Fourth Moonwalker Alan Bean Did His Last EVA at Skylab Sept. 22, 1973

Summary: Fourth moonwalker Alan Bean did his last EVA at Skylab Sept. 22, 1973, during his command of the space station’s second manned mission, Skylab 3.

Alan Bean, Skylab 3 commander, is positioned for film changeout during the mission’s third and final extravehicular activity (EVA), Saturday, Sept. 22, 1973; NASA's caption notes: "Astronaut Owen K. Garriott, who took the picture, is reflected in Bean's helmet visor. The reflected Earth disk in Bean's visor is so clear that the Red Sea and Nile River area can delineated."; NASA ID sI3-122-2611: Public Domain, via NASA Images

Fourth moonwalker Alan Bean did his last EVA at Skylab Saturday, Sept. 22, 1973, during his command of Skylab 3, the second manned mission sent by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) to Skylab, the first United States space station.

Alan LaVern Bean (March 15, 1932-May 26, 2018) paired with the mission’s scientist-pilot, Owen Kay Garriott (Nov. 22, 1930-April 15, 2019), for the third of three extravehicular activities (EVAs) conducted during the Skylab 3 mission. The mission’s EVA 3 numbered as the third and last career EVA, also known as spacewalk, for both Bean and Garriott.

Bean and Garriott began the spacewalk Saturday, Sept. 22, at 11:18 Coordinated Universal Time (7:18 a.m. Eastern Daylight Time). EVA 3 ended 2 hours 41 minutes later, at 13:59 UTC (9:59 a.m. EDT), Saturday, Sept. 22.

The EVA 3 objective focused on retrieving full film canisters from Skylab’s Apollo Telescope Mount (ATM) and installing fresh film canisters. Owen Garriott and mission pilot Jack Robert Lousma (born Feb. 29, 1936) had been tasked with swapping film canisters during the mission’s first spacewalks, EVA 1 and EVA 2.

The Apollo Telescope Mount served as the space station’s solar observatory. The Apollo Telescope Mount included eight major instruments for solar studies. Data collected by the ATM’s instruments primarily was captured on photographic film. The Skylab 3 mission’s solar observations yielded 74,942 film frames, according to the Skylab Operations Summary by NASA Marshall Space Flight Center’s (NASA MSFC) Public Affairs Office (PAO).

The Apollo Telescope Mount topped the space station’s Multiple Docking Adapter (MDA) and also relied on supports from the Airlock Module (AM). The Airlock Module’s features included an airlock for extravehicular activities. The Multiple Docking Adapter provided docking ports for the Apollo Command and Service Modules (CSM) that transported the crew and cargo of NASA’s three manned missions to the Skylab space station.

The Multiple Docking Adapter also housed the command and display (C &D) console for the Apollo Telescope Mount. In Skylab: A Guidebook, published by NASA in 1973, Skylab Program Manager Leland Forrest Belew (Feb. 25, 1925-June 6, 2008) and MSFC Associate Director of Science Ernst Stuhlinger (Dec. 19, 1913-May 25, 2008) explained: “Astronaut operation of the Apollo Telescope Mount and the Skylab attitude control will be performed at the ATM Control and Display Console in the MDA. This console contains several TV screens and other visual indicators which will enable the astronauts to follow ATM activities closely and to actively participate in target selection, telescope orientation, experimental procedures, and interpretation of instrumental and visual observations” (72).

Swapping the solar observatory’s film canisters, however, necessitated a spacewalk. A long boom transferred each canister between one astronaut, positioned atop the Apollo Telescope Mount, and the second astronaut, positioned below, at the Airlock Module’s airlock door.

EVA 3’s duration of 2 hours 41 minutes tallied as the shortest of the mission’s three extravehicular activities. EVA 1, conducted from 17:30 UTC, Monday, Aug. 6 (5:30 p.m. EDT, Monday, Aug. 6), to 00:01 UTC, Tuesday, Aug. 7 (8:01 p.m. EDT, Monday, Aug. 6), was the longest, with a duration of 6 hours 31 minutes. EVA 2, performed Friday, Aug. 24, from 16:24 UTC (12:24 p.m. EDT) to 20:55 UTC (4:55 p.m. EDT), claimed the second longest duration, with a total time of 4 hours 31 minutes.

Alan Bean’s first two extravehicular activities occurred during his first spaceflight. He served as Lunar Module Pilot for Apollo 12, the sixth manned flight in the United States Apollo program. The Apollo 12 mission marked the program’s second landing on the moon. The mission’s two extravehicular activities took place Wednesday, Nov. 19, and Thursday, Nov. 20, 1969. The duration of the two EVAs totaled 7 hours 45 minutes 18 seconds.

Participation in the Skylab 3 mission boosted Bean’s career spaceflights to two. Bean’s Skylab spacewalk increased his career EVA time to 10 hours 26 minutes.

The takeaway for fourth moonwalker Alan Bean doing his last EVA at Skylab Sept. 22, 1973, is that the Skylab 3 mission’s commander, whose first spaceflight and first two EVAs occurred in 1969 via the moon-landing Apollo 12 mission, added a second spaceflight and a third and final spacewalk to his NASA career via his command of NASA’s second manned mission to the Skylab space station.

Inside the Skylab space station’s Multiple Docking Adapter (MDA), Skylab 3 scientist-pilot Owen Garriott is stationed at the command and display (C & D) console for the Apollo Telescope Mount (ATM); Date created 1973-08-08; NASA ID sI3-108-1288; Public Domain, via NASA Images

Acknowledgment

My special thanks to talented artists and photographers/concerned organizations who make their fine images available on the internet.

