Word: shield
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...them up to join Skylab last week. After nearly five revolutions around the earth, Astronauts Charles ("Pete") Conrad Jr., Joseph Kerwin and Paul Weitz will rendezvous with the space laboratory, examine it and attempt two essential repairs: 1) replacing the lost section of Skylab's meteoroid and heat shield with a huge sunshade in an effort to lower the ship's scorching internal temperatures; 2) extending the vital, electricity-producing solar wing apparently jammed by the shield as it ripped away. If the astronauts succeed with these improbable assignments performed outside their craft some 270 miles above...
...high hopes for saving Skylab contrasted sharply with the earlier gloom that settled over the space community. Barely a minute after Skylab's launch atop a surplus Saturn 5 moon rocket, tiny sensors on the arms of the shield alerted flight controllers to serious problems. Apparently unable to withstand the intense vibrations after liftoff, some and possibly all of the thin shielding around Skylab's Orbital Workshop section suddenly ripped free. As it tore away, it apparently caused one of the twin solar wings on the Orbital Workshop to extend prematurely...
Fierce Heat. The worst was still to come. Without the shield, temperatures inside the Orbital Workshop-site of the crew quarters-soared dramatically, climbing to 130° F. and higher. The fierce heat endangered the foodstores, especially the new gravy-rich dishes of which NASA is so proud. It may well have fogged sensitive film and ruined medical supplies. There was also danger that the extreme heat would begin to decompose the Styrofoam insulation in the spacecraft's walls, producing potentially lethal gases inside the workshop. Finally, as the temperature of the unprotected aluminum "bald spot" on Skylab...
...extent of the damage became clear, there were angry recriminations within NASA. Officials feared that the monumental goof would goad Congress into cutting off funds for manned space flight. TIME Correspondent John Wilhelm subsequently learned that the troublesome shield was new and untried, and had repeatedly caused problems during its development. Parts had failed at least four different tests. The shield was apparently plagued by an extreme flutter when subjected to the stresses of launch. Though aware of the shield's shortcomings, NASA decided to use it anyway, mainly to save a few million dollars in additional development costs...
Others suggested inflating a balloon to shade the craft, or spray painting the affected area. Eventually, NASA seemed to be settling on a different solution: the astronauts would try to shield Skylab with a tissue-thin, aluminized sail-like sheet of Mylar, a plastic film...