.
SPT You're going to have to come over it.
CDR Yeah. All right. Let me get myself headed
in here. Got to release the hatch first.
SPT (Garble) Yeah.
CDR Okay. The release handle is to the unlock
position. The hatch handle is oPEN. Done.
CDR Okay. It's in work.
SPT Just lock the gear down to your left.
CDR Okay.
SPT Yeah. Right.
CDR Okay. All right. Release handle's unlocked.
Okay. That's done. All right. It's closed.
CC Skylab, we're a minute from LOS.
CDR Locked
CC About 15 minutes to Canarys. The DAS is
yours.
CDR Straighten this back, then towards your -
the right. Right?
SL-IV MC1484/2
Time: 11:03 CST, 44:17:03 GMT
12/29/73
CDR Okay.
SPT Be looking over my shoulder, now watch
the 201 right here. That's back by your shield (garble).
CDR I can see it, Ed.
SPT Okay. You got the DAC and here, I'll
lay down flat here. Okay. We're in. Nope, no.
SPT That's on the other side, Bill. Just take
your time, Bill and make sure you don't miss a step.
CDR Okay. The cap is off and anchored, Bill.
So you're in good shape.
CDR Looks good on the hatch.
28 seconds Greenwich mean time. Skylab space station is
now passed out of range of the antenna on the ship Vanguard
after a low elevation pass there. The crew moving alonR
very well towards hatch opening time. We expect they may be -
opened by the time we get our - sometime during the next
pass. We're only about 13 minutes from the next acquisition
of signal. But they were moving along towards depressurization
of the space station airlock module and they should be ready
for hatch opening in te next 15 to 20 minutes. We'll be back
in about 12-1/2 minutes when we have acquisition at Canary
Islands. We'll have a pass through Canary Islands and Madrid
at that time. That should include hatch opening as they
have not concluded that at acquisition. This is Skylab
Control at i0 minutes 15 seconds Greenwich mean time.
50 seconds Greenwich mean time. We're now coming up on
acquisition of signal through Canary Islands. This pass
should begin a little early and we'd expect it's going to
last about 15 minutes. The crew at the loss of signal at
the Vanguard was in the final stages of preparations for
their space walk. We expect some time in the next few minutes,
they shouId be going out. We'll bring the line up live now
for air-to-ground through Canary Island and Madrid.
CDR 3-1/2.
SPT Yeah. We'll give it a little bit longer
here.
PAO Pressurization is underway now.
SPT Okay. We got about 80 percent from that
covered with ice so far. Up pretty fast from that first
half a drop of psi. It looks like 60 percent or so of that
thing was covered.
CC Skylab, reading you loud and clear.
Canaries and Madrid, 14 minutes.
CDR Roger, Story.
PLT Rog, Story. How do you read PLT?
SL-IV MC1484/3
Time: 11:03 CST, 44:17:03 GMT
12/29/73
CC Reading everybody loud and clear.

CDR Great.
SPT That's going down pretty slow. We got a
fair amount of ice on there now. Got an annulus on the
outside. Maybe i0 percent of the radius or so is still open.
SPT 0.75 and holding for EV-I. Pretty solid
chuck of ice too.
CDR Sure is.
SPT Hey, there you go. That string's a good
idea you have on there. Should've done more of that, Jer.
CDR Yeah. You put a couple pieces of string
under there and let the ice collect on it. I think just pull
that string up and the ice pops off and you've - off and running
again.
END OF TAPE
SL-IV MC-1485/I
Time: 11:24 CST, 44:17:24 GMT
12/29/73
SPT Well, just chop it off with the wrist

tether.
PA0 Pressure now at 1.5 psi.
PAO EVA officer informed us it's the same
rate as last time on the EVA.
SPT (Garble)
PAO Atmosphere now at 20 percent of its
full level.
SPT Think I'ii take the screen off.
SPT 65.
SPT Ev-l, 3.75. 3.78 - It's close to 8.
CDR EV-2's 3.92.
PAO Crewmember's giving their suit pressuriza-
tion level.
SPT .03?
CDR Yeah, that's about 0.3 right now.
SPT Okay.
SPT Okay. Go ahead.
SPT Okay. That's spring loaded to the gage.
SPT Locked. Right. (Garble) going OPEN.
SPT Goin_ clockwise.
CDR Dogts are retracked.
SPT Okay. That thing works. Let me move
back a little bit, Jer.
CDR Okay.
SPT So I can pull that retainer in and the
hatch.
CDR Okay.
SPT There it is. The great outdoors again.
CDR Right.
SPT It's in work.
SPT Okay. That's in there.
SPT Okay. Okay. We're going to have to -
3.85. Going to ABSOLUTE.
CDR Okay. I was at 3.98, before we started.
Now I'm looking at 3.68.
SPT 3.6 even, for EV-I.
SPT Yeah.
SPT Verified for EV-I.
CDR Verified 2.
SPT Okay. Normal for EV-I.
SPT 0.6 and no lights for EV-I.
CDR Okay. EV-2's at EVA NORMAL. I've got
3.7 and nc lights.
PAO Suit pressurization is all right.
PAO Hatch opened at 29:34.
SPT Yeah. We can _et that once we get out
there and stabilize.
SL-IV MC-1485/2
Time: 11:24 CST, 44:17:24 GMT
12/29/73
SPT Roger. Will do.

CDR Okay. That's complete.
SPT Okay (garble) foot restraints. Go ahead.
CDR Your right foot's not in, Ed.
SPT Yeah. I'm getting it.
CDR There you go.
CDR Gonna fix your umbilical at 9 feet, Ed.
SPT Okay.
CDR Okay.
SPT EV-I is 3.6 and no lights.
CDR EV-2, 37 and no lights.
SPT All right press on.
CDR Okay.
SPT Now.
CDR Okay.
CDR Bill, we don't have any lights out here
and the switches are on. The breakers are probably OPEN.
SPT Hey, I can see the comet. Yeah. Look.
It's right out there. See it?
SPT Okay. I can see the tail behind.
CDR Holy Cow, yes_
SPT And, I see - turn the lights off, Bill.
CDR Oh, yeah. Beautiful.
CDR You sure can.
CC Skylab, we're enjoying your comments.
We're 30 seconds from LOS here and about 28 minutes to
Carnarvon at 18:03. All your systems are good.
CDR Okay.
SPT Okay. We can see the tail, which is
antisolar, but I cannot see the spike, which showed up
yesterday on the photography.
CDR Okay. It's just going into the airglow
now.
SPT Just going into the airglow.
CDR A very wide, broad tail. not very long,
as well as I can see.
SPT No. We were not too well dark adapted
there, Jet. We'll have to make a note of that next time.
CDR Yeah.
SPT Okay. That tail I can - I was looking
at 5 degrees or so, when I first spotted it.
SPT Okay. It's into the airglow now. I
suspect thLat's the reason you couldn't see it the other day,
because it: was always in the airglow.
CDR Yeah.
SPT We've got a better elongation now.
I suspect we ought to see that out the
window, I looked at that yes - Looked for it yesterday out
window 3 and couldn't see it.
SL-IV MC-1485/3
Time: 11:24 CST, 44:17:24 GMT
12/29/73
SPT Okay. Let's press on. Turn the lights

on.
PAO Skylab Control with 17 hours 37 minutes
and 20 seconds Greenwich mean time. We're now about
8 minutes into the spacewalk, as Skylab crew, Ed Gibson
and Jerry Carr are opening the hatch at 17:29:34 as the
mark made here in Mission Control. That's 29 minutes and
34 seconds after the hour, just 26 seconds ahead of the
time line. And as they were first steppin_ outside there,
just a couple of minutes before we lost signal over Madrid,
Ed Gibson saying, "There's the comet.' They saw the comet
and had a good view of it just as the space station was moving
into darkness. They now have about 33 minutes of night time.
And, apparently, the Earth's blocking the Sun, just enough
to allow them to get a clear view of the comet with a relatively
short tail that's very distinct and easy for them to
see. And they said at the end that it was moving down into
the airglow, of course, that's the upper atmosphere airglow
that you can see from space as you move around the Earth.
25 minutes to our next acquisition of signal. By that time,
the Skylab spacewalk should be well underway. This time
Carr will be unstowing the X-ray ultraviolet spectrographic
camera and verify the mounting bracket is open. He'll vent
the vacuum valve shutter for about 15 seconds. And then
after checking the film advance know, and opening the shutter,
and uncovering the - uncovering the boresight, he'll pass
the instrument on to Ed Gibson. Ed will tether the camera
and mount it on the far side of the ATM truss. After clamping
the camera on the truss, Gibson will move - remove the tether
and adjust the focus using the boresight. Exposures being
taken with. the combination X-ray and ultraviolet spectrographic
camera are to be made for 45 minutes, followed by a 5 minute
exposure, then exposures of 30 minutes, 15 minutes, 8 minutes
and 5 exposures running from 5 minutes down to 1 minute.
Camera's film record extremely short wave lengths from the
Sun. The camera admitts this electronagnetic radiation
through a narrow slit and uses two metal filters. One of
berryrilium - -
END OF TAPE
SL-IV MC1486/I
TIME: 11:39 CST, 44:17:39 GMT
12/29/73
PAO s electromagnetic radiation through