Image credits:

Alan Bean, Skylab 3 commander, is positioned for film changeout during the mission’s third and final extravehicular activity (EVA), Saturday, Sept. 22, 1973; NASA's caption notes: "Astronaut Owen K. Garriott, who took the picture, is reflected in Bean's helmet visor. The reflected Earth disk in Bean's visor is so clear that the Red Sea and Nile River area can delineated."; NASA ID sI3-122-2611: Public Domain, via NASA Images @ https://images.nasa.gov/details-sl3-122-2611.html

Inside the Skylab space station’s Multiple Docking Adapter (MDA), Skylab 3 scientist-pilot Owen Garriott is stationed at the command and display (C & D) console for the Apollo Telescope Mount (ATM); Date created 1973-08-08; NASA ID sI3-108-1288; Public Domain, via NASA Images @ https://images.nasa.gov/details-sl3-108-1288.html

For further information:

Belew, Leland F.; and Ernst Stuhlinger. “Chapter IV: Skylab Design and Operation.” Skylab: A Guidebook: 61-113. NASA EP 107. Huntsville AL: George C. Marshall Space Flight Center, National Aeronautics and Space Administration, 1973.
Available via NASA History @ https://history.nasa.gov/EP-107/ch4.htm

Hitt, David; Owen Garriott; and Joe Kerwin. Homesteading Space: The Skylab Story. Featuring the In-Flight Diary of Alan Bean. Lincoln NE: University of Nebraska Press, 2008.
Available via Google Books @ https://books.google.com/books/about/Homesteading_Space.html?id=sR5Cm_zeIekC

Kelly, Michelle. “Alan L. Bean Oral History Interviews.” NASA Johnson Space Center History Portal > NASA Johnson Space Center Oral History Project. June 23, 1998.
Available @ https://historycollection.jsc.nasa.gov/JSCHistoryPortal/history/oral_histories/BeanAL/beanal.htm

Marriner, Derdriu. “Arabella and Anita Spun First Space Webs in August 1973 at Skylab.” Earth and Space News. Wednesday, July 31, 2013.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2013/07/arabella-and-anita-spun-first-space.html

Marriner, Derdriu. “First Web in Space Was Spun in 1973 by Common Cross Spider Arabella.” Earth and Space News. Wednesday, Aug. 5, 2020.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2020/08/first-web-in-space-was-spun-in-1973-by.html

Marriner, Derdriu. “Fourth Moonwalker Alan Bean Commanded Skylab 3 July to September 1973.” Earth and Space News. Wednesday, July 22, 2020.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2020/07/fourth-moonwalker-alan-bean-commanded.html

Marriner, Derdriu. “Owen Garriott and Jack Lousma Did Second EVA Aug. 24, 1973, at Skylab.” Earth and Space News. Wednesday, Aug. 19, 2020.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2020/08/owen-garriott-and-jack-lousma-did.html

Marriner, Derdriu. "Skylab 3 Astronaut Wives Pranked Spouses With Unofficial Mission Patch." Earth and Space News. Wednesday, July 15, 2020.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2020/07/skylab-3-astronaut-wives-pranked.html

Marriner, Derdriu. "Skylab 3 Captured Dramatic Solar Prominences in August 1973." Earth and Space News. Wednesday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2020/08/skylab-3-captured-dramatic-solar.html

Marriner, Derdriu. "Skylab 3 Mission Patch Emphasized Earth, Sun and Medical Themes." Earth and Space News. Wednesday, July 8, 2020.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2020/07/skylab-3-mission-patch-emphasized-earth.html

Marriner, Derdriu. “Skylabbers Owen Garriott and Jack Lousma First Spacewalked Aug. 6, 1973.” Earth and Space News. Wednesday, Aug. 12, 2020.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2020/08/skylabbers-owen-garriott-and-jack.html

Marriner, Derdriu. “Two Mummichog Minnows Became First Fish in Space in 1973 Via Skylab 3.” Earth and Space News. Wednesday, July 29, 2020.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2020/07/two-mummichog-minnows-became-first-fish.html

NASA Marshall Space Flight Center Public Affairs Office. “Skylab Operations Summary.” NASA/Kennedy Space Center > Space Flight Archives > Skylab > Program Overview.
Available @ https://science.ksc.nasa.gov/history/skylab/skylab-operations.txt

Ross-Nazzal, Jennifer. “Alan L. Bean Oral History Interviews.” NASA Johnson Space Center History Portal > NASA Johnson Space Center Oral History Project. Feb. 23, 2010.
Available @ https://historycollection.jsc.nasa.gov/JSCHistoryPortal/history/oral_histories/BeanAL/beanal.htm

Ross-Nazzal, Jennifer. “Jack R. Lousma Oral History Interviews.” NASA Johnson Space Center History Portal > NASA Johnson Space Center Oral History Project. March 15, 2010.
Available @ https://historycollection.jsc.nasa.gov/JSCHistoryPortal/history/oral_histories/LousmaJR/lousmajr.htm

Rusnak, Kevin M. “Owen K. Garriott Oral History Interviews.” NASA Johnson Space Center History Portal > NASA Johnson Space Center Oral History Project. Nov. 6, 2000.
Available @ https://historycollection.jsc.nasa.gov/JSCHistoryPortal/history/oral_histories/GarriottOK/garriottok.htm

Shayler, David J. Skylab: America’s Space Station. Springer-Praxis Books in Astronomy and Space Sciences. London, England; New York NY: Springer, 2001.
Available via Google Books @ https://books.google.com/books?id=X4WaYqQDVKwC

Whiting, Melanie. “Skylab 3: A Record 59 Days in Space.” NASA > History. Sept. 25, 2018.
Available @ https://www.nasa.gov/feature/skylab-3-a-record-59-days-in-space