Skylab 3 Astronaut Wives Pranked Spouses With Unofficial Mission Patch

Summary: Skylab 3 astronaut wives pranked their spouses with an unofficial mission patch, designed as a parody of the Skylab 3 mission’s official patch.

The Skylab 3 mission crew’s wives created their own version (right) of the mission’s official patch (left): Dante Centuori @ScienceDante, via Twitter July 28, 2017

Skylab 3 astronaut wives pranked their spouses with an unofficial mission patch, which they designed to parody the original patch officially approved by NASA (National Aeronautics and Space Administration) for the second manned mission to the Skylab space station.

The Skylab 3 mission launched Saturday, July 28, 1973, at 11:10:50 Coordinated Universal Time (7:10 a.m. Eastern Daylight Time), from Launch Pad 39B at Cape Kennedy (Cape Canaveral since Oct. 9, 1973) in east central Florida. The 59-day stay at Skylab, the first United States space station, ended with a northeastern Pacific Ocean splashdown Tuesday, Sept. 25, 1973, at 22:19:51 UTC (6:19 p.m. EDT).

Fourth moonwalker Alan LaVern Bean (March 15, 1932-May 26, 2018) commanded the Skylab 3 mission. Bean had walked twice on the moon, during extravehicular activities (EVAs) on two successive days, Wednesday, Nov. 19, and Thursday, Nov. 20, 1969, for the Apollo 12 mission.

The two other members of the mission’s three-astronaut crew were Owen Kay Garriott (Nov. 22, 1930-April 15, 2019) and Jack Robert Lousma (born Feb. 29, 1936), as scientist-pilot and mission pilot, respectively. The Skylab 3 mission afforded first spaceflights and first spacewalks to Garriott and Lousma.

The three astronauts’ input into the mission patch yielded a patriotic, tri-color design with the red, white and blue of the United States flag. The patch’s iconography emphasized Earth, sun and medical themes. The design centered on Italian Renaissance polymath Leonardo da Vinci’s circle-and-square-inscribed, dynamic Vitruvian Man, modified for “family viewing.” A red, partial solar disk, alive with yellow orange flares and edged with lively solar prominences, halved the circle backdropping the male figure’s right side. The North and South American continents, resplendently framed by the Atlantic and Pacific’s blueness, claimed the half enclosing the figure’s left side.

The last names of the Skylab 3 mission’s three astronauts arched above the circle’s upper half. Black capital letters identified “Bean Garriott Lousma” as the mission’s crew.

The official patch, however, did not remain as the only Skylab 3 mission-themed patch. Mission pilot Jack Lousma recalled for Dick Lattimer’s All We Did Was Fly to the Moon (1983) the Skylab 3 mission’s “wives’ patch.” After their arrival in orbit, Bean, Garriott and Lousma discovered their wives’ version of the official mission patch affixed to three of the storage lockers in Apollo Command and Service Module (CSM) 117, the spacecraft that delivered the trio to the Skylab space station. Jack Lousma described the wives’ prank as “. . . consistent with one of our mottos, ‘Never lose your sense of humor.’”

The pranked patch differed from the official patch in its caption and central figure. The wives’ first names, Sue (Bean), Helen-Mary (Garriott), Gratia (Lousma), replaced the official patch’s last name listing of the crew, Bean, Garriot, Lousma. The male figure is redrawn as a female with lowered arms. Her inner arms rest at her sides while her outer arms hover less than halfway to shoulder height.

Houston area artist Ardis Shanks drew the unofficial patch’s female figure using her favorite model, a local girl named Cheir, according to Spacepatches.nl. Ardis Shanks gave private art lessons, and one of her students was Alan Bean. The Skylab 3 mission commander resigned from NASA in June 1981 to begin a new career, in retirement, as a painter of lunar landscapes.

Both the official and unofficial patches for the Skylab 3 mission identified the mission as Skylab II. The Skylab II caption referenced the mission’s status as NASA’s second manned mission to the Skylab space station.

Designated as SL-3, the Skylab 3 mission numbered as the third launch in the Skylab space station’s operational history. Skylab 1 (SL-1) indicated the Monday, May 14, 1973, launch of the modified Saturn V rocket carrying the Skylab space station. Skylab 2 (SL-2) and Skylab 4 (SL-4) launched Friday, May 25, 1973, and Friday, Nov. 16, 1973, as the first and third manned missions, respectively, to the space station.

In Homesteading Space (2008), spaceflight historian William David Hitt (born Aug. 7, 1975) and Skylabbers Owen Garriott and Joseph Peter “Joe” Kerwin (born Feb. 19, 1932) explained the changed numbering scheme as stemming from a communications snafu between the Skylab Project manager and NASA headquarters.

The takeaway for the Skylab 3 astronaut wives’ pranking their spouses with an unofficial mission patch is a sense of humor can trace a long trajectory, even from Earth outward into space.

Unaware that their wives’ pranked patches are already stowed in storage lockers in their space transport vehicle, Apollo CSM (Command and Service Module) 117, Alan Bean (right), Owen Garriott (middle) and Jack Lousma (left) head to their ride to the Skylab 3 mission’s launch vehicle Saturday, July 28, 1973; the mission’s official patch is affixed to the van’s open door: Public Domain, via NASA Human Spaceflight

Acknowledgment

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

Image credits:

The Skylab 3 mission crew’s wives created their own version (right) of the mission’s official patch (left): Dante Centuori @ScienceDante, via Twitter July 28, 2017, @ https://twitter.com/ScienceDante/status/890986000897462273

Unaware that their wives’ pranked patches are already stowed in storage lockers in their space transport vehicle, Apollo CSM (Command and Service Module) 117, Alan Bean (right), Owen Garriott (middle) and Jack Lousma (left) head to their ride to the Skylab 3 mission’s launch vehicle Saturday, July 28, 1973; the mission’s official patch is affixed to the van’s open door: Public Domain, via NASA Human Spaceflight @ https://spaceflight.nasa.gov/gallery/images/skylab/skylab3/html/s73-31801.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

chromedome (Jon Mendyk). “Dick Lattimer’s Obituary.” The Leatherwall Bowsite. Sept. 13, 2011.
Available @ http://leatherwall.bowsite.com/tf/lw/thread2.cfm?threadid=228443&CATEGORY=9

