Earth and Space News: Skylab 3 first fish in space

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Wednesday, July 29, 2020

Two Mummichog Minnows Became First Fish in Space in 1973 Via Skylab 3

Summary: Two Mummichog minnows became the first fish in space in 1973 via the Skylab 3 mission in an experiment requested by scientist-pilot Owen Garriott.

Two Mummichog minnows became the first fish in space in 1973 via the Skylab 3 mission, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration’s (NASA) second manned mission to Skylab, the first United States space station.

The Skylab 3 mission began Saturday, July 28, 1973, with liftoff at 11:10:50 Coordinated Universal Time (7:10 a.m. Eastern Daylight Time) from east central Florida’s Cape Kennedy (Cape Canaveral since Oct. 9, 1973). The Apollo command and service module (CSM) carrying the mission’s crew, multi-species passengers and mission-related paraphernalia docked at the space station at 19:37:00 UTC (3:37 p.m. EDT).

Fourth moonwalker Alan Bean (March 15, 1932-May 26, 2018) commanded the Skylab 3 mission. The mission’s two other astronauts, scientist-pilot Owen Garriott (Nov. 22, 1930-April 15, 2019) and pilot Jack Lousman (born Feb. 29, 1936), logged their first spaceflights via the Skylab 3 mission.

Apollo CSM 117 transported multi-species passengers for participation in scientific experiments assigned to the Skylab 3 mission. Six pocket mice (Perognathus longimembris) and 180 fruit fly (Drosophila melanogaster) pupae associated with circadian rhythm experiments. Two common cross spiders (Araneus diadematus), named Anita and Arabella, represented Web Formation, experiment ED52, which was proposed by Lexington, Massachusetts, high schooler Judith S. Miles. The web experiment considered the effect of microgravity on the common cross spider’s mechanism for sensing weight during web construction.

Owen Garriott suggested incorporating the two Mummichog minnow (Fundular heteroclitus) fingerlings and 50 fertile minnow eggs into the web formation’s study of disorientation and orientation in weightlessness. The coastal waters off Beaufort, in southeastern North Carolina’s Inner Banks region, supplied the experiment’s minnows.

The expanded experiment’s fish component focused on the otolith (Ancient Greek: ὠτο- ōto-, stem of οὖς, oûs, “ear” + λίθος, líthos, “stone”) organ. Located in the inner ear of vertebrates, the otolith is a calcium carbonate structure that conduces to the maintenance of balance.

A clear plastic bag served as the Skylab 3 mission’s fish aquarium. The plastic aquarium’s dark background and lighted surface simulated the minnows’ natural environment of pond bottom and sky, respectively.

When Owen Garriott opened the plastic aquarium after three days in orbit, he observed an “odd, circular pattern” in the fingerlings’ swimming. The NASA Marshall Space Flight Center’s report, Skylab, Classroom in Space (1977), edited by Lee Summerlin, noted: “The fish looped sideways, keeping their backs to the light. Loops of small radius alternated frequently with loops of larger radius. The fish swam in left loops about as much as they swam in right loops” (page 172).

Garriott observed a slow decrease in the looped swimming until, within 21 days, the fingerlings exhibited a normal swim pattern. Their adaptation to weightlessness prevailed, except when Garriott shook their plastic aquarium. The shaking induced looping swimming by the fingerlings.

The fertile minnow eggs began hatching after 19 days. The majority of the eggs hatched during the mission’s fifth and sixth weeks.

The hatchlings displayed immediate visual orientation. They apparently had adapted to weightlessness while in their eggs. Keeping their backs to the light, the hatchlings swam normally. Light, as a substitute for gravity, served as their visual orientation. The newly hatched minnows resorted to “abnormal swimming in tight circles only when the bag aquarium was shaken” (page 173).

Lee Summerlin’s Skylab, Classroom in Space publication suggested “phototropic (orientation toward light) orientation and the relatively flat aquarium” as probable explanations for looping. The report surmised: “The fish were probably responding to signals from extremely fine hairs in their otolith which straighten out in the absence of gravity. They reacted by swimming in a forward loop which was distorted into a sideways loop by the tendency to keep their backs to the light. Additional experimentation will be needed to explain fully the strange looping and the apparent phototropic response of the fish” (page 173).

The Skylab 3 mission ended Tuesday, Sept. 25, 1973. The Apollo CSM 117 undocked from Skylab at 11:16:42 UTC (7:16 a.m. EDT). The module splashed down in the North Pacific Ocean at 22:19:51 UTC (6:19 p.m. EDT). The USS New Orleans effected recovery 42 minutes after splashdown.

The takeaways for two Mummichog minnows who became the first fish in space in 1973 via the Skylab 3 mission are that their participation in the mission was suggested by scientist pilot Owen Garriott, that both fish successfully adapted to weightlessness and that minnows that hatched during the mission displayed immediate adjustment to weightlessness.