a narrow slit, and uses two metal filters, one of beryllium
and the other a combination of indium and boron to filter
out unwanted wavelenghts. Specifically, of course, it filters
out the visible and near ultraviolet wavelengths. The film
for the camera is carried inside a cylindrical canister which
rotates for each new exposure. When we get acquisition of
signal the next time we should be hearing the crew working
on TO25. About 20 minutes into the spacewalk they're expected
to began operations on that contamination instrument. S020,
which is being used to photograph the Sun at the very beginning
of the spacewalk today, is the instrument that was originally
planned for use inside the space station through the solar
scientific airlock. That was not possible, however, when the
scientific airlock had to be used to erect a parasol to
protect the workshop from the Sun. And_ of course, that
area is new covered by both the parasol and the twin (garble)
sail that was installed in an earlier mission. Those Sun
protective devices also block out the view from the solar
scientific airlock, and for that reason they're taking the
S020 instlument outside today on a spacewalk. The second
time the instrument's been used to photograph the Sun: it
was also used on the spacewalk Christmas Day. That makes this,
of course, the second EVA in the last 5 days. Purpose, of
course, mainly is to photograph the comet Kohoutek, which is
now not within range of easy view from the antisolar scientific
airlock. Tor that reason they're taking the comet camera
and also the TO25 outside today to do some photography of
Kohoutek. The comet now is approximately just a little over
14 million miles from the Sun. It moving in a looping course
around the Sun, and still traveling at nearly a quarter of
a million miles an hour, although it has slowed down something
since perihelion which was yesterday at 4:24 a.m. central
standard time. 22 minutes to our next acquisition of signal,
41 minutes and 13 seconds after the hour. This is Skylab
Control.
is now over Asia_ about 14-1/2 minutes from our next acquisition.
Hatch opening time has been corrected here in Mission Control.
We thought: we'd give you an announcement to that effect. They"ve
revised it: by 17 seconds. Corrected time of hatch opening
is now 17=:29:17 Greenwich mean time. 29 minutes and 17 seconds
after the hour. That's revised 17 seconds earlier than we
had before. During the 3-1/2 hour spacewalk planned today,
their attitude control system is going to be under TACS only
SL-IV MC1486/2
TIME: 11:39 CST, 44:17:39 GMT
12/29/73
control for virtually all of the time. However, the control

moment gyros will be used for fine control during data takes.
This differs from the Christmas spacewalk, when control
moment gyros were used entirely for the activity with the
TAC system only used, the thruster attitude control system
only, used as a backup. The reason for choosing the thruster
attitude control system as the primary means of maneuvering
in attitude control was to go to both restrain the stresses
on the control moment gyros and also presumably to reduce
the total amount of nitrogen gas that might be used today.
The total amount used on December 25 during a 7-hour space-
walk was 4434 pound-seconds, a very substantial amount of
the remaining supply of nitrogen gas. The prediction for
today is about 2000 pound-seconds, about half what was
used on the last spacewalk. A guidance officer hastens
to add, however, that the 2000 pound-second estimate is -
involves a great deal of guesswork because very many changes
torques are added to the vehicle during a spacewalk and it's
very difficult to predict those in advance. However, 2000 pound-
seconds looks like a pretty good bet. And it may be that
if the crew activity is well conducted there may be even less
TACS gas used today. During the data takes, especially the
one for 201_ the control moment gyro system, the two CMGs, will be
used for _ better our attitude control. They do provide a little
bit finer attitude control and don't give impulse bursts as
the TAC system does. So to correct again, the hatch opening
time was revised. It's now 17:29:17; 29 minutes and 17 seconds
after thehour, about 21-1/2 minutes ago. This is Skylab Control,
12 minutes to our next acquisition of signal.
END OF TAPE
SL-IV MC-1487/I
Time: 12:01 CST 44:18:01 GMT
12/29/73
PAO Skylab Control at 18 hours 1 minute and

15 seconds. We're about a minute and 55 seconds from acquisi-
tion, but the crew has been coming up a little early, as they
speak through their space suit microphones. We'll bring the
line up live now, they're about 32 minutes into the space
walk at this time.
CDR Two different thunder storms down there.
Okay, that's on there, and we're coming up with a -
comin_ up with a walk.
CC Skylab, we're reading you loud and clear.
Carnarvon and Honeysuckle for 14 minutes.
CDR Roger, Story. Okay, that's locked.
SPT Go ahead, Bill. Read on.
SPT That's affirm.
CDR Okay, it's already stowed and attached
to the temporary restraining hook.
SPT Okay, just stand by.
CDR Let me get back in the foot restraints,
here.
SPT Okay, there it is in safety tethered.
Very good.
PLT (Garble) getting it up for one now.
CDR Just a minute here, Bill.
CDR Got to make sure I understand the
orientation here.
PLT That looks pretty good.
PLT Yeah. Okay, get a tether put away.
We'll be all set to go.
SPT How much more nighttime, Bill?
CDR Okay.
CDR A tether for that, Ed?
SPT 1'11 tell you what. There's no way to
do it, Jer.
CDR Okay.
SPT You can't tether it. That's a fool that's
a drawback in this thing. You got to put the only tether
attach point in that you have.
CDR But you put it in the other way.
SPT I tried it the other way.
SPT Okay. Alfa 1 positioned, and let me check
something. Sometimes Alfa's not always in the Alfa bag. Yes,
that's Alfa
CDR Okay, go ahead.
SPT Okay. What about 201? Can we get out
that - get that out and plenty of plus-X?
SL-IV MC-1487/2
Time: 12:01 CST 44:18:01 GMT
12/29/73
CDR Yeah.
SPT Oh, okay.
CDR Ed - -
CDR That's right.
SPT Okay.
SPT Hey, what we do? Let's get S020 up
and running first, because that's the one we've got the
long exposures. Then we'll start working TO25.
SPT Start off with frame number 5 with their
highest priority, which I believe is 5.
CDR Okay, Ed. I wonder, would it be any
help for me to get in that those restraints, and hold you
while you fiddle with the experiments?
SPT It may well, Jet. I was just thinking
about that, because it looks as though - even though I've
grown a little, I'm still about a foot too short to make my
head over there.
CDR Uh-huh. Well I could hold you, like a
sausage, a loaf of bread under my arm, you know. You could
just kind of go where you wanted.
SPT (Laughter) All right. We'll give it a
go, let me
CDR All right.
SPT Let me get out of the restraints here and
get up in approximately the right position.
CDR My that blue is a pretty blue.
SPT (Garble), Bill.
CDR Okay, and we need all of our (garble)
SPT (Garble) you don't have the slide (garble)
do you?
PLT We're coming up over tip of Australia
and headed for New Zealand. We'll be over New Zealand in
i0 minutes.
CDR Okay. I'm just looking at the thunder
storms, here.
SPT Notice when - one bolt one, goes off it
tends to propagate. There's a a whole chain of them then go off?
CDR Purdy, purdy.
SPT That it is.
PLT How about an EMU check?
SPT 3.6 (garble) the lights, for EV-I.
CDR 3.7 No lights EV-2.
SPT Star that is. That's rising right there.
It's almost the same intensity as the comet, isn't it?
CDR Yeah. It's a pretty bright star.
SL-IV MC-1487/3
Time: 12:01 CST 44:18:01 GMT
12/29/73
SPT Story, there's a star right above

the horizon now. Just about where the Sun's going to be
coming up.
CDR Could that be Mercury?
SPT About 20 degrees. No, about 15 degrees
right now. Rising pretty fast, and about the same intensity
visually as the comet. If anything it might even be a tad
dimmer.
CDR Could it be Mercury?
CC We're working on the answer to that,
Skylab.
SPT I think it's only about 5 degrees up off
there now. It's only 1 finger above the airglow.
CDR Okay, there's the Sun.
SPT Okay, let's start working on S022. -
CDR (Garble)
SPT I think I need to get my head up here.
CDR All right.
SPT How's that?
PLT MARK.
SPT I'll tell you what, I'm going to try to
sight it in coarsely, without the - without using their
sighter, just kind of - -
CDR Okay (garble)
SPT (Garble)
CDR I got you by the knee, here.
SPT Okay, Jer, now let me go back down here.
CDR All right.
SPT The trouble is, though, you got T025 right
in there, now. I can't get my head over far enough to see
the darn thing.
SPT Back now to hit D-7. I'm going to have to
loosen this up and move it up a little bit. Gal-dang it.
CDR Yeah, I see what you're doing.
SPT See D-7 that -
CDR Yeah.
SPT That - that knob you've - happened to be
shuttering the small image.
CDR Okay. That's a little.
SPT Tighten it up again.
SPT Got it tight.
SPT Now let me let go of my legs again.
CDR Okay.
SPT Back up in here.
PLT Story, are you looking at the outer gimbal
angle on gimbal 3?
CC Yeah, we are, Bill.
PLT Yeah, I just came out of nominal H-cage.
END OF TAPE
SL-IV MC1488/I
Time: 12:12 CST, 44:18:12 GMT
12/29/73
PLT Should I do another nominal H-cage, Story?

CC Stand by i.
CC Stand by 1 on that cage, Bill.
CDR Easy with your head, Ed.
PLT I am standing by.
CDR Just don't rear back to admire your work.
You're liable to knock the camera off T025.
SPT Okay. Thank you.
CC We don't think we need the cage right now,
Bill.
PLT Beautiful. Thank you.
CC Hey, while I've got you, I've got a comment
on when to start that $201 maneuver.
PLT Go ahead, Story. I'm ready to copy.
CC Okay. Don't start it prior to 25 minutes
of night remaining on your next nightside pass. That'll
save us a few TACS by not exposing the vehicle to gravity
gradients any longer than we need to.
PLT Roger. (Garble) state the (garble) positive,
you want to start after 25 - -
SPT It is me. I've got her centered I think
pretty well but the trouble is, I'm afraid I'm going to do just
what Bill said.
CDR Yeah, you are. I wouldn't fool with it, Ed.
SPT Yeah, I think you're right.
PLT Did you (garble)
CC That's correct, Bill.
CDR Rog. I could see it clear back here.
SPT Okay. That damps out when it does.
SPT Okay. I guess the words are, you want the
larger, faint circle inside the square.
CDR Right.
SPT Well, that it is.
CDR Good show.
SPT And when it stablizes out, I'll give you a
number. Unfortunately, every time we get the exposure going,
we're going to have ourselves a transient for a while.
CDR That's right.
SPT Okay_ Bill. Go ahead with the S020. We
got it now.
PLT All right.
SPT That's right.
CDR That's good, Ed.
SPT Yeah, okay. Would you get the timer set
and give _me a start? I'll go from STORAGE to FRAME 5.
SPT Okay. Standing by for your mark.
SL-IV MC1488/2
Time: 12:312 CST, 44:18:12 GMT
12/29/73
SPT Okay, there we are. On 5.