Dante Centuori @ScienceDante. “Replying to @GLScienceCtr @NASAglenn and 2 others En route to Skylab, the crew got a surprise hidden in the capsule lockers: their wives made a special mission patch with their names on it!” Twitter. July 28, 2017.
Available @ https://twitter.com/ScienceDante/status/890986000897462273

Dorr, Eugene. “Introduction.” Gene Dorr > Spaceflight Mission Patches > Introduction.
Available @ http://genedorr.com/patches/Intro.html

Dorr, Eugene. “Skylab.” Gene Dorr > Spaceflight Mission Patches > Introduction.
Available @ http://genedorr.com/patches/IndexSk.html

Dorr, Eugene. “Skylab Expedition 2.” Gene Dorr > Spaceflight Mission Patches > Introduction > Skylab.
Available @ http://genedorr.com/patches/Skylab/Sk03.html

Garriott, Owen K.; Aldo V. da Rosa; Michael J. Davis; and O.G. (Oswald Garrison) Villard Jr. “Solar Flare Effects in the Ionosphere.” JGR Journal of Geophysical Research, vol. 72, issue 23 (Dec. 1, 1967): 6099-6103.
Available via Wiley Online American Geophysical Union (AGU) publications @ https://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1029/JZ072i023p06099

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

Lattimer, Richard L. All We Did Was Fly to the Moon: By the Astronauts, as Told to Dick Lattimer. Gainesville FL: The Whispering Eagle Press, 1983.

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 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

Shayler, David J.; and Colin Burgess. NASA’s Scientist-Astronauts. Springer-Praxis Books in Space Exploration. Chichester UK: Praxis Publishing Limited, 2007.

van Oene, Jacques Edwin; and Erik van der Hoorn. “Skylab 2 Wives Patch.” Spacepatches.nl > Patch Index > Skylab.
Available @ http://www.spacepatches.nl/skylab_frame.html

Wade, Mark. “Garriott, Owen Kay.” Astronautix > Alphabetical Index > G.
Available @ http://www.astronautix.com/g/garriott.html

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

Otello Was Franco Zeffirelli’s Fourth Met Opera Production

Summary: Verdi’s Otello was Franco Zeffirelli’s fourth Met Opera production, which debuted March 25, 1972, and numbered as his third Shakespearean opera.

Franco Zeffirelli designed the sets for Giuseppe Verdi’s Otello as the Italian designer, director and producer’s fourth Met Opera production, which debuted March 25, 1972: Fondazione Franco Zeffirelli Onlus @fondazionefrancozeffirelli, via Facebook March 25, 2019

Giuseppe Verdi’s Otello was Franco Zeffirelli’s fourth Met Opera production, which debuted March 25, 1972, and numbered as the Italian production designer and director’s third Shakespearean opera at the opera house.

The Metropolitan Opera debuted Franco Zeffirelli’s new production of Otello on Saturday, March 25, 1972, in the opera house’s 184th performance of the second Shakespearean opera by 19th-century Italian opera composer Giuseppe Verdi (Oct. 10, 1813-Jan. 27, 1901). The new staging received 17 performances in the 1971-1972 Met Opera season.

Involvement by Franco Zeffirelli (Feb. 12, 1923-June 15, 2019) in Verdi’s Otello marked his third production of a Shakespearean opera at the Metropolitan Opera. He had made his Metropolitan Opera debut in the 1963-1964 season with his new staging of Verdi’s Falstaff. His second Met Opera production was 20th-century American composer Samuel Barber’s (March 9, 1910-Jan. 23, 1981) operatic adaptation of the Elizabethan playwright’s Antony and Cleopatra..

Zeffirelli designed the sets for his new staging of Otello. He debuted British-born American costumer Peter John Hall (Jan. 22, 1926-May 27, 2010) as the production’s costume designer.

Karl Böhm (Aug. 28, 1894-Aug. 14, 1981) conducted the new production’s season premiere and six succeeding performances at the Metropolitan Opera. The Austrian conductor had made his Met Opera debut Oct. 31, 1957, in the opera company’s 185th performance of Don Giovanni by Classical Era composer Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (Jan. 27, 1756-Dec. 5, 1791).

Francesco Molinari-Pradell (July 4, 1911-July 8, 1996) conducted the season’s last 10 performances, which were offered during the opera company’s 1971-1972 tour. The Italian opera conductor had made his Met Opera debut Feb. 7, 1966, in the opera company’s 92nd performance of Verdi’s Un Ballo in Maschera.

American operatic tenor James McCracken’s Otello sang opposite Polish operatic soprano Teresa Żylis-Gara’s Desdemona for the season’s premiere. James McCracken (Dec. 16, 1926-April 29, 1988) had made his Metropolitan Opera debut Nov. 21, 1953, as Parpignol in the opera company’s 489th performance of La Bohème by Italian opera composer Giacomo Puccini (Dec. 22, 1858-Nov. 29, 1924). Teresa Żylis-Gara (born 23 January 1935) had made her Metropolitan Opera debut Dec. 17, 1968, as Donna Elvira in the opera house’s 275th performance of Mozart’s Don Giovanni.

American dramatic baritone Sherrill Milnes appeared as Otello’s nemesis, Iago. Sherrill Miles (born Jan. 10, 1935) had made his Metropolitan Opera debut Dec. 22, 1965, as Valentin in the opera company’s 594th performance of Faust by 19th century French composer Charles-François Gounod (June 17, 1818-Oct. 18, 1893).

The Metropolitan Opera staged eight revivals of Zeffirelli’s production of Otello. The first two revivals, in 1972-1973 and 1973-1974, succeeded the production’s debut season. The third through fifth revivals occurred successively in the 1977-1978, 1978-1979 and 1979-1980 seasons. The sixth revival took place in the 1984-1985 season. Two seasons later, in 1987-1988, the Metropolitan Opera staged the production’s seventh revival.

The eighth and final revival occurred during the 1989-1990 season. The final performance took place March 19, 1990. Closing night numbered as the opera house’s 267th performance of Otello and as the 84th performance of Zeffirelli’s production. From debut to final performance, Zeffirelli’s production remained in Met Opera’s active repertory for 17 years 11 and two-thirds months.

