Skylab Legacy

Forty years ago, NASA launched America’s first space station.  Skylab, built using leftover Saturn launch vehicle components, hosted three different crews.  The Skylab IV crew stayed for 84 days, a record in the US space program at that time.  Watching videos of the Skylab astronauts working and playing in a weightless environment was one thing that inspired me to study science and math.

After the last crew left Skylab, it was abandoned, its orbit slowly decaying over time.  NASA was busy developing the Space Shuttle and had no capability to return crews to Skylab.  When it appeared that the Space Shuttle might be ready to fly by 1979, NASA looked into reusing Skylab.  Unfortunately, greater-than-anticipated solar activity caused Skylab’s orbit to decay quickly, resulting in re-entry in 1979.  The Space Shuttle first flew in 1981, and the first elements of the International Space Station (ISS) flew in 1998.  In between 1981 and 1998, the US space program was constrained to flying in low Earth orbit for durations of two weeks or less.

Forty years later, we are in similar straits.  We have a space station, but no US launch capabilities to get a crew there.  We rely on a Russian launch vehicle and spacecraft to get our crews to the ISS and home safely.  We have plans for a new spacecraft and a launch vehicle to get crews to the ISS, but what mission comes next?  Current US space policy is to continue operating the ISS, begin crewed missions beyond the moon, and send humans to orbit Mars by the mid-2030s.  While these are big goals, where is the inspiration that accompanied Kennedy’s challenge to send us to the moon before the end of the 60’s?

The big difference between when NASA launched Skylab and today is that spaceflight has become so commonplace that it doesn’t pique the interest of most people.  So few students enter fields of study in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) that the US Department of Education, the National Science Foundation, and many technology companies  have partnered together to make STEM education a national priority.  I wonder if more technological feats in space would inspire kids to enter STEM fields.

Recently, ISS crew members performed an emergency spacewalk to replace a coolant pump.  Most spacewalks are planned weeks in advance of execution.  In this case, the spacewalk was planned and executed in the roughly 48 hours after a coolant leak occurred, demonstrating that we can work safely in space and repair systems when needed.  It is hardly surprising that there is more interest on the Internet over ISS Commander Chris Hadfield’s rendition of “Space Oddity” than the ISS crew’s success over a technological challenge. 

Another big difference is what we know today about space compared to the days of Skylab.  The ISS has been crewed continuously for nearly 13 years, with most crews staying for six months at a time.  We have wealth of knowledge on how to live and work in space, how space affects the human body--both physically and psychologically--and how to work in a weightless environment.  Furthermore, we’ve gained experience with the hardware, knowing what does and doesn’t work well in the space environment.  And we’ve learned some hard and painful lessons along the way.   Because we can track how far we have come, shouldn’t it inspire us to see how far we can go?

If our leaders are truly interested in inspiring students to enter STEM fields of study, what better way than to provide a space program that inspires.  To do that, our space program needs a mission with concrete, near-term goals and milestones and the resources to see it through.  Give NASA a goal, a milestone, and the resources to achieve the mission and then let NASA go do it.

Tell your Congressmen and Senators you want your space program to boldly go where no man has gone before.  In the process, we might just inspire the next generation of scientists, mathematicians, and engineers.