Acknowledgment

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

Image credits:

John Boyd holds bag of two Mummichog minnows who will become the first two fish in space via the Skylab 3 mission, July to September 1973; an aquarium (background) shelters other Mummichog minnows caught off the coast of Beaufort, North Carolina; Johnson Space Center, Houston, Harris County, Southeast Texas; June 29, 1973; NASA ID S73-30856: Public Domain, via NASA Images @ https://images.nasa.gov/details-S73-30856.html; Generally not subject to copyright in the United States; may use this material for educational or informational purposes, including photo collections, textbooks, public exhibits, computer graphical simulations and Internet Web pages; general permission extends to personal Web pages, via NASA Image and Video Library @ https://images.nasa.gov/details/S73-30856

fertile eggs of Mummichog minnows, prior to hatching in space, in the Skylab 3 mission’s aquarial bag; Lee Summerlin, ed., Skylab, Classroom in Space (1977), page 172: Public Domain, via NASA NTRS (NASA Technical Reports Server) @ https://ntrs.nasa.gov/archive/nasa/casi.ntrs.nasa.gov/19770022245.pdf

For further information:

Burgess, Colin; and Chris Dubbs. Animals in Space: From Research Rockets to the Space Shuttle. Springer-Praxis Books in Space Exploration. Chichester UK: Praxis Publishing Ltd., 2007.

Caswell, Kurt. Laika’s Window: The Legacy of a Soviet Space Dog. San Antonio TX: Trinity University Press, 2018.

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

Johnson, David Samuel. “The First Fish in Orbit.” Scientific American > Guest Blog. Dec. 22, 2016.
Available @ https://blogs.scientificamerican.com/guest-blog/the-first-fish-in-orbit/

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. “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. "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 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

NASA Johnson Space Center. “Personnel -- Minnows -- Skylab (SL)-3 -- JSC.” NASA Image and Video Library. June 29, 1973.
Available @ https://images.nasa.gov/details-S73-30856.html

NASA Marshall Space Flight Center. “Web Formation (ED52).” NASA Life Sciences Data Archive > Mission > Skylab.
Available via NASA Life Sciences Data Archive @ https://lsda.jsc.nasa.gov/Experiment/exper/428

Steven-Boniecki, Dwight, ed. Skylab 3: The NASA Mission Reports. Apogee Space Books (Book 92). Burlington, Canada: Apogee Books, 2016.

Summerlin Lee B., ed. “Fish Otolith Organ.” Skylab, Classroom in Space: 172-173. Prepared by George C. Marshall Space Flight Center. NASA SP-401. Washington DC: National Aeronautics and Space Administration Scientific and Technical Information Office, 1977.
Available via NASA NTRS (NASA Technical Reports Server) @ https://ntrs.nasa.gov/archive/nasa/casi.ntrs.nasa.gov/19770022245.pdf

Wednesday, July 22, 2020

Fourth Moonwalker Alan Bean Commanded Skylab 3 July to September 1973

Summary: Fourth moonwalker Alan Bean commanded Skylab 3 July to September 1973 for NASA’s second manned mission to the first United States space station.

Apollo 9 Lunar Module Pilot Russell “Rusty” Schweikart (back to camera) and another training officer (left background) wear surgical masks as Skylab 3 mission’s scientist-pilot Owen Garriott (center), with mock-up of trunnion plug plate, Commander Alan Bean (center background) and mission pilot Jack Lousma (center right) participate in prelaunch training at Johnson Space Center, Houston, Harris County, Southeast Texas; Saturday, June 30, 1973: Generally not subject to copyright in the United States; may use this material for educational or informational purposes, including photo collections, textbooks, public exhibits, computer graphical simulations and Internet Web pages; general permission extends to personal Web pages, via NASA Image and Video Library

Fourth moonwalker Alan Bean commanded Skylab 3 July to September 1973 for NASA’s second manned mission to Skylab, the first United States space station.

The Skylab 3 mission launched Saturday, July 28, 1973, from Cape Kennedy (Cape Canaveral since Oct. 9, 1973) in east central Florida at 11:10:50 Coordinated Universal Time (7:10 a.m. Eastern Daylight Time). The Saturn IB launch vehicle carried the crew and mission paraphernalia in Apollo CSM (command and service module) 117.

Alan LaVern Bean (March 15, 1932-May 26, 2018) headed the mission’s three-astronaut crew as commander. The mission marked the first spaceflights for scientist-pilot Owen Kay Garriott (Nov. 22, 1930-April 15, 2019) and mission pilot Jack Robert Lousma (born Feb. 29, 1936).

CSM 117 sheltered a multi-species cargo. The three astronauts shared the module with Anita and Arabella, a pair of common cross spiders (Araneus diadematus); six pocket mice (Perognathus longimembris); 180 fruit fly (Drosophila melanogaster) pupae; two mummichog minnows (Fundular heteroclitus); and 50 minnow fish eggs.