Four years passed before the Metropolitan Opera launched a new production of Otello. Elijah Moshinsky’s new staging debuted March 21, 1994, in the opera house’s 268th performance of the opera. The Australian opera director’s production received nine performances in the 1993-1994 season. Six revivals were staged intermittently in the 1999-2000, 2002-2003, 2004-2005, 2007-2008 and 2012-2013 seasons.

The final performance of Moshinsky’s production happened March 30, 2013. From debut to final performance, his production figured in Met Opera’s active repertoire for 19 years and claimed a total of 58 performances.

The Metropolitan Opera’s current staging of Otello debuted Sept. 21, 2015, in the opera house’s 326th performance of the opera. American theater director Bartlett Sher’s new production received 13 performances in the 2015-2016 season. The first revival of Sher’s staging occurred in the 2018-2019 season with an offering of seven performances.

The takeaways for Otello as Franco Zeffirelli’s fourth Met Opera production are that the Italian designer and director’s staging of Verdi’s second Shakespearean opera tallied 84 performances; experienced eight revivals; and remained for almost 18 years in the Metropolitan Opera’s regularly performed repertory.

Franco Zeffirelli’s new production of Verdi’s Otello debuted March 25, 1972, at the Metropolitan Opera, with sets designed by the director and costumes designed by Peter J. Hall; Sherill Milnes sang Iago to James McCracken’s Otello and Teresa Zylis-Gara’s Desdemona: The Metropolitan Opera @MetOpera, via Facebook June 22, 2019

Acknowledgment

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

Image credits:

Franco Zeffirelli designed the sets for Giuseppe Verdi’s Otello as the Italian designer, director and producer’s fourth Met Opera production, which debuted March 25, 1972: Fondazione Franco Zeffirelli Onlus @fondazionefrancozeffirelli, via Facebook March 25, 2019, @ https://www.facebook.com/fondazionefrancozeffirelli/photos/a.521465231522293/837165633285583/

Franco Zeffirelli’s new production of Verdi’s Otello debuted March 25, 1972, at the Metropolitan Opera, with sets designed by the director and costumes designed by Peter J. Hall; Sherill Milnes sang Iago to James McCracken’s Otello and Teresa Zylis-Gara’s Desdemona: The Metropolitan Opera @MetOpera, via Facebook June 22, 2019, @ https://www.facebook.com/MetOpera/photos/a.134969600532/10162094337365533/

For further information:

“Debut: Francesco Molinari-Pradelli.” MetOpera Database > [Met Performance] CID: 205340 Un Ballo in Maschera {92) Metropolitan Opera House: 02/7/1966.
Available @ http://archives.metoperafamily.org/archives/scripts/cgiip.exe/WService=BibSpeed/fullcit.w?xCID=205340

“Debut: Jean Fenn, James McCracken.” MetOpera Database > [Met Performance] CID: 164030 La Bohème {489) Metropolitan Opera House: 11/21/1953.
Available @ http://archives.metoperafamily.org/archives/scripts/cgiip.exe/WService=BibSpeed/fullcit.w?xCID=164030

“Debut: Karl Böhm.” MetOpera Database > [Met Performance] CID: 176010 New Production Don Giovanni {185) Metropolitan Opera House: 10/31/1957.
Available @ http://archives.metoperafamily.org/archives/scripts/cgiip.exe/WService=BibSpeed/fullcit.w?xCID=176010

“Debut: Peter J. Hall.” MetOpera Database > [Met Performance] CID: 228890 New Production Otello {184) Metropolitan Opera House: 03/25/1972.
Available @ http://archives.metoperafamily.org/archives/scripts/cgiip.exe/WService=BibSpeed/fullcit.w?xCID=228890

“Debut: Teresa Zylis-Gara.” MetOpera Database > [Met Performance] CID: 216940 Don Giovanni {275) Metropolitan Opera House: 12/17/1968.
Available @ http://archives.metoperafamily.org/archives/scripts/cgiip.exe/WService=BibSpeed/fullcit.w?xCID=216940

“Debuts: Luigi Alva, Leonard Bernstein, Franco Zeffirelli.” MetOpera Database > [Met Performance] CID: 197440 New Production Falstaff {67} Metropolitan Opera House: 03/6/1964.
Available @ http://archives.metoperafamily.org/archives/scripts/cgiip.exe/WService=BibSpeed/fullcit.w?xCID=197440

“Debuts: Montserrat Caballé, Sherrill Milnes.” MetOpera Database > [Met Performance] CID: 204850 Faust {594} Metropolitan Opera House: 12/22/1965.
Available @ http://archives.metoperafamily.org/archives/scripts/cgiip.exe/WService=BibSpeed/fullcit.w?xCID=204850

Fondazione Franco Zeffirelli Onlus @fondazionefrancozeffirelli. “Otello di Giuseppe Verdi, New York, Metropolitan Opera House, 25 marzo 1972. Bozzetto definitivo, FZ. Sabato 30 marzo, percorso guidato a cura del personale del Museo alla scoperta dei bozzetti, delle foto di scena e dei costume delle produzioni di Franco Zeffirelli ➡ https://bit.ly/2Rjeqif.” Facebook. March 25, 2019.
Available @ https://www.facebook.com/fondazionefrancozeffirelli/photos/a.521465231522293/837165633285583/

Marriner, Derdriu. "Andrea Velis Made Beppe Role Debut at Met Opera in Zeffirelli’s Cav Pag." Earth and Space News. Monday, July 6, 2020.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2020/07/andrea-velis-made-beppe-role-debut-at.html

Marriner, Derdriu. "Antony and Cleopatra Was Franco Zeffirelli’s Second Met Opera Production." Earth and Space News. Monday, June 15, 2020.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2020/06/antony-and-cleopatra-was-franco.html

Marriner, Derdriu. “Cav Pag Was Franco Zeffirelli’s Third Met Opera Production.” Earth and Space News. Monday, June 22, 2020.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2020/06/cav-pag-was-franco-zeffirellis-third.html

Marriner, Derdriu. "Franco Zeffirelli Made His Met Opera Debut in Staging Verdi’s Falstaff." Earth and Space News. Monday, June 1, 2020.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2020/06/franco-zeffirelli-made-his-met-opera.html