SPT Okay, now let me - hold on. Let me give you
the numbers when it damps out here.
CDR Go ahead.
SPT Yeah.
CDR Yeah, on the next night pass right after
sunset.
CDR On a daylight pass. Okay. Okay. I'ii try
to remember.
SPT Okay. I'ii give you a number, Jer.
CDR You might go back to ingress there, Bill
and just write a note that says did you do the temperature
measuremen_t? Okay.
SPT Okay, on the vertical, now bottom is on
the minus 12. And the top is on plus 4. That's a large disk.
And in left/right we're at just about - just about centered.
Looks llke 3 and 3.
CDR Here comes New Zealand.
SPT 3 and 3, so we're centered pretty well
left/right and only slightly off in vertical.
CC Skylab, we're 30 seconds to LOS. About
38 minutes to Bermuda at 18:52. All your systems are looking
good.
CDR Thank you, Story.
CC And Bill, those gimbal angles you're looking
at, whenever you enable CMG control, until the attitude
becomes stable, you'll probably see some diversions llke that.
PLT Okay. Thank you a lot for the information.
SPT Okay, what am I shifting up against in the
back. We'll watch it. Don't forget the DAC here? I dontt
want bump into anything.
CDR That's just the boom. You're okay.
CDR You want your feet over here, Ed, or where?
SPT Yeah, I want them back. I do want to be
knowing where I'm going.
CDR Okay. I got it.
CDR Let me stear you in.
SPT Yeah.
CDR Hang on just a minute, Bill. We're busy
adjusting Ed's position here.
CDR Okay. Now if you roll left, Ed, you've
got it made.
SPT (garble) T025. Looks like I've got to
rotate this right here.
CDR Yeah. You're in good shape. All right?
SPT (garble)
CDR How's that?
SPT Well, I've got to put my - to go to my left
to get my head (garble).
SPT (garble)
CDR (garble) line 25, Bill.
SL-IV MC1488/3
Time: 12:112 CST, 44:18:12 GMT
12/29/73

over the south island of New Zealand, having passed into
daylight over Australia during this last air-to-ground
through Carnarvan and Honeysuckle Creek, Australia. At the
present time, Skylab crew at work on both S020 and T025
completing the final hookups of those instruments. After
the S020 setup is completed and the T025 has been hooked
up, the camera both cameras will be used in operations
perhaps during this daylight pass. The - Bill Pogue working
inside of the Skylab space station was apparently in the
process of turning control over to the control moment gyros
for a data take and he did get some indications of rate
variations which would be expected when that control is
handed over from the TACS system to the attitude control
system using the gyroscopes. Camera T025, which is the
second one to be used after the two - after the S020 was
set up, is being used toward this EVA to record the post-
perihelion changes in the comet Kohoutek. Jerry Carr un-
stowed the camera and handed it to Ed Gibson who was in the
process of clamping it to the ATM truss further forward than
the S020 position during this last pass. Carr also unstowed
16 filters to be used on the camera. Has a 35-millimeter
Nikon camera, equipped with ultraviolet lens and an occulting
device. The filters - each one allowing a different wave-
length band, to pass through. For today's photography, filters
covering the range from ultraviolet through visible light
all the way up through the red visible light will be used.
Film will be exposed for various duration periods through
each filter by remote control. Gibson will operate the
remote control device for the assembly, changing shutter
speeds after each shot and changing filters after each
second or third shot. Filters, themselves, are arranged
in grops of four and a strip which fits in front of the
lens and behind the occulting device. Like photographers
on Earth, Gibson will have to wait about i0 seconds after
filter changes to allow physical vibrations within the
instrument to damp out. 20 exposures are planned for the
experiments starting at 18:10 Greenwich mean time, approximately
they do appear to have been running a little bit behind that
schedule -
END OF TAPE
SL-IV MC1489/I
TIME: 12:21 CST, 44:18:21 GMT
12/29/73
PAO - - the filters, each one allowing a

different wavelength band to pass through. For todays photo-
graphy filters covering the range from ultraviolet through
visible light all the way up through the red visible light
will be used. Film will be exposed for various duration
periods through each filter by remote control. Gibson will
operate t_Le remote control device for the assembly, changing
shutter speeds after each shot and changing filters after
each second or third shot. Filters themselves are arranged
in groups of four in a strip which fits in front of the lens
and behind; the occulting device. Like photographers on Earth,
Gibson will have to wait about i0 seconds after filter changes
to allow physical vibrations within the instrument to damp
out. 20 exposures are planned for the experiment starting
at 18:10 Greenwich mean time approximately. They do appear
to be running a little bit behind that schedule. These -
these photographs will record the occulted Sun, its corona
and t&e comet Kohoutek as well. Later in the day we'll be
using $201, the comet camera that was carried up by the crew
on this mission. That will require the solar panels to be
used as an occulting device, and a maneuver is being planned
for that $201 operation. Instructions given up in this
last pass to Bill Pogue were not to begin that until at least
25 minutes of nighttime were remaining. That is to say
wait until nighttime was well underway to save some thruster
attitude control system gas before beginning a maneuver on
$201. We'll give you a little more report on $201 a bit
later. Right now the crew seems to be moving along well on
their time line, although they did appear to be just a little
bit behind time on doing the operations of T025 which will
be completed during this daylight cycle. This is Skylab
Control. Our next acquisition is just about a half an hour
away. It's now 22 minutes and 42 seconds after the hour.
is now about a minute and 54 seconds from acquisition through
Bermuda. The pass through Bermuda will last approximately
i0 minutes, The spacecraft communicator still on duty here
in Mission Control is Story Musgrave. Crew should be about
an hour and 20 minutes into their EVA at this point. And
we'll expect that they'll be working on the final steps
of TO25 and S020 operations during this pass.
SPT Okay, it's set there, let's see if it's
oscillating at all.
CDK No, itls - -
SPT Looks pretty quiet. Okay, let's go.
SL-IV MC1489/2
TIME: 12:21 CST, 44:18:21 GMT
12/29/73
SPT Okay, it's done.

CDR All right.
CDR Okay, how's SO20 doing?
CDR Okay. I'm ready.
CDR Okay. All right.
SPT Okay, just a minute here.
CC Skylab, we're reading you loud and clear.
Through Bermuda for i0 minutes.
CDR Roger, Story.
SPT I guess on where they made this Just
let me come back down there, I just want to look at something
here. No, okay, I see what they did. Okay, one quarter.
SPT (garble) getting good spectral infor-
mation and good time resolution too and spacial. These guys
are sharp.
CDR Here we go, stand by. OPEN and CLOSE.
What's next?
CDR Good show.
SPT I tell you, that's going to be some good
information right there.
CDR How much more nighttime we got, or daytime?
CDR All right let me get inside, hold a hand in
T025 and then I'ii get some movies.
SPT Stand by, let's get the filter out of here.
CDR All right.
SPT Okay.
CC Bill, Houston.
CC Bill, we got a couple of REG adjusts for
you on panel 206.
CDR (garble) now.
CDR Oops_ You (garble)
SPT (garble)
CDR Or was that you just drifting?
PLT Okay, Story, say it again, please.
CC Got a couple REG adjusts for you. Rotate
counterclockwise, rotate clockwise 20 degrees both BUS 1 and
BUS 2.
PLT Clockwise 20 degrees, both REG ADJUST
BUS 1 and BUS 2.
CC That's affirm, it will carry a little more
load on the airlock module by doing that.
SPT Okay, Jer, maybe you can recount (garble)
and get these filters while I'm working on
CDR Sure can.
SPT Okay.
SL IV MC-1489/3
Time: 12:21 CST 44:18:21 GMT
12/29/73
SPT You going to make it?

