The Skylab 4 mutiny, 1973

Class war in space - The Skylab 4 mutiny

Skylab 4 was the fourth Skylab mission and placed the third crew on board, consisting of Gerald Carr, commander, Edward Gibson, science pilot and William Pogue, pilot (pictured below in this order left-right). It was each crew member's first space flight, departing on 16th November 1973. During the mission a total of 6,051 astronaut-utilization hours were tallied performing scientific experiments in the areas of medical activities, solar observations, Earth resources, observation of the Comet Kohoutek and other experiments.

However, the all-rookie astronaut crew had problems adjusting to the same workload level as their predecessors when activating the workshop. One of their first tasks was to unload and stow within Skylab thousands of items needed for their lengthy mission. The schedule for the activation sequence dictated lengthy work periods with a large variety of tasks to be performed. The crew soon found themselves tired and behind schedule.

As the activation of Skylab progressed, the astronauts complained of being pushed too hard. Ground crews disagreed; they felt that the astronauts were not working long enough or hard enough, and insisted the crew work through their meal times as well as their rest days to catch up.

Crewman Pogue explained his frustration with the scheduling of their workload:

You have to put away equipment, you have to debrief, and then you have to move from one position to another, and you have to look and see what's coming up, and we're just being driven to the wall!… There's not enough consideration given for moving from one point in the spacecraft to another and allowing for transition from one experiment to another… When we oppressed bodily from one point in the spacecraft to another with no time for mental preparation, let alone getting the experiment ready, there's no way we can do a professional job! Now, I don't like being put in an incredible position where I'm taking somebody's expensive equipment and thrashing about wildly with it and trying to act like a one-armed paper hanger trying to get started in insufficient time!

Commander Carr tried to reason with mission control, stating that "on the ground, I don't think we would be expected to work a 16-hour day for 85 days, and so I really don't see why we should even try to do it up here."

Six weeks into the mission, this culminated in the crew announcing an unscheduled day off on December 28th, mutinying by turning off the communications radio while getting some rest.

They reportedly spent their day off relaxing and taking in the panoramic views of Earth from orbit.

Carr then communicated the group's demands: "We need more time to rest. We need a schedule that is not so packed. We don’t want to exercise after a meal. We need to get things under control.’

Eventually, mission control agreed to compromise. Their workload was reduced, schedules altered and the crew given more control over planning.

Pogue recounted that the last six weeks after this were much more enjoyable, allowing them free time for “studying the Sun, the Earth below, and ourselves.”

Initially ground crews attributed the astronauts' complaining to possible lethargy or depression. But the New York Times reported that Pogue said this was incorrect:

He and the others just wanted more time to look out the window and think. The flight had made him “much more inclined toward humanistic feeling toward other people, other crewmen,” he told Science News in 1985. “I try to put myself into the human situation, instead of trying to operate like a machine.”

After they returned, NASA became vindictive, and ensured that none of the crew flew again.

Sources

• Challenges of human space exploration - Marsha Freeman
• New York Times, March 10, 2014 - retrieved on 08/11/2014
• On strike in outer space -Samir Chopra