Marriner, Derdriu. "Grace Bumbry Made Santuzza Role Debut at Met Opera in Zeffirelli’s Cav Pag." Earth and Space News. Monday, June 29, 2020.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2020/06/grace-bumbry-made-santuzza-role-debut.html

Marriner, Derdriu. "Luigi Alva Made Met Opera Debut in Zeffirelli’s Falstaff Production." Earth and Space News. Monday, June 8, 2020.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2020/06/luigi-alva-made-met-opera-debut-in.html

Marriner, Derdriu. "Only Two of 11 Zeffirelli Productions Are Still Revived at Met Opera." Earth and Space News. Monday, May 25, 2020.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2020/05/only-two-of-11-zeffirelli-productions.html

Marriner, Derdriu. “Otello Is the Jan. 5, 2019, Met Opera Saturday Matinee Broadcast.” Earth and Space News. Monday, Dec. 31, 2018.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2018/12/otello-is-jan-5-2019-met-opera-saturday.html

The Metropolitan Opera @MetOpera. “Legendary director Franco Zeffirelli (1923–2019), who created 11 Met productions between 1964 and 1998, worked with many of opera’s greatest artists, from Leontyne Price to Leonard Bernstein to Plácido Domingo. Look back on his unparalleled career with this collection of snapshots of him at work. Photo: On the set of a new production of Verdi's Otello with Sherrill Milnes in 1972 Photo courtesy of Met Archives.” Facebook. June 22, 2019.
Available @ https://www.facebook.com/MetOpera/photos/a.134969600532/10162094337365533/

“Metropolitan Opera Premiere: Otello.” MetOpera Database > [Met Performance] CID: 10080 Metropolitan Opera Premiere Otello {1} Chicago, Illinois: 11/23/1891.
Available @ http://archives.metoperafamily.org/archives/scripts/cgiip.exe/WService=BibSpeed/fullcit.w?xCID=10080

“New Production: Otello.” MetOpera Database > [Met Performance] CID: New Production Otello {184} Metropolitan Opera House: 03/25/1972.
Available @ http://archives.metoperafamily.org/archives/scripts/cgiip.exe/WService=BibSpeed/fullcit.w?xCID=228890

“New Production: Otello.” MetOpera Database > [Met Performance] CID: 351014 New Production Otello {268} Metropolitan Opera House: 03/21/1994.
Available @ http://archives.metoperafamily.org/archives/scripts/cgiip.exe/WService=BibSpeed/fullcit.w?xCID=351014

“New Production: Otello.” MetOpera Database > [Met Performance] CID: 356006 New Production Otello {326} Metropolitan Opera House: 09/21/2015.
Available @ http://archives.metoperafamily.org/archives/scripts/cgiip.exe/WService=BibSpeed/fullcit.w?xCID=356006

“Opening Night {95}.” MetOpera Database > [Met Performance] CID: 259000 Otello {240} Metropolitan Opera House: 09/24/1979.
Available @ http://archives.metoperafamily.org/archives/scripts/cgiip.exe/WService=BibSpeed/fullcit.w?xCID=259000

“Opening Night {103}.” MetOpera Database > [Met Performance] CID: 290000 Otello {255} Metropolitan Opera House: 09/21/1987.
Available @ http://archives.metoperafamily.org/archives/scripts/cgiip.exe/WService=BibSpeed/fullcit.w?xCID=290000

“Opening Night {131}.” MetOpera Database > [Met Performance] CID: 356006 New Production Otello {326} Metropolitan Opera House: 09/21/2015.
Available @ http://archives.metoperafamily.org/archives/scripts/cgiip.exe/WService=BibSpeed/fullcit.w?xCID=356006

Plotkin, Fred. “Remembering Franco Zeffirelli (1923-2019).” WQXR > Operavore. June 17, 2019.
Available @ https://www.wqxr.org/story/remembering-franco-zeffirelli-19232019/

Ellora Hindu Cave 24 Aids Artists, Scientists Analyzing Water Features

Summary: Ellora Hindu Cave 24 in Maharashtra, India, allows artists to appreciate and scientists to analyze adjacent area natural and stormwater water features.

injured sculpture of a River Goddess in Ellura Hindu Cave 24; sketch by Scottish archaeologist James Burgess (Aug. 14, 1832-Oct. 3, 1916), Report on the Elura Cave Temples (1883), Plate XXV: via Internet Archive

Ellora Hindu Cave 24 in Maharashtra state, western peninsular India, attracts artistic and scientific environmentalists to a natural waterfall and to stormwater runoff as adjoining water features for aesthetic and analytical appreciation.

The border between the Hindu and the Jain temples bears a natural waterfall and stormwater torrents, both of whose photogenic beauty brings in tourist photoghraphers. Cascading and coursing water features contribute to the hydrological context of the Ellora Caves and confirms concerned conclusions of the World Heritage Centre (WHUC) since 1983. Stormwater discharges divulge daily downpours during the drenching monsoon (from Arabic موسم, "season") months from June through Septermber and delight tourist photographers with their downward displays.

A natural waterfall enchants artists and scientists even as it endangers exterior and interior environmental humidity at the end of Ellora Hindu Caves 13 through 29.<

Itinerant artisans under Kalachuri (from Sanskrit कलचुरि, "country chieftain") dynasts (753?-982? C.E.) fashioned Ellora Hindu Cave 24 from basalt cliffs fraught with water and weather forces.

The Ellora Buddhist, Hindu and Jain Caves gained joint WHC status with the Buddhist Ajanta Caves in the United Nations Economic, Scientific and Cultural Organizations (UNESCO). WHC documents herded under State of Conservation in 1997, 2001 and 2002 hertald rainwater heading through tree root-hastened cracks to harm Ajanta and Ellora cave temples. The natural Sita's Bath (from Marathi Sita ki Nahani) waterfall increases relative humidity in Ellora (from Sanskrit एला, "cardamom" and पुर, "town") Hindu and Jain Caves.

Sat Kund (from Sanskrit सप्त, "seven" and कुण्ड्, "leap") waterfall jumps the Ajanta (from Sanskrit अजित, "invincible") co-WHC site's relative humidity 62 miles (99.78 kilometers) northeastward.