CDR I'd better be able to, I'm the guy that
put them in there.
SPT I was thinking that. (Laughter)
PLT Yeah, we're coming right along, Story.
We just finished T025 and we have about 5 minutes to go on
the 45-minute exposure on S020.
CC Beautiful, Bill.
SPT Okay.
CC And the REG adjust looks good, Bill.
PLT Thank you.
SPT That alignment still looks good at the
end of it.
CDR Good.
SPT Story, I did me a good alignment all the
way through the T025 operation. Yeah, we had ourselves a good
orange disk right in the center.
CC Copy, Ed.
SPT Hey, I'd still like to get this thing
nailed down a little here.
SPT Yeah, I don't think that'll work though.
SPT Okay, let me just take her off.
CDR Okay.
SPT Got a - the locks out here has got - (garble)
turns and Itm working on it.
SPT How long are you going to be with us, Story?
CC Oh, at this point here, another 5 minutes.
SPT Okay, how much time do we have left, Bill?
SPT Oh, okay.
CC But the LOS is only 4 minutes.
SPT Okay, we were thinking we'd like to get
another good look at that comet.
CDR Good.
SPT Was that their next priority?
CDR What I'm going to do is hook up my chest
tether here first.
CDR Okay.
CDR Okay, Bill, what are the day settings here?
M _ It was f/ll wasn't it?
SPT You've got yourself a spot in the checklist
there - callout. You got something through a little bit here,
Bill.
END OF TAPE
SL-IV MC-1490/I
Time: 12:58 CST 44:18:58 GMT
12/29/73
SPT (Garble)
CDR F it was f/ll, wasn't it?
SPT If (?) - You got yourself a spot in the
checklist there. Call out (garble) here, Bill?
CC Bill, Houston.
PLT (Garble), Story.
CC Bill, if you could, we'd like for you to
load the 20-minute maneuver time, here, so we can take a look
at it here or over Madrid, prior to maneuvering. We still
want you to hold off on that maneuver until 25 minutes of
night remaining.
PLT Roger, will do.
SPT Okay, Jer. I've got the T025 waiting
for you here.
CDR All right.
CDR I just can't seem to get organized here,
to get a good (garble).
PLT How's that look, Story?
SPT See if you can get it next time around.
Or (laughter) .
CC Good maneuver time, Bill.
SPT Give me - give me opera - the EV operations
some where.
SPT That was for EV-2, EVA-2.
CDR Okay, Ed. Would you hand me in that
monstrosity?
SPT Okay.
CDR Think it'll swing it around the other end
first, it might be a little easier for both of us.
SPT Okay.
CDR All right.
SPT (Garble) let me get prepared to (?) grab this.
CDR I've got it, Ed.
SPT Okay, let me get my tether off it.
CDH (Garble)
SPT Okay.
CDR (Garble) Okay, and l'm ready with - -
SPT Do they have any 1-minute exposures in
there, toward the end of their priority?
CC That's on page 2.4-14, Skylab.
SPT Okay.
CDR Okay, we're at storage. Now, I think
they've got some short ones there, we can pick up.
SPT All right, let's do it that way.
CDR Okay.
SL-IV MC-1490/2
Time: 12:58 CST 44:18:58 GMT
12/29/73
PLT Jer, why don't you turn on the EVA lights,

there?
CDR All right. Right now I'm a little busy,
but I'll get to it in a second.
SPT Okay, can I help you.
CDR Not that I know of.
SPT Oh, you took the weight tether?
CDR Yeah.
SPT Uh-huh.
CDR Yeah. I had it on my chest, originally - -
SPT Yeah.
CDR I got the other one on the DAC, now.
SPT Tell you what. If you'd like this weight
tether, I probably will not be needing it. I can use the wrist
tether on 201.
CDR All right, fine. Why don't you give it
to me .
CC Skylab, 30 seconds to LOS. 4 minutes to
Madrid, be dumping the data/voice there.
PLT Rog, Story.
SPT However, this is an extra one which I
had, which was not the one that was passed out on us. - -
CDR Yeah, the one the one that was on it I
put on the DAC.
SPT Okay.
CDR So we wouldn't loose it.
SPT Ah_ Try it again here.
CDR (Laughter)
SPT I'ii come out of the chute.
CDR Naw, that's all right. I can get it. Swing
it again.
CDR I got it.
SPT Okay.
CDR How much time we got, Bill, before sunset?
SPT Okay.
CC The 5-minute exposure on S020, might be
good, Skylab.
PLT Well, Story, the (garble) calculation (static)
low voltage (?) (static)
Greenwich mean time. Skylab space station is now over the
North Atlantic, out of range of the tracking antenna at
Bermuda. We're about 2 minutes from acquisition of signal
at Madrid. During this pass over Bermuda the - Ed Gibson was
SL IV MC-1490/3
Time: 12:58 CST 44:18:58 GMT
12/29/73
completing the run on T025. That's contamination instrument.

It's being used to photograph the solar corona. It has an
occulting disk, which blocks out the center of the Sun, and
Science Pilot Ed Gibson indicated he had a good clear view
of the Sun through his viewer on that instrument and it was
a very nice photography. We expect of the corona of the Sun,
which should also show the comet Kohoutek in the field of
view. That photography involved using 16 filters and gave
data on several wavelengths from the ultraviolet all the
way through the visible light. Those individual wavelengths
then can be recomposed into color photographs or can be used
for scientific analysis. TO25 took 40 pictures, earlier we said
20, but that was an error in reading the checklist. It said
total of 40 pictures taken today on TO25, that's the contam-
ination instrument, normally used to determine the amount of
material in the atmosphere around the space station. At this
time_ we'_e about to go into darkness and the crew said they'd
be lookin_ again for the comet and we'll keep the line up
live now for air-to-ground through Madrid. Pass lasting about
9 minutes.
SPT I don't want to go out there and look,
Bill. I_m trying to get dark adapted.
CDR I can look.
CDR No, it's not centered any more.
CC Skylab, we're reading you loud and clear
through Madrid for 8 minutes. Be dumping the data/voice
here.
PLT Roger_ Story.
SPT Okay, thank you.
CC Skylab, if you're interested in taking
some pictures of the comet with the DAC, the best setting
we_ve got for you is just to open it wide up.
SPT Okay, I was going to try 4 and 1 250
and, for a beginning, and then close her up - open her all
the way up.
CC That's a good idea.
SPT Okay, cause it's fairly bright at first,
and then as it dims down, I thought I'd open it further.
CDR B. Edward, could you yank me down into
the hole, there?
SPT Ah.
CDR Next to you. If we can wedge together?
SPT Uh - where the heck are you?
CDR (Laughter) I'm on your right shoulder.
SPT (Garble), Jer.
CDR Higher?
CDR How's that?
SPT I've been trying to get dark adapted,
h_r e.
SL-IV MC-1490/4
Time: 12:58 CST 44:18:58 GMT
12/29/73
CDR Okay.
SPT And you're a pretty big shiney bright
body- -
CDR Sorry about that.
CDR There you are. No you're not.
SPT That you coming?
CDR Yeah.
SPT Okay.
SPT Give us a time of meeting (?) would you
please, Bill?
END OF TAPE
SL-IV MC1491/I
Time: 13:08 CST, 44:19:08 GMT
12/29/73
CDR How's that?

SPT Well, I've been trying to get dark adapted
here.
CDR Okay.
SPT And you're a pretty big shiny bright body.
CDR Sorry about that.
SPT There you are. No you're not. That you
coming?
CDR Yeah.
SPT Okay. Give me the time remaining, would
you please, Bill?
CDR Hey, there's - there's a spike.
SPT It sure is. There's a spike running - going -
yes, it's going straight towards the Sun and you can see it fanning
off a little bit to the relative to the horizon. And it looks
like it's
CDR Ed, if you can hold me and keep me from drifting,
I'll try to get it.
SPT All right.
SPT Okay. We've got the sunward spike and
the tail is fanned out again around 20 degrees. Very good. And
that sunward spike was very evident just at the beginning
it's starting to fade out now. And it looks as though there's
a very faint amount of material which is just rotated all the
way from the tail around to the spike. The spike is not 180 out
from the tail. It's more like 160.
CC Can you say something about color, Ed?
SPT Yeah, it's appears primarily yellow.
CDR Yes, yellow and orange, just like a flame.
SPT Primarily yellow.
CDR Okay. I got the footage of it. I hope it
worked out. I took the first part at an f-stop of 4 and then
closed he_ and then opened it up. I tell you, Story, when
you get yourself dark adapted and the comet is far enough
above the horizon to where you really have got a black dark-
ground - dark background, then you can see that spike quite
well. And it protrudes - it shows up to be almost the same
distance out as the tail. But then there's a very small diffuse
amount of material which goes around about 160 degrees where
it finally' joins up with the tail.
CC Copy.
PLT Story, you can see it from $3.
S CDR Okay, Ed. I'll go in and get some lights
on now.
SL IV MC-1491/2
Time: 13:08 CST, 44:19:08 GMT
12/29/73
SPT Okay. Then we'll get 201 all set here.

I'll tell you. That certainly is a beautiful sight.
CC Bill, Houston.
PLT Go Story.
CC Bill, you probably won't have another day-
side pass for S020, but the 5-minute exposure is your second
priority on that. You do have that update, don't you?
PLT That's affirmative. And sorry about that,
but I didn't have 5 minutes of good daylight between the
termination of the 45 minutes and going below 400K, and since
that's a high energy short wavelength job I'm decided not to
try the 5-minute.
CC Yes, sir and if you do get another daylight
pass, just a reminder, if you get to nighttime and you do
have one still running, you can go to storage and pick up
when you get back in day.
PLT Okay. Thank you. I just had to reach out
there and grab the knob and turn it to the stop and I was
hoping I was - pretty sure I was in the right direction when
I did. It's 1.8.
CDR Very good. Okay, So what we got, Story,
on the movies of the comet_ if they can be seen, was some
footage at: 4 and 1/25th and 1.8 at 1/25th.
CC Got it.
SPT I tell you Story. That's one of the more
beautiful creations I've ever seen. It's very graceful.
Too bad it: doesn't last longer on our visual line here.
CDR I'll bet it's going to be pretty when it comes
into view in the dawn or in the dusk. Story, when do you
folks down there get to see it?
CC Oh, about another week or so.
SPT Very good.
CDR Ed, there's a sliver of Moon out there. Why
don't I see if I can't get a picture of you looking at the
Moon and baying. (Laughter)
SPT (Hoooowlingl)
25 minutes to Carnarvon at 19:38. All your systems are looking
good including the APCS.
SPT That's a switch.
CDR Thank you, Story.
CC But we are standing by for the maneuver.
CDR/SPT (Laughter) Rog. Understand.
SPT I think he meant something by that.
SL IV MC-1491/3
Time: 13:08 CST, 44:19:08 GMT
12/29/73
CC He did.
CDR/SPT (Laughter)
SPT Yes, we will.
CDR Yes.
SPT Just a moment.
CDR How much time we got left in night? Got
time up the cazoo.
CDR Okay, Ed. If I can regain control of the
camera now, and then myself
13 seconds Greenwich mean time. Skylab space station now
over eastern Europe, has passed out of range of the Madrid
tracking antenna. Skylab crew moving along with a little
bit of levity there at the end of that pass. Spacecraft
communicator Story Musgrave reminding them that we're stand-
ing by for a maneuver. That maneuver is not to begin for
another 5 minutes but there was a little reminder that they
will have to be making that maneuver for the $201 observa-
tions to take place in the next daylight cycle. During
this nighttime pass, the crew will be working on recovery
of the $230 collector. That's Jerry Carr's job to retrieve
the $230 magnetospheric particle collector. Experiment measures
the flux and precipitating magnetfspheric ions and particles
which are trapped in the Earth's upper atmosphere through
the use of a foil collection technique. Carr will also
retrieve samples from the transuranic cosmic ray detector.
This experiment which is designed to record the relative
abundance of nuclei with an atomic number greater than 26
nuclei that are heavier than iron. The detector's are plastic
sheets that are penetrated by particles, the plastic provides
a record of streaks that are much like the cracks left in
a cloud c1_amber. These heavy cosmic rays which come from
beyond the planet Uranus, are recorded as part of $228, one
of the experiments to be retrieved by Commander Cart. These
retrieval activities will take place during the nighttime
period and maneuver for S201 which will be done under thruster
attitude control systems gas only, will be completed during
this nighttime pass and when we come back into acquisition
of signal, we'll be coming back towards the daylight period
of the orbit. And during the daylight period, we'll have
observations with the $201. Bill Pogue is conducting the
maneuver. We're now approximately i hour and 47 minutes
into the spacewalk today. Pogue will roll about 50 degrees
to allow $201 to be aimed at the comet and also to use the
solar panels to shield the Sun from the view of the $201.
$201 is a very sensitive instrument and should it point
directly at the Sun, it would burn out the photo cathode
that's used to record light. Carr will again be the stock
man as he _ as he unstows the extreme ultraviolet electronic
camera. Care will have to be exercised by both Carr and
Gibson so that the camera doesn't point within 15 degrees
of the Sun _
END OF TAPE
SL-IV MC1492/I
TIME: 13:17 CST, 44:19:17 GMT
12/29/73
PAO - - possible to use the solar panels to

