Word: conrad
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...sunlight glinted off the object looming larger in the command module window, and Astronaut Charles ("Pete") Conrad Jr.'s exuberant voice came crackling across space: "Tallyho! Skylab!" As he maneuvered the Apollo spaceship closer to the windmill-shaped orbiting laboratory, Conrad gave crewmates Joseph Kerwin and Paul Weitz-and millions watching their TV screens on earth-a closeup look at the damaged Skylab...
...Conrad was able to confirm what the telemetry had suggested. But after surveying the jammed solar panel and the remnants of the meteoroid shield, the skipper was reassured. "I think we can take care of it," he told relieved flight controllers in Houston. Several hours later, it appeared that NASA'S ingenious salvage operation-and indeed the entire $2.5 billion Skylab mission-might end in failure...
...Conrad's optimistic appraisal, following the flawless launch of the Skylab astronauts and their successful rendezvous with the space lab, had raised high hopes that the trouble-plagued ship could be put back in order. Thus, after Apollo docked with the orbiting laboratory and the astronauts had dinner, word was flashed to Conrad to begin the first phase of the repair operation...
...Conrad undocked and maneuvered Apollo to Skylab. Wearing a bulky space suit, Weitz leaned out of Apollo's hatch (while Kerwin held onto his knee to keep him from drifting out into space) and attempted to pull the jammed panel loose with a long-handled tool resembling a boat hook. The panel would not budge. After an hour of pushing, shoving and tugging-interspersed with streams of obscenities clearly audible to millions-the task seemed hopeless. "I hate to say it," said the exasperated Weitz, "but we ain't going to do it with the tools...
...Tries. Attaching the sunshade will be even more difficult. In the first option open to the astronauts, Conrad (who practiced the delicate maneuver on simulators in Houston) will edge the command ship alongside Skylab (see diagram). As he does this, Kerwin or Weitz will lean out of the hatch and attach three newly designed clamps to the ship-two near Skylab's base, one on the telescope mount. The clamps will be used to anchor lines running to the trapezoid-shaped covering. As the lines are tightened, the shade will be pulled into its proper position like the spinnaker...