Monsoon rains, natural waterfalls, stormwater discharges and tourist admissions more than twice the recommended maximum keep relative humidity at higher levels in Ellora Hindu Cave 24.

Artistic and non-artistic, scientific and non-scientific visitors line up to look at Ajanta cave ceiling, pillar and wall paintings despite painted surfaces flaking from relative humidity. They move in and out of 30 Buddhist Ajanta Caves and 12 Buddhist and five Jain Ellora Caves despite carved, sculpted surfaces cracked from relative humidity. Their numbers, at 100, not the WHC-recommended 40, in any one cave at any one time note no paintings in anciently carved, painted, sculpted Ellora Caves.

Relative humidity offers cave bats and invertebrates and cavern fungi optimal opportunities to obliterate painted surfaces with their decompositional orientations and with their corpses and wastes.

Ellora Hindu Cave 24, presented locally as the Oilman's Mill (from Marathi Teli ka Gana), possesses no paintings even as it preserves some, albeit small, sculptures.

Environmentally artistic and scientific tourists queue up for photogenic runoff and waterfalls, whose spray perhaps quietens personal stress even as its relative humidity quickens cave deterioration. Geologic weakness and relative humidity resulted in itinerant artisans not realizing a cave temple, whose rough, rudimentary remains resist time-, water-, weather-eroding ravages into present days. Some 100 caves still stand even as the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) shows solely the 34 least stressed hydrogeologically and most storied architecturally and artistically.

Photogenic rains, torrents and waterfalls tempt artistic tourists even as the same water features turn touring scientists toward troubleshooting relative humidity in Ellora Hindu Cave 24.

view of Ellora Hindu Cave 24; Thursday, July 7, 2011, 12:17: Abhinav pandagale, CC BY SA 3.0 Unported, via Wikimedia Commons

Acknowledgment

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

Image credits:

injured sculpture of a River Goddess in Ellura Hindu Cave 24; sketch by Scottish archaeologist James Burgess (Aug. 14, 1832-Oct. 3, 1916), Report on the Elura Cave Temples (1883), Plate XXV: via Internet Archive @ https://archive.org/details/in.gov.ignca.1544/page/n151/mode/1up

view of Ellora Hindu Cave 24; Thursday, July 7, 2011, 12:17: Abhinav pandagale, CC BY SA 3.0 Unported, via Wikimedia Commons @ https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:From_Ellora_caves_no._24.JPG

For further information:

"About Ellora Caves." Yatra > Monuments of India > Monuments in Aurangabad. Copyrighted 2019.
Available @ https://www.yatra.com/indian-monuments/aurangabad/ellora-caves

Ajay Kulkarni @kulkey2015. 8 May 2019. "Ellora Caves, 6-8th cent, India a world heritage Always a different experience to witness the symphony of art, architecture, nature brought together by Summer high contrast light. Built during early kalachuries, rashtrakutas and Buddhist period. My recent visit to cave 19." Twitter.
Available @ https://twitter.com/kulkey2015/status/1125979081911128064

Anh-Huong, Nguyen; and Thich Nhat Hanh. 2019. Walking Meditation. Boulder CO: Sounds True.

Barrett, Douglas. "Wall Painting (Second to Sixteenth Century)." Pages 17-48. In: Douglas Barrett and Basil Gray. Paintings of India. Treasures of Asia. Distributed in the United States by The World Publishing Company, Cleveland OH. Geneva, Switzerland: Editions d'Art Albert Skira, 1963.

Berkson, Carmel. Ellora Concept and Style. First Edition, 1992. Second Edition, 2004. New Delhi, India: Abhinav Publications.
Available via Google Books @ https://books.google.com/books/about/Ellora_Concept_and_Style.html?id=tH7KRNqIin4C

Burgess, Jas. (James). Report on the Elura Cave Temples and the Brahmanical and Jain Caves of Western India. The Results of the Fifth, Sixth, and Seventh Seasons' Operations of the Archaeological Survey 1877-78, 1878-79, 1879-80. Supplementary to the Volume on "The Cave Temples of India." London [UK]: Trübner & Co., 1883.
Available via Internet Archive @ https://archive.org/details/in.gov.ignca.1544/page/n5/mode/1up

Cartwright, Mark. 8 March 2016. "Ellora Caves." Ancient History Encyclopedia > Article.
Available @ https://www.ancient.eu/article/874/ellora-caves/

"Cave 19." The Ellora Caves.
Available @ https://elloracaves.org/caves.php?cmd=search&words=&image_ID=&cave_ID=19&plan_floor=1

Cook, Sharell. Updated June 3, 2019. "Ajanta and Ellora Caves Essential Travel Guide." TripSavvy > Destinations > India > Maharashtra.
Available @ https://www.tripsavvy.com/ajanta-and-ellora-caves-travel-guide-1539340

Durdin-Robertson, Lawrence. 1976. The Goddesses of India, Tibet, China and Japan. With illustrations by Anna Durdin-Robertson. Huntington Castle, Clonegal, Enniscorthy, Eire: Cesara Publications.
Available @ http://www.fellowshipofisis.com/ldr_india_tibet_china_japan.pdf

The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica. 7 March 2019. "Ellora Caves." Encyclopædia Britannica > Geography & Travel > Historical Places. Chicago IL: Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
Available @ https://www.britannica.com/place/Ellora-Caves

"Elapura, aka: Elpāra; 6 Definition(s)." Wisdom Library.
Available @ https://www.wisdomlib.org/definition/elapura

"Ellora." Exotic Journeys International > India City Details.
Available @ http://www.ejiusa.com/india_city_details/Ellora.html

"Ellora Caves." Atlas Obscura > Places > Verul, India. Copyrighted 2020.
Available @ https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/ellora-caves

"Ellora Caves." UNESCO > Culture > World Heritage Centre > The List > World Heritage List.
Available @ https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/243/

Fergusson, James; and James Burgess. 1880. The Cave Temples of India. London [United Kingdom]: W.H. Allen @ Co., Trübner & Co. E. Stanford and W. Briggs.
Available via Internet Archive @ https://archive.org/details/cavetemplesofind00ferguoft

Huntington, John C.; and Dina Bangdel. "Glossary M-Y." The Circle of Bliss: Buddhist Meditational Art.
Available @ https://huntingtonarchive.org/resources/downloads/COBGlossaryM-Y.pdf

"Interview with Shrikant Ganvir, Pune, January 2016." Sahapedia > Ellora Caves > Buddhist Caves of Ellora. Published 9 November 2016.
Available @ https://www.sahapedia.org/buddhist-caves-of-ellora

Ions, Veronica. 1967. Indian Mythology. London UK: Paul Hamlyn Limited.