shield the Sun from the view of the $201. S201's a very
sensitive instrument and should it point directly at the
Sun it would burn out the photocathode that's used to record
light. Carr will again be the stockman as he unstows the
extreme ultraviolet electronic camera. Care will have to
be exercised by both Carr and Gibson so that the camera
doesn't point within 15 degrees of the Sun. Pointing at
the Sun would burn the photocathode which is the imaging device.
The $201 will also be mounted on the same ATM truss as the
other instruments and will be focused or aligned by Ed Gibson.
30 minutes must be allowed from the time the 201 is unstowed
before power can be turned on. This allows gasses to vent
off. Of course, they're in the gravity-free environment
of space so they should gas the gasses should vent off
rather quickly. The problem which might occur if power
were turned on earlier results from the electric corona
which would develop as the high voltage from the photocatode
tube ionizes the gas in the surrounding atmosphere inside
the instrument. 33 photographs are planned for the $201,
that's three sequences of Ii photos each. The camera uses
an electronic sequencer to position one of two filters in
the optical path. That spectrually limits the data and
photocathode which intensifies the optical image collected
by a 6_inch spherical mirror that exposes the 35-millimeter
film. Each photo sequence lasts about 205 seconds. In
attempt to prevent disturbances from gas venting from the
space suits deflectors used on the last walk, this last
spacewalk, will not be worn by I'm sorry - that were used
on the December 25th spacewalk, will not be worn today by
Cart and Gibson. The two man space team will therefore have
to be very careful that venting gasses don't contaminate
any of the optical components of the three instruments
being used today. Principal investigator for the $201 which
will record extreme ultraviolet, or far ultraviolet rays
from the comet is Dr. Thornton Page of the Naval Research
Laboratory. He's employed here at the Johnson Space Center.
Camera will record data from the hydrogen Lyman-alpha line
and extreme ulatrviolet lines of oxygen in the comet's coma.
Principal investigator for TO25, the coronagraphic camera
that was used during this last pass, is Dr. J. Mayo Greenburg
of the Dudley Observatory in Albany, New York. And Principal
Investigator for SO20, the X-ray telescope, is Dr. Richard
Toysey who is also from the Naval Research Laboratory, however,
he's from Washington D. C. According to the report we got
from Bill Pogue, the SO20 operations, only one of those was
SL-IV MC1492/2
TIME: 13:17 CST, 44:19:17 GMT
12/29/73
completed, the highest priority one, 45 minute exposure.

There are nine other exposures that may be completed, however
that will require ordinary daylight pass. During this next
pass we'll have a maneuver underway and because the maneuver
will block the sunlight from the $201 it'll also block
the sunlight from SO20. So it won't be possible to run the
SO20 on this next daylight pass. However, if there is a
succeeding daylight pass and the spacewalk is still in progress,
the remaining nine exposures on S020 may be taken. The highest
priority one was completed, however, as was the work on the
TO25. They completed that sequence of photos over Bermuda.
Crew also reported that they could see the tail very clearly
on the Comet Kohoutek, An earlier report was that it was
approximately 5 degrees in length which would indicate a
length of approximately 8 to 9 million miles. And they indicated
that this time they were able to see a spike which is a tail headed
in the opposite direction that points more or less directly
towards the Sun. And they indicated too that they could
see material that seemed to be rotating around from the tail
to the spike. The color was described as yellow and possibly
a little bit of orange. And the spike was it was indicated
too that the spike was almost as large as the tail. Both
of the - the tail was indicated to be a little fanned out
in an earlier discussion from the crew. Today's photography
takes advantage of the fact that during a spacewalk these
instruments can be pointed more accurately at the Sun without
major maneuvers. Normally the $201 would be used through
the antisolar scientific airlock. This is Skylab Control.
It's now 17 minutes and 20 seconds to our next acquisition
of signal, 21 minutes and 14 seconds after the hour.
END OF TAPE
SL-IV MC-1493/I
Time: 13:36 CST 44:19:36 GMT
12/29/73

about a minute and 50 seconds from acquisition through the
Carnarvon, Australia tracking antenna. This pass through
Carnarvon and Honeysuckle will be an extended one, lasting
about 16-1/2 minutes. We'll bring the line up live now as
the spacewalk is now about 2 hours and 7 minutes underway.
SPT Well, essentially your up/down is
controlled by above the panel and your left/right, by being
centered on the Sun. Centered above the line, where the
Sun would project above the panel.
CC Skylab, reading you loud and clear. Have
you through Carnarvon and Honeysuckle for 15 minutes.
CDR Roger, Story.
SPT Elongation right now.
CDR Got $201 out, Story and pointed in a
safe direction and we're just waiting for sunrise.
SPT Story, is the elongation about, what,
6 degrees now?
CC That's affirm.
SPT Thank you.
CC And, Ed, while you - -
CDR (Garble)
PLT If you're watching the rates there, well
l_ve been watching it build up very very slowly from about
270 instead of the nominal 370 and just continue to build up
very very slowly. I'd like for you to take a look at it.
CC Okay.
PLT I'm getting TACS firings now. I think
it's starting to rampant down.
PLT Okay, it's looking like it knows what
it's doing now, Story.
CC It's ramping down now, Bill, and still
good.
PLT All right, thank you.
CC Ed, while you all are out there and got
a moment, I'd like - got some questions concerning the comet.
SPT Okay, go ahead, Story.
CC We'd like again the tail orientation with
respect tc the Sun, and is the tail straight or bent? And,
are there two tails?
SPT Okay, Story. The only - let's talk first
about the sunward spike. That one appears to be projected
straight towards the Sun, as best I can tell. We'll try and
get a better look at it, this next time around. From there
SL-IV MC-1493/2
Time: 13:36 CST 44:19:36 GMT
12/29/73
going, as I look at it, sunward tail is that the sunward bike

is around 5 degrees. 5:30, I'm sorry. 5 or 5:30, we then go
up to about 12 o'clock and that's the axis of the primary tail
which spreads out around 20 degrees on either side. I cannot
see any evidence of a second well distinct tail. There is a
sunward spike, the tail would be 20 degrees spread and then there
is a diffuse material very diffuse between the spike and running
from 5 or 5:30 all the way up to the the tail - the primary tail
itself. Colors, primarily yellow. I cannot see a second tail.
I know what they're looking for, the difference between the gas
and the dust. But_ I cannot distinguish it. We'll take another
look this next time.
CC Okay.
SPT We don't have very long to look at it, Story,
and what you've got to do is get dark adapted and then get
bright in here behing the FAS and let the FAS occult the airglow.
And, you've then got yourself around 30 seconds or so to get
a good look at it.
CC Okay, later on today, when you get back
inside and settle down, I will have both you and Jer, draw
a picture of the comet and we'll get that on TV at a later
date.
SPT Sounds like a very good way to do it,
Story.
CC So, I - -
SPT Like to get - -
CC Next time she comes up, both of you get
a mental image of it and think about putting that on paper.
SPT Okay, we certainly will.
CDR Will do.
PLT And, depending on the attitude. I saw
it on the last pass. I may be able to see it next time_ I'd
like recommendation on setting, I have the Hasselblad up here
in the MDA. If they think it would be of any value to get
a frame with that. We're normally in the SI attitude, we can't
see it out the MDA windows.
CC That's good, Bill. We'll get some
exposure settings up to you.
PLT Okay. Looks like the maneuver is settling
down fairly well here.
SPT Okay.
SPT Okay, we've got it pointed off towards
the plus X direction.
CDR Here comes the Sun.
SL-IV MC-1493/3
Time: 13:36 CST 44:19:36 GMT
12/29/73
SPT Okay, let's hear the procedures there,

Bill.
CC Bill, stand by on the CMGs until we
give you a go.
PLT Wilco.
SPT Okay, you're going to have to do some
more maneuvering, Bill.
SPT Okay, we have - we're looking at too much
Sun. We're - -
CC Okay, Bill. You're go for CMG control
and the tweak maneuvers.
CDR Okay, he's on his way.
CDR Okay, Bill, put in an additional 2 degrees.
SPT The axis you've been maneuvering about, yes X.
CC Bill, let it settle out a little more.
CDR Okay.
PLT Rog, Story. I'm waiting - I'm holding
off.
SPT Yeah, that's okay, if that's what you
mean. Mean shade it?
SPT No. Not at this moment. No, let's not
play with that.
CC Bill, you're go for CMG control and then
wait a little while to settle down before the tweak maneuver.
PLT Okay.
CDR Wonder how long this cue card has been
out here?
CDR Story, there's a cue card out here in the
FAS called (garble) between EV-I and EV-2. Why don't you
ask them if they'd like us to bring it in with us when we
come in on our last EVA?
CC Copy; Jer.
CDR It's obviously been out for some time.
It's all brown looking.
CC The words we're getting, is it's glued
in place, Jer.
CDR Oh, Okay.
CDR Bet we can get it up.
SPT Tell me when you're going to make that
maneuver, because we're still looking at that Sun.
SPT Okay.
END OF TAPE
SL-IV MC1494/I
TIME: 13:46 CST, 44:19:46 GMT
12/29/73
CC CMGs are still taking the attitude error out.

