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National Geographic : 1974 Oct
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Serving of fresh film rides a sliding boom toward the telescopes, where Garriott waits to reload the instruments. The once-a -month chore reaped a harvest of 163,000 sun portraits from the three missions that promises to revolutionize solar science. Sheeley of the Naval Research Laboratory, speaking for all the astronomers. Doctors monitoring the crew's health find another phenomenon: Forty days into the flight, the gradual change in the astronauts' physiological responses appears halted. If they have truly reached a plateau, they may have established man's capability for flights of almost indefinite duration. A few days later NASA's Dr. Royce Hawkins confirms that "the trend has definitely flattened out." Unexpected Voice Calls From Skylab Yet another surprise occurs. "This is Helen in Skylab," says a female voice from space. "The boys hadn't had a home-cooked meal in so long, I thought I'd just bring one up." Only after the trip will Garriott explain: He taped his wife's words before the flight, then played them back to earth. After 59 days in orbit, the crew temporarily shuts down the lab again and enters the space capsule. Bean undocks, and to safeguard the sunshade from thruster exhaust, he forgoes the fly-around inspection of the lab. Follow ing special reentry instructions from the ground, he guides the ship home. The capsule splashes down off San Diego on September 25, only nine seconds and 2.8 miles off target. Aboard the recovery ship U.S.S. New Or leans doctors find that "in some tests the men look better than the first Skylab crew," an improvement attributed to their exercise. Their achievements exceed all expectations. Instead of the scheduled 26 earth surveys, the astronauts have completed 39. Instead of the National Geographic, October 1974 462
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