Kannal, Deepak. 25 September 2017. "A Riddle Called Ellora." Sahapedia > Overview.
Available @ https://www.sahapedia.org/riddle-called-ellora

Lee, Eva. 17 February 2014. "Ellora Caves: Buddhist, Hindu, and Jain Coexistence." Eva Lee Studio.
Available @ http://www.evaleestudio.com/2014/02/12/ellora-caves-buddhist-hindu-and-jain-coexistence/

Malandra, Geri H. 1993. Unfolding a Mandala: The Buddhist Cave Temples at Ellora. Albany NY: State University of New York Press.
Available via Google Books @ https://books.google.com/books?id=MU44LPu3mbUC

Marriner, Derdriu. 3 July 2020. "Ellora Hindu Cave 23 Accepts Shiva as Fertility God and as Trimurti." Earth and Space News. Friday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2020/07/ellora-hindu-cave-23-accepts-shiva-as.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 26 June 2020. "Ellora Hindu Cave 22 Allows a Fertility Bull and a Fertility God." Earth and Space News. Friday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2020/06/ellora-hindu-cave-22-allows-fertility.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 19 June 2020. "Ellora Hindu Cave 18 Appeals to Hearth and Sacrificial Fire God Agni." Earth and Space News. Friday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2020/06/ellora-hindu-cave-18-appeals-to-hearth.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 12 June 2020. "Ellora Hindu Cave 17 Appreciates Gandharva Celestial Spirits and Shiva." Earth and Space News. Friday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2020/06/ellora-hindu-cave-17-appreciates.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 5 June 2020. "Ellora Hindu Cave 26 Perhaps Asks for Auspicious Aid to Traders." Earth and Space News. Friday.
Availabled @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2020/06/ellora-hindu-cave-26-perhaps-asks-for.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 29 May 2020. "Ellora Hindu Cave 20 Adds the Last Adventure of Buffalo Demon Mahisha." Earth and Space News. Friday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2020/05/ellora-hindu-cave-20-adds-last.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 22 May 2020. "Ellora Hindu Cave 21 Acclaims Shiva and Alludes to Jumna and Krishna." Earth and Space News. Friday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2020/05/ellora-hindu-cave-21-acclaims-shiva-and.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 15 May 2020. "Ellora Hindu Cave 29 Assumes That Parvati and Shiva Adore One Another." Earth and Space News. Friday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2020/05/ellora-hindu-cave-29-assumes-that.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 8 May 2020. "Ellora Hindu Cave 19 Appears Third Most Ancient Among Ellora Caves." Earth and Space News. Friday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2020/05/ellora-hindu-cave-19-appears-third-most.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 1 May 2020. "Ellora Hindu Cave 27 Appears Second Most Ancient Among Ellora Caves." Earth and Space News. Friday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2020/05/ellora-hindu-cave-27-appears-second.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 24 April 2020. "Ellora Hindu Cave 28 Accesses Waterfall Rainbows Over Ellora Caves." Earth and Space News. Friday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2020/04/ellora-hindu-cave-28-accesses-waterfall.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 17 April 2020. "Ellora Caves Are Arranged as Buddhist, Hindu and Jain Cave Temples." Earth and Space News. Friday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2020/04/ellora-caves-are-arranged-as-buddhist.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 10 April 2020. "Are Indian Ring-Necked Rose-Ringed Parakeets Still at Ellora Caves?" Earth and Space News. Friday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2020/04/are-indian-ring-necked-rose-ringed.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 3 April 2020. "Indian Three-Striped Palm Squirrels Augur the Hindu Ellora Caves." Earth and Space News. Friday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2020/04/indian-three-striped-palm-squirrels.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 27 March 2020. "Ellora Caves Accept Walking Meditations Advocated by Thich Nhat Hanh." Earth and Space News. Friday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2020/03/ellora-caves-accept-walking-meditations.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 20 March 2020. "Ellora Caves Ally With Ajanta Caves and Thich Nhat Hanh in Indra's Net." Earth and Space News. Friday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2020/03/ellora-caves-ally-with-ajanta-caves-and.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 13 March 2020. "Ellora Caves Are Painted, Sculpted Temples Like and Unlike Ajanta Caves." Earth and Space News. Friday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2020/03/ellora-caves-are-painted-sculpted.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 6 March 2020. "Ailing Ellora Caves Are Among Ameliorable World Heritage Centre Sites." Earth and Space News. Friday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2020/03/ailing-ellora-caves-are-among.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 28 February 2020. "Schneider's Leaf-Nosed Bats Are Artful Annihilators at Ellora Caves." Earth and Space News. Friday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2020/02/schneiders-leaf-nosed-bats-are-artful.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 21 February 2020. "Greater Indian False Vampire Bats Are Artful Assassins at Ellora Caves." Earth and Space News. Friday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2020/02/greater-indian-false-vampire-bats-are.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 14 February 2020. "Are Grey Junglefowl Avoiding Artful Areas Around Ellora Caves? Earth and Space News. Friday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2020/02/are-grey-junglefowl-avoiding-artful.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 7 February 2020. "Blue Indian Peafowl No Longer Prettify the Artistic Ellora Caves." Earth and Space News. Friday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2020/02/blue-indian-peafowl-no-longer-prettify.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 31 January 2020. "Ellora Caves Sanctuary Gardens Artfully Adjoin Ellora Caves Artistry." Earth and Space News. Friday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2020/01/ellora-caves-sanctuary-gardens-artfully.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 24 January 2020. "Ellora Caves Teak Forest Trees Anchor Ellora Caves Rain Gardens." Earth and Space News. Friday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2020/01/ellora-caves-teak-forest-trees-anchor.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 17 January 2020. "Ajanta Cave Wall Paintings and Gardens and Bhimbetka Sanctuary Gardens." Earth and Space News. Friday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2020/01/ajanta-cave-wall-paintings-and-gardens.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 10 January 2020. "Ajanta Cave Wall Paintings, Ajanta Rain Gardens, Bhimbetka Rain Gardens." Earth and Space News. Friday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2020/01/ajanta-cave-wall-paintings-ajanta-rain.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 31 May 2019. "Thich Nhat Hanh, Indra's Net at Bat Nha and Ajanta Cave Wall Paintings." Earth and Space News. Friday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2019/05/thich-nhat-hanh-indras-net-at-bat-nha.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 5 April 2019. "Thich Nhat Hanh, Tu Hieu Temple Walks and Ajanta Cave Wall Paintings." Earth and Space News. Friday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2019/04/thich-nhat-hanh-tu-hieu-temple-walks.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 29 March 2019. "Thich Nhat Hanh, Walking Meditations and Ajanta Cave Wall Paintings." Earth and Space News. Friday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2019/03/thich-nhat-hanh-walking-meditations-and.html