SPT Hold on, let me - let me take a look. Jer.
CDR Roger, Story.
SPT I had visioned that tail's got to come up,
which to me is a right-hand rotation pointed towards X rather
than the plus-X.
CDR That's what it says to me, yeah.
CC Bill, you're GO for the tweak maneuvers.
PLT Okay.
SPT Plus two.
CDR I think plus will do it.
SPT Try a plus 2.
CC Bill, your zero minute maneuver time's
confirmed._
PLT Stand by for an INNER on the tweak maneuver,
Story.
CC Okay.
SPT Okay.
CDR (garble)
SPT Well, just a minute, let me tell you.
CDR Yeah, we guessed right; it's moving.
CDR I don't thing we guessed enough, but
we guessed the right direction.
SPT That's what I thought, yeah.
SPT I'd put in a 5 next time.
SPT I don't think we went anywhere near enough.
CDR Okay, you through, Bill?
CDR You better put in 5 degrees.
SPT Well, get spring loaded for 5 and when it
damps out GO.
CDR Yeah, it's hardly moved at all.
SPT It's enough that I can now shield when I
move way down here, Jer, I can at least Occult the Sun with
the solar panel which I could not do before. So we're going
in the right direction but we got quite a ways to go.
CDR Yeah, yeah.
CDR I can see that. I'm sighting through a
wire bundle here, it moved down a couple of ties.
SPT Okay, give her 5, Bill.
PLT I just put another one in, Story, at 5 degrees
this time.
CC Okay.
SPT Thatls doing a little better job.
CDR Yeah, it's moving. It's still not going
to be enough. Nope. Looks like it needs another 5.
SL-IV MC1494/2
TIME: 13:46 CST, 44:19:46 GMT
12/29/73
SPT Well, let's just take a look here, Jerry.

Hold on.
CDR It hasn't moved halfway from where it started.
SPT Well, I I don't know, Jer, I moved my
head from pier two feet along here and it looks like we got
about another foot to go.
PLT Front.
CDR Okay.
SPT I think we're going to be pretty pretty
close on this one, Jer.
SPT How're you doing in - get in some wire
bundles?
CDR Yeah, we're going to need more.
SPT How about How about another 2, what do
you guess_, Jer?
CDR I'd say three or four.
SPT All right make it three.
CDR We moved down about three wire bundle units,
looks like we got about two to go.
SPT I started with my head right down here, Jer.
It moved precisely up to here which is like three feet and it
looks like we got another foot to go.
PLT Maneuver's at plus-X another two degrees,
Story.
SPT Two degrees?
CDR Should have been three.
SPT Okay.
CDR Stand by. Let's just see what it does.
SPT You also get a little reflection, off the
stuts for the solar array.
CDR Yeah, a little bit.
SPT Tell us when we're there. Tell you what let's
put in another two.
CDR At least. That only moved us about halfways.
SPT I was getting ready to bet you some butter
cookies, [['m glad I didn't.
CDR (Laughter)
SPT Glad we worked this orientation out at
night, I_d hate to be trying to do all that at this point in
the game. Let's see now, the camera is going to actually be
a little bit below this.
CDR Yeah.
SPT So I think we're doing it, are we up and down?
- are, Jer.
SPT Think we can probably go back one?
CC Skylab, we're about 40 seconds from LOS
and about 30 minutes to Texas at 20:24.
CDR I can't tell, IVm not in position - -
CC Your momentum's looking good.
SL-IV MC1494/3
TIME: 13::46 CST, 44:19:46 GMT
12/29/73
CDR - - Now where I can see.

SPT Okay, tell you what, you get down there
and take a look.
CDR Okay.
CC Bill, I got some Hasselblad settings for you.
PLT Good go.
CC Wide open, and the speed at 1/30.
PLT Copy.
CDR Yes, may be back one or - let's see. Let's
just see what it does.
SPT Story, one thing we do have a scissors arm,
which is in the field of view. So you will get a scissors
which is in the field of view although it won't take out
very much of the picture.
CC Copy, Ed.
CDR I think one ought to do it, Bill.
SPT Tell us when that's in and stable and we'll
set her up.
CDR Okay, I don't see any comet. I'm
holdin_ the Sun right at the tangency of the panel, and
you don't see anything.
SPT Yeah, just black.
SPT Well that Sun coming through the
crack in 1:he panel is not helping.
CDR Yeah.
SPT There's too much light structure here,
the clouds down there are very reflective.
now passing south of New Zealand is out of
END OF TAPE
SL-IV MC-1495/I
Time: 13:55 CST 44:19:55 GMT
12/29/73

now passing south of New Zealand, is out of range of the
Honeysuckle Creek, Australia tracking antenna. Our next
acquisition a little less than 29 minutes away will be at
Texas. During this last pass Gibson gave a more thorough
descriptien of the comet and Pogue says that he may see and
will attempt to photograph the comet on the next opportunity
which will be as the space station goes into darkness again
over Madrid on this next pass. He was given instructions
to open the Hasselblad camera wide open and was given an
exposure time for that photo. Gibson and the other crew
members will attempt to sketch the comet's appearance and
that will be shown on television perhaps later today. They
are now trying to make arrangements to schedule that TV for
dumping, It will of course, depend on when the spacewalk
is completed. Right now, they're about 2-1/2 hours
into it and it looks like it's working about right. There
were some problems in the little tweak maneuvers that were
being made during this last pass. A series of 4 of them,
2 degrees_. 5 degrees, 2 degrees, 3 degrees, trying to adjust
the position of the solar panels to block the Sun from the
$201_ that's to protect the 201 from the bright light of the
Sun as it photographs the Comet Kohoutek. Those tweak
maneuvers were about completed and that of course, uses a
little bit of TACS gas and will depend on how well they
succeed in blocking out the Sun's rays with the solar panels
on the amount of TACS gas used today. Everything seems to
be moving well. The thruster attitude control system propulsion
being used is the main way of maneuvering, but the control
moment g_ros underway for the data take of $201, as was the
case with the other instruments during the daylight periods.
This is Skylab Control. Today's EVA began at 17:29:17, that's
43 seconds ahead of the time line. At 29 minutes and 17
seconds after ii a.m. central standard time, this morning,
the hatc_ was opened and the first thing that the crew
mentioned when they got outside was the Comet Kohoutek
which they saw as they were going into darkness over Europe.
Twenty_s_ minutes and 40 seconds to our next acquisition
of signal, 57 minutes and 39 seconds after the hour this
is Sk_lab Control.
PAO Skylab Control, at 20 hours 22 minutes
Greenwich mean time. Skylab space station is now a little
more than 2 minutes from acquisition of signal through the
Corpus C_=isti_ Texas, station. Where it will begin a U.S.
SL-IV MC1495/2
Time: 13:55 CST 44:19:55 GMT
12/29/73
and Bermuda pass that will last approximately 15-1/2 minutes.

At the present time we've just gotten the information from
the guidance officer, they've recalculated the total amount
of thruster attitude control system gas used on the Christmas
Day extravehicular activity. Previous estimate has been
about 4400 pound-seconds, after a recalculation they now
believed that they used about 3150 pound-seconds. That's
a rather substantial reduction in the total amount of TACS
use estimated. The change is due to the fact that
temperature fluctuates in nitrogen gas bottles. And
normally it's determined after a 10-day settle down period.
However after a 3-day review of that they determined
that the actual use is about 1300 pound-seconds less than
they had previously estimated. So far today about 900 pound-
seconds of TACS were used in the maneuver just completed
during this last nighttime pass for $201 operations. And
the control moment gyros are now conducting attitude control
for a little bit finer pointing of the $201. At the present
time _ thins morning there 2200 22,592 pound-seconds of
TACS remai_ning the red line for the mission is 6,000. That
leaves approximately 16,000 pound-seconds for the remainder
of the mission, another 6 weeks to go. This is Skylab
Control, we_ll bring the line up live now for air-to-ground
over the United States.
SpT Okay, I got to turn power back on here
too. Does the pointing look good?
SPT Okay, I got the
CDR Looks good.
SPT Okay, you want to move out of the
waF Jer?
CDR Yeah, I'm well out of the way.
SPT Okay.
SPT Okay, Bill, I'ii give you a mark here.
Note the attitude - I just saw the thing blink. It's
kicking up where it was before. Let's wait until this
sequence, whatever it is settles out.
CDR Well, you can just hit restart. It'll
start over_ Do that.
SpT All right.
CC Skylab, reading you loud and clear
stateside 15 minutes,
SPT Okay, now it starts.
CDR Okay.
CDR Roger, Story
SPT Out.
CD_ We had a problem with attitude. We
got started with our first 201 exposure, and the attitude
SL-IV MC1495/3
Time: 13:55 CST 44:19:55 GMT
12/29/73
starting drifting off, so we had to terminate and

