Astronauts launched save skylab

Cape Kennedy, May 23: Three American astronauts rocketed into orbit to-day on an unprecedented mission to salvage the crippled Skylab space station and make it their arbital home for a record 28 days. Riding with the all-Navy crew of Charles Conrad (Jr.), Dr. Joseph P. Kerwin and Paul J. Weitz were hoping that they can repair America’s first orbiting laboratory and save the $2,600 million project. They started the journey on the fiery power of a Saturn rocket which blasted away from its launch pedestal at 6.30 p.m. IST. It disappeared 18 seconds later in low-hanging clouds. “We’re here, Houstan. Everything’s looking good in here,” Conrad reported as the Apollo ferry ship settled 10 minutes later into an orbit ranging from about 150 to 350 kilometres above the earth. The 85-ton Skylab passed over the Cape Kennedy area just minutes before the astronauts lifted off and was about 1,450 km to the north-east at launch time. By the time they reached the orbit it was 4,000 km ahead. With mission commander Conrad at the controls, the Apollo ferry ship was to execute a series of manoeuvres over seven and a half hours to track down the target at more than 1,600 km an hour. Once there, they will examine the damage caused when a heat shield was ripped away during the launch of the laboratory 11 days ago, exposing the laboratory to the extreme heat of the sun.