Narayana, Hari. 25 November 2012. "The Ellora Caves - An Introduction." India That Was: A Legacy Unfolded.
Available @ http://indiathatwas.com/2012/11/the-ellora-caves-an-introduction/

Nhat Hanh, Thich. September/October 2009. "Indra's Net." Resurgence Issue 256: Exploring Consciousness.
Available @ https://www.resurgence.org/magazine/issue256-exploring-consciousness.html

Owen, Lisa N. 2012. Carving Devotion in the Jain Caves at Ellora. Leiden, The Netherlands; and Boston MA: Brill.
Available via Google Books @ https://books.google.com/books?id=vHK2WE8xAzYC

Padhye, A.D. (Anand Dhananjay); and H.V. Ghate. March 2002. "An Overview of Amphibian Fauna of Maharashtra State." Zoos' Print Journal 17(3): 735-740.
Available online February 2002. DOI: 10.11609/JoTT.ZPJ.17.3.735-40.
Available via ResearchGate @ https://www.researchgate.net/publication/268399240_An_overview_of_amphibian_fauna_of_Maharashtra_State/link/54bde5560cf218da9391d0d8/download

Pereira, José. 1977. Monolithic Jinas: The Iconography of the Jain Temples of Ellora. Delhi, Varanasi and Patna, India: Motilal Banarsidass.
Available via Google Books @ https://books.google.com/books/about/Monolithic_Jinas.html?id=LMTgiygj4-oC

Poduval, Jayaram. 21 November 2018. "The Architecture of Ellora Caves." Sahapedia > Article.
Available @ https://www.sahapedia.org/the-architecture-of-ellora-caves

Rawson, Philip. "Eastern Art." Pages 256-299. In: David Piper. The Illustrated History of Art. London, England: Chancellor Press (Bounty Books), 2000.

Revire, Nicolas. 2011. "Some Reconsiderations of Pendant-Legged Buddha Images in the Dvāravatī Artistic Tradition." Bulletin of the Indo-Pacific Prehistory Association 31: 37-49.
Available via Academia @ https://www.academia.edu/5735422/Some_Reconsiderations_on_Pendant-Legged_Buddha_Images_in_the_Dv%C4%81ravat%C4%AB_Artistic_Tradition

Singh, Rajesh Kumar. 26 November 2019. "Obituary: Walter M. Spink (Feb 16, 1928 - Nov 24, 2019)." Caves of India > Walter Spink.
Available @ https://cavesofindia.org/2019/11/26/prof-spink/

Spink, Walter M. 1967. Ajanta to Ellora. Mumbai, India: Marg Publications.

Spink, Walter M. 1967. "Ellora's Earliest Phase." Off Print of the Bulletin of the American Academy of Benares 1: 11-22.

"Tibetan + Sanskrit Words." Madhyamaka Introduction to the Middle Way > Study.
Available @ https://madhyamaka.com/study/tibetan-sanskrit/

Skylab 3 Mission Patch Emphasized Earth, Sun and Medical Themes

Summary: The Skylab 3 mission patch emphasized Earth, sun and medical themes in its iconography and the United States flag’s red, white and blue in its colors.

Patriotic colors of red, white and blue intentionally predominate in the Skylab 3 mission patch; a communications snafu caused the designations of Skylab's three manned missions (Skylab 2, 3, 4) without inclusion of the space station's launch (Skylab 1) into the numbering scheme: Public Domain, via NASA History

The Skylab 3 mission patch emphasized Earth, sun and medical themes in its iconography and honored the red, white and blue of the United States flag in its main color scheme.

The Skylab 3 mission launched Saturday, July 28, 1973, at 11:10:50 Coordinated Universal Time (7:10 a.m. Eastern Daylight Time), as NASA’s second manned mission to Skylab, the first United States space station. The mission ended 59 days later, with splashdown Tuesday, Sept. 25, at 22:19:51 UTC (6:19 p.m. EDT) in the northeastern Pacific Ocean.

The patch’s design centered on an adaptation of a circa 1490 drawing, known as Vitruvian Man (L’Uomo Vitruviano), by Italian Renaissance polymath Leonardo da Vinci (April 15, 1452-May 2, 1519). The artistic genius used the medium of pen and ink with wash over metalpoint on paper for his famous depiction of a nude male figure.

The drawing presents the male in two superimposed positions. The superimposition yields an eight-limbed figure of four arms and four legs sharing a head and torso. A square inscribes one position, in which the figure in closed leg stance and with arms outstretched at shoulder height. A circle circumscribes the other position, in which the figure’s legs are splayed and his outstretched arms rise above his shoulders.

The Skylab 3 mission pilot, Jack Robert Lousma (born Feb. 29, 1936), explained for Richard L. “Dick” Lattimer’s 1983 spaceflight history, All We Did Was Fly to the Moon, that the Vitruvian Man represented the mission’s “medical aspects.” Lousma noted that the patch’s illustration of Vitruvian Man modified Leonardo’s original drawing for “family viewing” suitability.