get back en the attitude again. And we're just starting
a new exposure.
CC I understand this is a second sequence
Jer.
CDR Yeah, we're starting a new sequence
now .
CC Copy.
CDR Hey, we're going up over - the Yucatan
Peninsula is coming up.
SPT Story would you tell me what the exposure
protocol is here or, what I would like to know is whether
we got a few good ones off on the first one before we started
drifting out.
SPT Take a few short duration ones first?
PLT Yeah, that's right Ed.
CC That's affirm, Ed.
SPT Okay, I think we got a few good ones
off of this _ we However, when you do this Story you
got about 2 seconds of jitter in here while you're hitting
the reset switch, and then it calms down.
CDR Okay, the attitude's holding steady and
the shadow's very good. It's only about a half inch from the
aperture the - the in the end of the canister.
SPT Very good.
CC Okay, did you have to go power off
and get the instrument off the Sun?
SPT Say, again Story.
PLT Negative Story, we had both outer
gimbals on the stop. I had to do a nominal H-CAGE and reacquire
attitude.
SPT The drift was taking us Story, so
that we get more occultation of the Sun by the solar panel.
So we had no worry there. We did turn the instrument off
before we finished the first sequence and pointed it
toward plus_X.
SPT I think we're getting a good one this
time though Story.
CC And about how far into the 3-minute
sequence were you when you had to do that E?
SPT Well, we started drifting out probably
around, what about 30 - 40 seconds, maybe a minute or so.
CDR About a minute I would say.
SPT Okay, then I imagine somewhere around
2 minutes is when we hit restart - -
CDR Probably hit the power off. 2-1/2.
SPT Do you think we can get something if
we try for a fourth sequence? Is there any film in there
under those conditions, Story?
END OF TAPE
SL-IV MC1496/I
Time: 14:27 CST 44:20:27 GMT
12/29/73
SPT Bill, we started drifting out probably

around - what about 30 - 40 seconds, maybe a minute or so?
CDR For a minute, I would say.
SPT Okay, and then I imagine somewhere around
2 minutes is when we -
PLT 2-1/2.
SPT Probably hit the POWER OFF.
SPT Do you think we can get something if we
try for a fourth sequence. Is there any film in there,
under those conditions, Story?
CDR Bill, these are 3 - 3 minute or 6 minute
sequences we're doing?
CDR That's 3 minutes.
CDR 3 minutes and 24 seconds or so.
CC Bill, Houston.
PLT Go, Story.
CC We'd like i0 degrees clockwise on REG BUS 2.
PLT Roger.
SPT How's the attitude errors looking, Bill?
CDR Looks great up here, Ed.
CDR I've got the best angle here to tell you
what they are. It hasn't moved a fraction of an inch.
SPT Okay, very good.
CDR Shadow's very very stable across the corner
of the camera.
SPT Okay, I'll give you one on my mark and I'm
going to see if I can start this thing with a little more
stability.
CDR Okay, we're coming out just over the southern
end of the Yucatan Peninsula - southern side of it.
SPT Okay, I'll give you mark. Stand by.
SPT MARK. Okay, that was a little better that
time. Story, I'd say we got pretty good pointing on this.
We can see exactly where the Sun is relative to the solar
panel. So I think we know where we want it. We've got the
Sun just or the solar panel just slightly - just tangent and
slightly inside the field of view. Essentially, we do have
a scissors arm which is in there, but it's only in the top
portion and does not obscure very much of the total field
of view.
CC Okay, copy, Ed. And we'd just like the three
normal sequences on $201.
SPT Okay, Story, we'll do.
CC And Bill, for your return to SI, we'd like
to see the 20 minute maneuver time in there.
PLT I just finished it.
SPT The problem is we probaly had rates building
up in that first one.
SL-IV MC1496/2
Time: 14:27 CST 44:20:27 GMT
12/29/73
CDR Hey, we're over Miami. Looking right down

on the Florida keys and Miami - the whole southern end of
Florida.
CC Maneuver time's confirmed, Bill.
SPT Boy: I'll say, look at that.
PLT Roger.
CDR Story, for the Earth observation guys, I
saw no indications of the Yucatan current. The area there is
quite clear and neither in Sun glint nor in area of plankton
blooming was there any indications of the Yucatan current.
SPT Boy, look at those cloud (garble) going
across Florida, east to west all the way from the southern
tip all the way to the - all the way up to the about the
(static).
CDR How much daylight have we got left, Bill?
SPT Okay, how we doing in terms of time on this
thing?
CDR Okay, your attitude's very good, shadow hasn't
moved.
SPT Should I see anything upon completion?
CDR I don't think so, Ed.
SPT (garble) white flashes at the beginning
of the sequence. We did.
CDR Okay, there's Cape Lookout, Cape Fear,
Pamlico Sound, and Marine Corps Air Station Cherry Point. Okay,
Bill, you'd better point 201 in a safe direction, or Ed, I'm
sorry.
SPT Yeah. Will do. Let's turn the power off.
PLT All right, let me get down out of here and -
SPT Power's OFF. Let's put it over here to minus
or plus X. Okay, it's pointed. Go ahead. Sure am glad we've
got these photos with this one. This one's going to give you
some good information. Sensitive instrument. There's a good
hydrogen halo there. I'ii go see it. Yes sir. Okay?
CC (Garble) Houston.
CC Could you verify that you got the $230 clip?
CDR That's negative, Story. The $230 clip was
missing. About the only thing we can think is that the clip
must have gotten knocked off on the last EVA while we - by an
umbilical or something. And we never saw it. But we can
verify that the clip was there up until just about the last
EVA - up before that, because we've seen it out the - oh, golly,
I can't remember which number window it is, but one of the
STS windows you can - we can see the clip. But apparently on
the last EVA, one of the umbilicals must have brushed it off.
CC Copy.
PLT And we'll be able to tell, Story, because I
took the contamination photographs of the $230 out the MDA -
STS window.
SL-IV MC1496/3
Time: 14:27 CST 44:20:27 GMT
12/29/73
CC Copy, Bill.
PLT Before the first EVA and after the first EVA.
So we should be able to pin it down pretty well. We're done.
END OF TAPE
SL-IV MC1497/I
TIME: 14:135 CST, 44:20:35 GMT
12/29/73
CC Copy, Bill.
PLT Before the first EVA and after the first
EVA. So we should be able to pin it down pretty well for don.
SPT You got the power cord disconnected Jer?
SPT The power off and the cord disconnected?
CDR Stand by, it's in work.
SPT Okay.
CDR Okay, power is off and the cord's disconnected.
SPT Very good.
SPT Okay. I tell you what, why don't you take the
instrument and I'Ii try to get the power cord squared away
for you.
CDR Okay, Bill we got a fire sensor light
on in here.
SPT Yeah we - that's - nominal, Jerry.
CDR Okay.
SPT If you get ahold of it I'ii take my
wrist tether off.
CDR I got it.
SPT Okay, has that been on for awhile, I don't
think it has.
CDR Yeah I think it came on in the last half
hour.
SPT Let let me get the cable out of the clip.
CDR Okay, there's no rush on that cable, it's
going to take me a minute to get over here.
SPT Going to take a look again at that part
where we pulled the covering off up there.
SPT Story, the part which we pulled off above
the hinge line on the airlock hatch, was part of that believed
to be originally in the Sun.
CC That's affirm, part of it in the Sun and
part of it in the shade.
CDR Okay - -
SPT Well, the whole thing has a pretty uniform
color. We did that at night Story, but I could see where it was,
we"re not in solar inertial now but it looks by projection that
it's going to be pretty close, and even the tip of it was in the
Sun, You know what we ought to get, this would be a beautiful
one right here.
CC Ed, three inches out of that 50 inches
was supposed to be in the Sun.
SPT 3 inches? Tell you what I can see it
now, I can see the graduation where that where the sunlight
is and there_s a miscalculation there somewhere,Story, because
t_at was not in the Sun, probably missed it by about an inch.
CC Okay, wetre 40 seconds to LOS, 5 minutes
to Madrid, will be dumping the data/voice there.
SL-IV MC1497/2
TIME: 14:35 CST, 44:20:35 GMT
12/29/73
SPT Okay.
CDR Now S020.
SPT Story, there is another place right above
there. It's between Fand where the hatch locks are snapped
into. That has got about 3 inches worth of Sun, three inches
not Sun. And it's got covering underneath it. I think if
we had a pair of scissors, we could very easily snip along
a distance of around 6 inches and bring you back the kind of
sample you want. And underneath it is more insulation so it
doesn't look to be thermal problem.
PAO Skylab Control. Loss of signal through
Bermuda, two minutes away from reacquisition through the
tracking station at Madrid, Spain. EVA still underway, 3 hours
and 12 minutes into it. The crew reported that the space station
wandered off somewhat of the nominal attitude for the $201
experiment and they're going to start a new exposure sequence
on that particular camera. A minute and 40 until reacquisition
at Madrid_ however since the crew is on voice actuated mode
or VOX, it is likely that we will hear them talking among
themselves before the clock counts down to zero on the acquisition
clock, Standing by for Madrid.
END OF TAPE
SL-IV MC1498/I
TIME: 14:.43 CST, 44:20:43 GMT
12/29/73
CDR Okay, Bill must have the breakers pulled

