# NASA SKYLAB 3 SL-3 MISSION JULY 28, 1973 DOCUMENTARY FILM 62294

This film profiles Skylab 3 (also SL-3 and SLM-2), the second manned mission to the first American space station, Skylab. The mission began July 28, 1973, with the launch of three astronauts on the Saturn IB rocket, and lasted 59 days, 11 hours and 9 minutes. A total of 1,084.7 astronaut-utilization hours were tallied by the Skylab 3 crew performing scientific experiments in the areas of medical activities, solar observations, Earth resources, and other experiments. The crew consisted of Commander Alan L. Bean, Science Pilot Owen K. Garriott -- father of Lord British -- and pilot Jack R. Lousma. The manned Skylab missions were officially designated Skylab 2, 3, and 4. Mis-communication about the numbering resulted in the mission emblems reading Skylab I, Skylab II, and Skylab 3 respectively. During the approach phase, a propellant leak developed in one of the Apollo Service Module's reaction control system thruster quads. The crew was able to safely dock with Skylab, but troubleshooting continued with the problem. Six days later, another thruster quad developed a leak, creating concern amongst Mission Control. For the first time, an Apollo spacecraft would be rolled out to Launch Complex 39 for a rescue mission, made possible by the ability for the station to have two Apollo CSMs docked at the same time. It was eventually determined that the CSM could be safely maneuvered using only two working thruster quads, and the rescue mission was never launched. The crew, during…

- Kind: Documentary
- Genres: Documentary, Space, Industrial and advertising
- Archive: [Internet Archive](https://archive.org/details/62294NASASkylabTheMiddleMission)
- Licence or status: none stated by the archive
- Who can watch: Tweens profiles and older (the archive gives no rating; placed by Invisible Network from its collection and subjects)

[Watch now](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/watch/archive/ia/62294NASASkylabTheMiddleMission?play=1)