Leonardo’s drawing also features blank space within the circle and the square. Contrastingly, the Skylab 3 mission patch colored the enclosed space with a solar half and an Earth half.

Red represented the solar half, with a yellow orange flare. Lousma shared that the patch’s flare outlined the shapes of flares that the mission’s scientist-pilot, Owen Kay Garriott (Nov. 22, 1930-April 15, 2019), had extensively analyzed prior to his selection in 1965 as one of NASA’s first six scientist-astronomers.

From 1961 through 1965, Garriott taught and conducted research in ionospheric physics as assistant, and then associate, professor at his alma mater, California’s Stanford University. (Solar radiation ionizes the ionosphere by negatively or positively charging the layer’s atoms and molecules. NASA places the ionosphere’s stretch from approximately 48 kilometers, or 30 miles, above Earth’s surface to “the edge of space,” at about 965 kilometers, or 600 miles.) Garriott co-authored, with Stanford University colleagues Aldo V. da Rosa, Michael J. Davis and O.G. (Oswald Garrison) Villard Jr., “Solar Flare Effects in the Ionosphere,” a study of the solar flares of Monday, May 21, and Tuesday, May 23, 1967, published in the Dec. 1, 1967, issue of JGR Journal of Geophysical Research.

The patch’s Earth half backdropped the eight-limbed figure’s left side. The North and South American continents, depicted as silvery off-white land masses shaded with blue-gray topographical stretches, interrupt the blue vastness of the Atlantic and the Pacific. The Southern Ocean possibly lies between Skylab 3 man’s two left feet.

Elena Passarello, assistant professor of English at Oregon State University, devoted a chapter to the Skylab 3 mission’s most popular experimentee, common cross spider (Araneus diadematus) Arabella, in her 2017 bestiary, Animals Strike Curious Poses. Passarello ended her tribute to Arabella with a description of the Skylab 3 mission patch’s “take on Leonardo da Vinci’s Vitruvian Man.” She saw the patch’s central figure as reaching out “with all eight of his appendages” (page 170). Perhaps the patch’s eight-limbed figure also could have suggested the eight-legged Arabella, dubbed in the chapter’s opening Reuters’ quote as “. . . in many ways . . . Skylab’s star performer” (page 158).

The Skylab 3 mission patch designated the mission as Skylab II. In Homesteading Space (2008), co-written by spaceflight historian William David Hitt (born Aug. 7, 1975) with Skylabbers Owen Garriott and Joseph Peter “Joe” Kerwin (born Feb. 19, 1932), the discrepancy is attributed to scrapped plans for designating the space station’s three manned missions as 1, 2 and 3, by excluding the space station’s orbital launch, Monday, May 14, 1973.

The takeaways for Skylab 3 mission patch’s emphasis on Earth, sun and medical themes are that the primarily tri-colored patch honored the red, white and blue colors of the United States flag; that a communications snafu accounted for the mission’s designation as Skylab II instead of Skylab 3; and that the eight-limbed Vitruvius Man could have suggested the mission's most popular experimentee, Arabella, who spun the first made-in-space web as the one of the first two spiders in space.

First two spiders in space were common cross spiders (Araneus diadematus) Arabella (left), who spun first made-in-space web, and Anita (right), second spider to form a web in space; Lee B. Summerlin, ed., Skylab, Classroom in Space (1977), page 44: Public Domain, via NASA NTRS (NASA Technical Report Server)

Acknowledgment

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

Image credits:

Patriotic colors of red, white and blue intentionally predominate in the Skylab 3 mission patch; a communications snafu caused the designations of Skylab's three manned missions (Skylab 2, 3, 4) without inclusion of the space station's launch (Skylab 1) into the numbering scheme: Public Domain, via NASA History @ https://www.history.nasa.gov/skylab_patches.html

First two spiders in space were common cross spiders (Araneus diadematus) Arabella (left), who spun first made-in-space web, and Anita (right), second spider to form a web in space; Lee B. Summerlin, ed., Skylab, Classroom in Space (1977), page 44: Public Domain, via NASA NTRS (NASA Technical Report Server) @ https://ntrs.nasa.gov/archive/nasa/casi.ntrs.nasa.gov/19770022245.pdf

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

chromedome (Jon Mendyk). “Dick Lattimer’s Obituary.” The Leatherwall Bowsite. Sept. 13, 2011.
Available @ http://leatherwall.bowsite.com/tf/lw/thread2.cfm?threadid=228443&CATEGORY=9

Dorr, Eugene. “Introduction.” Gene Dorr > Spaceflight Mission Patches > Introduction.
Available @ http://genedorr.com/patches/Intro.html

Dorr, Eugene. “Skylab.” Gene Dorr > Spaceflight Mission Patches > Introduction.
Available @ http://genedorr.com/patches/IndexSk.html

Dorr, Eugene. “Skylab Expedition 2.” Gene Dorr > Spaceflight Mission Patches > Introduction > Skylab.
Available @ http://genedorr.com/patches/Skylab/Sk03.html

Garriott, Owen K.; Aldo V. da Rosa; Michael J. Davis; and O.G. (Oswald Garrison) Villard Jr. “Solar Flare Effects in the Ionosphere.” JGR Journal of Geophysical Research, vol. 72, issue 23 (Dec. 1, 1967): 6099-6103.
Available via Wiley Online American Geophysical Union (AGU) publications @ https://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1029/JZ072i023p06099

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

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

Passarello, Elena. "Arabella (1973)." Animals Strike Curious Poses: 157-170. Louisville KY; Brooklyn NY: Sarabande Books, 2017.

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

Shayler, David J.; and Colin Burgess. NASA’s Scientist-Astronauts. Springer-Praxis Books in Space Exploration. Chichester UK: Praxis Publishing Limited, 2007.

Summerlin Lee B., ed. “Web Formation.” Skylab, Classroom in Space: 41-49. 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

Wade, Mark. “Garriott, Owen Kay.” Astronautix > Alphabetical Index > G.
Available @ http://www.astronautix.com/g/garriott.html

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

Zell, Holly, ed. “Earth’s Atmospheric Layers.” NASA > Mission Pages > Sun-Earth > Science. Jan. 22, 2013. Last updated Aug. 7, 2017.
Available @ https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/sunearth/science/atmosphere-layers2.html