Attempt to revive Skylab station

Press, 8 March 1978, Page 8

Attempt to revive Skylab station

NZPA Washington A radio signal from Earth yesterday briefly revived the giant Skylab station, but the •results of the tests were inconclusive and more will be made today. The 85-ton Skylab had been dormant since astronauts left it in orbit more than four years ago. From a tracking station in Bermuda, National Aeronautics and Space Administration flight controllers are trying to determine if astronauts again can inhabit Skylab, the largest man-made object orbiting the Earth. Engineers also want to know if they can control the craft to avoid uncontrolled re-entry into the Earth’s i atmosphere over a populated •area.

As Skylab passed 354 km above Bermuda late yesterday the controller sent a signal to activate batteries in the station’s airlock module. Dr Herman Thomason, team leader, reported the sporadic data probably resulted from a slight rolling motion by the station. He said the loss of telemetrydata was caused by a faulty power converter. Data was transmitted, but for two minutes, but though signals were received in three separate bursts later on no more data arrived. If the tests in the next two days prove that Skylab is still workable, N.A.S.A. plans to perform technical manoeuvres in mid-April that could add some months to the space station’s orbital life. The agency predicts that if nothing is done, Skylab will fall out of orbit between early summer 1979 and the second quarter of 1980. There is concern that the ship is so big it might notburn up in atmospheric friction. and that large chunks could land in populated areas. .