Anita and Arabella participated in the mission’s experiment on web formation in zero gravity. Their presence in Skylab 3 marked the first arachnid (Ancient Greek: ἀράχνη, arákhnē, “spider”) journey to space. Arabella debuted the first made-in-space web during Skylab 3. Anita is famed as the second spider to spun a web in space.

The NASA-conducted experiment was proposed by Judith S. Miles of Lexington, Massachusetts. The high schooler qualified as one of 25 national finalists in NASA's Skylab Student Project competition.

The pocket mice and fruit flies (also known as vinegar gnats) were involved in circadian rhythm experiments. The mission’s Circadian Periodicity Experiment (CPE) unit included separate housings for the pocket mice and the fruit flies. NASA Ames Research Center’s 1995 report, Life Into Space, acknowledged: “Unfortunately, about 30 hours after launch a power failure occurred and resulted in the loss of both experiments” (page 80).

The two mummichog minnows boarded the Skylab 3 mission as the first fish in space. The two minnows learned to orientate themselves in the unfamiliar environment of weightlessness.

The space fish population burgeoned to 48 during the mission with the hatching of all but two eggs. The fish fry emerged from their eggs with innate orientations to their habitat in space.

Three spacewalks, known as extravehicular activity (EVA), took place during the Skylab 3 mission. Astronauts Garriott and Lousma experienced their first spacewalk during the mission’s first extravehicular activity (EVA 1), which began Monday, Aug. 6, 1973, at 17:30 UTC (1:30 p.m. EDT). EVA 1 ended six hours 31 minutes later, Tuesday, Aug. 7, at 00:01 UTC (8:01 p.m. EDT, Monday, Aug. 6).

After their fledgling spacewalk, the duo became veterans in their outing for the mission’s second spacewalk (EVA 2). Their second spacewalk began Friday, Aug. 24, at 16:24 UTC (12:24 p.m. EDT). They completed the spacewalk four hours 31 minutes later, at 20:55 UTC (4:55 p.m. EDT).

Scientist-pilot Garriott claimed participation in all three of the mission’s spacewalks. He joined Commander Bean for EVA 3, which began Saturday, Sept. 22, at 11:18 UTC (7:18 a.m. EDT) and ended two hours 41 minutes later, at 13:59 UTC (9:59 a.m. EDT). With EVA 3, the Skylab 3 mission’s outside time totaled 13 hours 43 minutes.

The Skylab 3 mission’s third spacewalk numbered as Commander Bean’s third and last career extravehicular activity. He had conducted his first two extravehicular activities on the surface of the moon as the Lunar Module Pilot on Apollo 12. The Apollo 12 mission represented the United States Apollo program’s sixth manned flight and succeeded Apollo 11 as the second Apollo mission to land on Earth’s moon. With his first lunar walk, Nov. 19, 1969, Bean became the fourth moonwalker. The Apollo 12 mission’s commander, Charles “Pete” Conrad Jr. (June 2, 1930-July 8, 1999), preceded him onto the lunar surface.

The Skylab 3 mission undocked from the space station Tuesday, Sept. 25, at 11:16:42 UTC (7:16 a.m. EDT). CSM 117 splashed down in the northeastern Pacific Ocean, approximately 300 kilometers (186.4 miles) southwest of San Diego, southwestern California. Splashdown happened at 22:19:51 UTC (6:19 p.m. EDT), 11 hours 3 minutes 9 seconds after CSM 117’s undocking. Retrieval of the command module and the crew by the recovery vessel, the USS New Orleans, occurred 42 minutes after splashdown, according to the Skylab Mission Evaluation Team's Skylab Mission Report Second Visit (1974: 2-2).

The takeaways for fourth moonwalker Alan Bean, who commanded Skylab 3 July to September 1973, are that his Skylab 3 spacewalk numbered as his third and last career extravehicular activity and that, under his command, the first fish and spiders reached and lived in space and also the first made-in-space web was spun.

Skylab space station close-up view from Skylab 3 Command and Service Module (CSM) prior to docking; photographed with hand-held 70mm Hasselbad camera using a 100mm lens and SO-368 medium speed Ektachrome film; July 28, 1973: Generally not subject to copyright in the United States; may use this material for educational or informational purposes, including photo collections, textbooks, public exhibits, computer graphical simulations and Internet Web pages; general permission extends to personal Web pages, via NASA Image and Video Library

Acknowledgment

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

Image credits:

Skylab space station close-up view from Skylab 3 Command and Service Module (CSM) prior to docking; photographed with hand-held 70mm Hasselbad camera using a 100mm lens and SO-368 medium speed Ektachrome film; Saturday, July 28, 1973: Generally not subject to copyright in the United States; may use this material for educational or informational purposes, including photo collections, textbooks, public exhibits, computer graphical simulations and Internet Web pages; general permission extends to personal Web pages, via NASA Image and Video Library @ https://images.nasa.gov/details-sl3-114-1683

For further information:

Burgess, Colin; and Chris Dubbs. Animals in Space: From Research Rockets to the Space Shuttle. Springer-Praxis Books in Space Exploration. Chichester UK: Praxis Publishing Ltd., 2007.