again.
SPT Bill would you put the breakers in so we
can turn the lights on please.
CREW Wait a minute. All right.
SPT All right. Let's - Okay, that's got it.
Hello, Story.
CDR Bill, read the thermoneter instructions
if there are any.
CC Go ahead.
SPT Okay Story. We did not have $20 pointed
at the Sun during this last sequence because we moved it out
of the way for working 201, do they want a temperature
measurement now at the end even though we're going into dark
or would they prefer to wait till the next orbit.
CC Stand by i.
CDR Yeah, I know that Bill but we just didn't
have time. This is a noninterference thing, I suspect
we're going to not end up doin_ it.
SPT Well we could give some es 20 exposures
the next orbit and get that done and be all set then.
CC Ed, you can go ahead and get the temperature
on the S020 right now.
SPT Thank you.
CDR Okay, Stor, are you going to want to leave us
out to do some more S020 exposures?
CC No, no more exposures on that and leave that
thermal cover. If we do anything on that at all we'll do
that the next EVA.
CDR Okay.
SPT Okay.
CDR Okay, he's got it.
SPT Okay, Story I think we're going to be wrapping
it up pretty soon and maybe get some more S020s the next time
aroune.
CDR That's it Ed. Turn on.
SPT Turn what on?
CDR The temperature.
SPT No you don't hold it on, you put the thing on
and then put it up.
CDR Okay.
SPT Okay, l've got it. I've got it on there Bill
why don't you just tell me how long 30 seconds is -
CDR 30 seconds, I'Ii tell you when it's up.
SPT Hold on l'm real (garble) with this thing.
l_m going to have to go at it again.
CC Bill, Houston.
pLT Go Story.
CC Bill after getting back to SI and prior to
enabling CMG control, we'd like a nominal H-cage that's just a
SL-IV MC1498/2
TIME: 14:43 CST 44:20:43 GMT
12/29/73
CDR Is it on, Ed.

CC - 52023. That's after getting back to
SI and prior to your CMG control enable.
PLT Roger, nominal H-cage after getting back
to SI but before reenabling CMGs.
CDR About 5 4 seconds Ed.
CC Yes sir.
CDR Okay, Ed 30 seconds.
SPT All right. Wanna read this thing before it
changes. 89, it was 102 when I first pulled it off of there.
Unfortunately I can't read it and put it on there at the same
time. Let me try it all. Okay 104 and Story I cannot, it's
because of the difficulty of working this thing hold it on there
at the same time I get the reading. So as soon as I take it off,
it starts decreasing in temperature and it was decreasing in
well - a couple of degrees per second, and I got it around 2
seconds after I took it off and I was reading 104.
CC Ed, that'll be just fine on that.
SPT Okay.
CC And understand the EVA is about complete
and you're about to enter the airlock.
CDR That's right, we're going to stow S020
now, we just finished the temperature measurements. And soon
as we get S020 in we'll be finished.
CC Okay.
CDR Got it.
SPT Do you (garble)?
SPT I tell you Story you kind of hate to go
inside. You kind of get to enjoy your work. I_ii say one
thing though all the training we've gotten and all the facilities
through that, has really helped make you feel very at home
out here. Pretty familiar with what you're doing.
CC Yes sir, we're about 30 seconds to LOS,
see you in about 20 minutes at Carnarvon at 21:18.
SPT Okay. All the folks at Marshall and at
Johnson have done a great job on this EVA.
CC And Skylab all your systems are looking
good.
PLT Thank you Story and I got 5 pictures
of the comet with the Hasselblad, right on down into the
airglow,
CC Great Bill.
SPT Okay, we_ll check around here see what else
we got.
through Bermuda_ as you were through Madrid. Space station
SL-IV MC1498/3
TIME: 14:43 CST, 44:20:43 GMT
12/29/73
Skylab coming down over the Agean Sea. Atset of revolution 3,310
for the space station in orbit since last May. Skylab IV
crew at this time preparing to stow equipment and close
out today's EVA which at this point is now 3 hours, 23 minutes
long. And my next AOS at Carnarvon in about 25 minutes should
be buttoned up and back inside. A vestige of male chauvinism
dangling from the ceilin_ above the Flight Director's console
here in Mission Control. A big wad of kisseltoe. 5 minutes
to Carnarvon. At 20:53 Greenwich mean time, Skylab Control.
END OF TAPE
SL-IV MC1499/I
TIME: 15:].6 CST, 44:21:16 GMT
12/29/73

mean time. Acquisition in a minute and a half at Carnarvon
and lapping over to Honeysuckle. (Bleep) dropout between
Carnarvon and Honeysuckle. We're estimating a change-of-
shift briefing at about 3:45 central time with Flight Director
Milt Windier and Dr. Thornton Page who is the principal
investigator for the $201 experiment in the Houston news-
room. We'll stand by for Carnarvon and Honeysuckle, the two
Australian stations here and find out whether the crew has
indeed completed the EVA which shows 3 hours and 48 minutes
on the clock now.
CC Skylab, we see you're repressurized,
we_ve got you through Carnarvon for 5 minutes.
SPT Roger, Story wetre climbing out of the
suits now.
CC Okay.
CC Skylab, we're a minute to LOS and about 7 minutes
to Honeysuckle, is anyone available to go to the STS?
PLT Give us about 3 minutes.
CC Okay, I'll catch you over Honeysuckle.
CDR Okay, Story go ahead.
CC We're going LOS here we'll catch you
at Honeysuckle.
CDR How long?
CC 7 minutes.
CDR Okay.
PAO This is Skylab Control. Space station
Skylab now in a gap between Carnarvon, loss of signal and
Honeysuckle acquisition of signal. Some 3-1/2 minutes remaining
until the tracking station at Honeysuckle Creek, Australia
picks up the Skylab. Very gross estimate of TACS usage during
this EVA is around 3800 pound-second. This like the earlier
Christmas Day, EVA TACS usage will be refined and revised over
the next several days as the data's examined and analyzed but
at any rate the highball estimate is 3800 pounds compared
to a 4400 pound early estimate of the Christmas Day EVA,
which later was revised downward to 3300 pound-seconds.
As of this morning prior to the start of the EVA, that's
some 22p592 pound-seconds of nitrogen gas were remaining in
the thruster attitude control system. A minute and 50
seconds now until predicted acquisition at Honeysuckle,
midway through revolution 3310.
CC Skylab, AOS Honeysuckle for 3 minutes.
CDR Roger, Story I'm in the MDA.
CG Okay, weVd like a reg adjust. Both
on BUS 1 and BUS 2, rotate counterclockwise 25 degrees each.
CDR Okay, that's complete.
SL-IV MC1499/2
TIME: 15:116 CST, 44:21:16 GMT
12/29/73
CC And, then we'd like experiment pointin_

APCS MODE.
CDR It's already there. You want another one?
CC Nope, that'll he fine and -
END OF TAPE

Skylab 4 PAO Mission Commentary 15 of 32

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Skylab 4 PAO Mission Commentary 15 of 32

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SL-IV MCI400/I

Time: 21:51 CST, 42:03:51 GMT

PA0 Skylab Control, Greenwich mean time

CC I'm sorry Jer, you were cut out. Say

PAO Good morning, this is Skylab Control at

PAO This is Skylab Control at 13 hours 4

PAO This is Skylab Control at 13 hours

its findings electronically to ground stations around the

PAO - will appear to pass within a degree,

PAO This is Skylab Control at 14 hours 34

PAO This is Skylab Control at 14 hours

PAO This is Skylab Control at 15 hours 12

PAO This is Skylab Control at 16 hours i0

MCC Okay; and I know 55 does llke that type

for the tracking when we were doing the 82A in building

SPT (Garble) relatively small. The (garble)

We're I minute from LOS. Vanguard is next in 30 minutes and

PAO This is Skylab Control at 16 hours

CC And we need the DAS here, Ed, for that.

CDR It looked like nearly 24 minutes or so

CDR Okay. Well, I'm sorry. You didn't get it

PAO the comet briefing. Replay of the

PAO This is Skylab Control at 19 hours

CDR Okay, I'm got half of my PT done and

PAO Skylab Control. Greenwich mean time 20

that we missed the last pass, Bill.

PAO Skylab Control, Greenwich mean time 21

CC Skylab, back with you through Honeysuckle

PAO Skylab Control, Greenwich mean time 21

select went this pass.

CC Skylab, AOS Madrid for 7 minutes, dumping

PAO Skylab Control, Greenwich mean time

to see the comet visually through one of the windows. We

PAO Skylab Control, Greenwich mean time

CC Roger. We're really itching to get

PAO Skylab Control, Greenwich mean time 23 hours

PAO At Greenwich mean time day 362, the clocks

CC 2897 is the last value of the grating we

PAO Skylab Control, 32 minutes after the hour.

PAO Skylab Control, 52 minutes after the

CC Skylab, Houston. We're 30 seconds to LOS

PAO Skylab Control, Greenwich mean time 1 hour

expensive in TACS and furthermore, the deadband in TACS

CC Tell you what Ed, I forgot to tell you,

PAO Skylab Control, Greenwich mean time 1 hour

SPT Dick, you want to work the star tracker

Next acquisition in 12 minutes and 55 seconds through

PAO Skylab Control, Greenwich mean time

the Hawaii tracking station. The Hawaii pass will be

PAO Skylab Control, Greenwich mean time 2 hours

CDR Okay. 16-millimeter; Delta Papa 9, Charlie

SPT And I was wondering what it was. What -

checklists to go over to verify the integrity of the PCU used

including potential 1976 presidential canidates, the Harris

this time_, at 8:35 central standard time. At that point

PLT Houston, Skylab, PLT.

PLT Rog, Dick.

ran up the usage of TACS. In addition EVA procedures will be

PAO per hour. Removal of the deflectors should

PAO Skylab Control, Greenwich mean time 3

called up for i hour for Texas between 5:15 Greenwich mean

CC Skylab, Houston, Guam for 6 minutes.

PAO Skylab Control at 12 hours 19 minutes