![]() On Thanksgiving Day, Gibson and Pogue accomplished a 6 1⁄ 2 hour spacewalk. Later in the mission, a second gyroscope showed similar problems, but special temperature control and load reduction procedures kept the second one operating, and no further problems occurred. The gyroscope failure was attributed to insufficient lubrication. The third acted as a backup in the event of failure of one of the others. Skylab depended upon three large gyroscopes, sized so that any two of them could provide sufficient control and maneuver Skylab as desired. Seven days into their mission, a problem developed in the Skylab gyroscopic attitude control system, which threatened to bring an early end to the mission. The schedule for the activation sequence dictated lengthy work periods with a large variety of tasks to be performed, and the crew soon found themselves tired and behind schedule. The crew's initial task of unloading and stowing the thousands of items needed for their lengthy mission also proved to be overwhelming. The crew had problems adjusting to the same workload level as their predecessors when activating the workshop. Shepard reprimanded them for this omission, saying they "had made a fairly serious error in judgement." Things got off to a bad start after the crew attempted to hide Pogue's early space sickness from flight surgeons, a fact discovered by mission controllers after downloading onboard voice recordings. Upon closer inspection, they found their companions were three dummies, complete with Skylab 4 mission emblems and name tags which had been left there by Al Bean, Jack Lousma, and Owen Garriott at the end of Skylab 3. The all-rookie astronaut crew arrived aboard Skylab to find that they had company – three figures dressed in flight suits. Solar prominence photographed Decemby the Apollo Telescope Mount Following the all rookie Mercury program, there were only four all-rookie NASA flights – Gemini 4, Gemini 7, Gemini 8, and Skylab 4. With three rookies, Skylab 4 was the largest all-rookie crew launched by NASA. The Skylab 4 mission launched from the Kennedy Space Center's LC-39B pad on November 16, 1973. ![]() The Skylab 4 mission was the first crewed launch since the area changed its name back to Cape Canaveral. The Saturn V launch facilities at LC-39A and LC-39B were still located at the Kennedy Space Center on Merritt Island. Cape Kennedy was restored to its former name of Cape Canaveral officially on October 9, 1973. NASA's launch center was located in an area called Cape Kennedy since May 15, 1964. The Skylab 4 Saturn 1B space vehicle is launched from Pad B, Launch Complex 39
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