Caswell, Kurt. Laika’s Window: The Legacy of a Soviet Space Dog. San Antonio TX: Trinity University Press, 2018.

Compton, W. (William) David; and Charles D. Benson. Living and Working in Space: A History of Skylab. The NASA History Series. NASA SP-4208. Washington DC: National Aeronautics and Space Administration Scientific and Technical Information Branch, 1983.
Available via Internet Archive @ https://archive.org/details/nasa_techdoc_19840017669/page/n4

Day, Dwayne. “Outpost in the Sky: Skylab, the NASA Mission Reports.” The Space Review. June 26, 2017.
Available @ http://www.thespacereview.com/article/3270/1

Johnson, David Samuel. “The First Fish in Orbit.” Scientific American > Guest Blog. Dec. 22, 2016.
Available @ https://blogs.scientificamerican.com/guest-blog/the-first-fish-in-orbit/

Lindberg, R. (Robert) G.; and P. (Page ) Hayden. Research on the Properties of Circadian Systems Amenable to Study in Space. NASA CR 137,523. Hawthrone [sic] CA: Northrop Research and Technology Center Corporate Laboratories, June 1974.
Available via NASA NTRS (NASA Technical Reporters Server) @ https://ntrs.nasa.gov/archive/nasa/casi.ntrs.nasa.gov/19740022376.pdf

Marriner, Derdriu. “Three African Postage Stamps Honored Astrocat Félicette’s 1963 Flight.” Earth and Space News. Wednesday, June 5, 2019.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2019/06/three-african-postage-stamps-honored.html

NASA Ames Research Center. “Chronobiology of Pocket Mice (S071).” NASA Life Sciences Data Archive > Mission > Skylab.
Available via NASA Life Sciences Data Archive @ https://lsda.jsc.nasa.gov/Experiment/exper/226

NASA Ames Research Center. “Circadian Rhythm in Vinegar Gnats (S072).” NASA Life Sciences Data Archive > Mission > Skylab.
Available via NASA Life Sciences Data Archive @ https://lsda.jsc.nasa.gov/Experiment/exper/227

NASA Content Administrator. “The Skylab Crewed Missions.” NASA > Missions > All Missions A-Z > S > Skylab. May 6, 2013. Last updated Aug. 7, 2017.
Available @ https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/skylab/missions/skylab_manned.html

NASA George C. Marshall Space Flight Center. “C. Zoology. 1. ED52 -- Web Formation.” MSFC Skylab Student Project Report: 38-46. NASA Technical Memorandum TM X-64866. NASA Skylab Program Office. August 1974.
Available @ https://ntrs.nasa.gov/archive/nasa/casi.ntrs.nasa.gov/19740025164.pdf

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

Newkirk, Roland W.; Ivan D. Ertel; and Courtney G. Brooks. Skylab: A Chronology. The NASA History Series. NASA SP-4011. Washington DC: National Aeronautics and Space Administration Scientific and Technical Information Branch, 1977.
Available via NASA History @ https://history.nasa.gov/SP-4011/contents.htm
Available via NASA NTRS (NASA Technical Reporters Server) @ https://ntrs.nasa.gov/archive/nasa/casi.ntrs.nasa.gov/19780017172.pdf

Skylab Mission Evaluation Team. Skylab Mission Report Second Visit. JSC-08662. Houston TX: National Aeronautics and Space Administration Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center, January 1974.
Available via NASA NTRS (NASA Technical Reporters Server) @ https://ntrs.nasa.gov/archive/nasa/casi.ntrs.nasa.gov/19740011377.pdf

Souza, Kenneth; Robert Hogan; and Rodney Ballard, eds. “4. Programs, Missions, and Payloads -- Skylab 3.” Life Into Space: Space Life Sciences Experiments NASA Ames Research Center 1965-1990: 79-81. Moffett Field CA: NASA Ames Research Center, 1995.
Available via Internet Archive Wayback Machine @ https://web.archive.org/web/20090321010411/http://lis.arc.nasa.gov/lis/Programs/Skylab/Skylab_3/Skylab_3.html
Available via NASA @ https://www.nasa.gov/sites/default/files/life_into_space_vol1.pdf

Steven-Boniecki, Dwight, ed. Skylab 3: The NASA Mission Reports. Apogee Space Books (Book 92). Burlington, Canada: Apogee Books, 2016.