MOVIE SYNOPSIS
This is the first feature film ever made about Skylab.
It's July 1979 and tons of space debris rain on the People of Western Australia.
Though burned debris will tell you much about a spacecraft, it's nothing like hearing the story directly from those intimately involved with it.
In Skylab, fiction becomes science and with science space is very unforgiving. It takes only seconds for the newly built Space Station to come close to total catastrophe. Fortunately, the ingenious NASA workforce builds and deploys the most extraordinary solutions. For the first time in human history astronauts get to live and work in space for longer than 25 days. For the first time thousands of researchers, engineers and students get their science projects investigated in Earth's orbit.
How do human bodies adapt to the hostile space conditions? How can people eat and wash or spend their free time in space? How do their loved ones remember the missions?
Can humanity as a whole benefit from exploring space and what do the most ancient cultures have to say about it? This movie allows you to experience the historical journey guided by those who were there.
Though burned debris will tell you much about a spacecraft, it's nothing like hearing the story directly from those intimately involved with it.
In Skylab, fiction becomes science and with science space is very unforgiving. It takes only seconds for the newly built Space Station to come close to total catastrophe. Fortunately, the ingenious NASA workforce builds and deploys the most extraordinary solutions. For the first time in human history astronauts get to live and work in space for longer than 25 days. For the first time thousands of researchers, engineers and students get their science projects investigated in Earth's orbit.
How do human bodies adapt to the hostile space conditions? How can people eat and wash or spend their free time in space? How do their loved ones remember the missions?
Can humanity as a whole benefit from exploring space and what do the most ancient cultures have to say about it? This movie allows you to experience the historical journey guided by those who were there.
…hover over the box to read more
Why Skylab?
Working in the shadows of legends can be challenging to the best of us and Skylab is no exception.
As a crucial element in the human space exploration Skylab remains largely forgotten,
falling in the immediate shadow of the seemingly more spectacular Apollo lunar missions.
"Searching for Skylab" pays tribute to this amazing NASA programme by sharing the best of the NASA archive material screened in over 10+ years while holding the stories remembered by astronauts, engineers and their families for all posterity in the form of an entertaining, yet historically accurate documentary.
…hover over the box to read more
THE CAST
- Joe Kerwin – Self – Skylab-2 Scientist
- Paul Weitz – Self – Skylab-2 Pilot
- Jack Lousma – Self – Skylab – 3 Pilot
- Owen Garriott – Self – Skylab-3 Scientist Pilot
- Gerald P. Carr – Self – Skylab – 4 Commander
- Ed Gibson – Self – Skylab – 4 Scientist Pilot
- Luboš Kohoutek – Self – Astronomer
- Vance Brand – Self – Skylab – R Rescue Commander
- Bruce McCandless II – Self – Skylab – 2 Backup Crew & AMRV Co-developer
- Herb Baker – Self – Son of Alyene Baker, Seamstress of the Skylab Parasol
- Sue Bean – Self – Ex-wife of Cpt. Alan Bean, SL-2 Pilot
- Jannet Butzinger – Self – Daughter of Ed Gibson,
- Mary Teresa Cohn – Self – Daughter of Jack Lousma
- James Kinzler – Self – Son of Jack Kinzler, Designer of the Skylab parasol
- Sylvia Kinzler – Self – Widow of Jack Kinzler, Designer of the Skylab parasol
- Gratia Lousma – Self – Wife of Jack Lousma
- Matthew Weitz – Self – Son of Paul Weiz
- Roy Logston – Self – Chief Test Conductor, McDonell Douglas
- Willie Weaver – Self – Skylab Engineer, Marshall Spaceflight Center
- John H. Reaves John H. Reaves – Self – Lead Crew Systems Engineer, Skylab Corollary Experiments
- Cyril Fenwick – Self – 1218 Computer Operator, Honeysuckle Creek
- Hamish Lindsay – Self – Supervisor of the Technical Support Station, Honeysuckle Creek
- Phil Maier – Self – Data & Telemetry, Honeysuckle Creek
- Glen Nagle – Self – CSIRO Astronomy and Space Science
- John Saxon – Self – Telemetry & Tracking, Honeysuckle Creek
- Phil Rutherford – Self – Telemetry & Tracking, Honeysuckle Creek
- Bernard Smith – Self – USB & DATA Section, Honeysuckle Creek Tracking Station
- Emily Carney – Self – Skylab History Expert
- Andrew Chaikin – Self – Author
- Jay Chladek – Self – Author
- Mark Pestana – Self – NORAD Orbit Analyst
- Guido Schwarz – Self – Founder of the Swiss Space Museum
- David Hitt – Self – Author
When NASA technical abbreviations are used in the film...
This PDF may help.
DOWNLOAD GLOSSARY
How Did Skylab Benefit Humanity?
Explaining exactly what Skylab brought humanity in comparison to the moon landings is like addressing how having a great family can benefit us in comparison to having a great wedding.
Hear from the astronauts and engineers themselves about the details of their work that helped each mission to become a resounding success. Skylab was far from being free of problems and controversy.
Its legacy continues on to this day and it is high time that the story of this fine vehicle inspires and gets celebrated by a new audience.
Its legacy continues on to this day and it is high time that the story of this fine vehicle inspires and gets celebrated by a new audience.
…hover over the box to read more
RESEARCHING THE SKYLAB STORY
The award-winning author of "Live TV from the Moon" - Dwight Steven-Boniecki - was surprised to hear the head of the Westinghouse Lunar TV Program, who worked on both Skylab and Apollo, frequently re-directed his talk to the achievements on Skylab. Steven-Boniecki was curious to find out why.
Skylab has rarely been mentioned by known and respected sources and didn't seem interesting enough to be worth looking at... little did he know, he was about to embark on a 10-year journey of research.
Three manned Skylab missions of 28, 59 and 84 days were recorded by NASA on film, video and audio tapes. Multiply the 171 days by 24 and you get over 4000 hours of audio material alone. Imagine now extracting the most interesting snippets and matching them to the relevant film without any reference. It's a gargantuan task for anyone. No wonder you have never seen a movie about Skylab of this calibre.
No wonder, you find relatively little new material or research done on Skylab. "Searching for Skylab" is attempting to change that now by presenting you with 10 years of research in 1.5 entertaining hours. Packed with exclusive interviews of astronauts, engineers, experts and their families, the film gives you a glimpse into one of the greatest - albeit mostly forgotten - American triumphs in space of all time!
Three manned Skylab missions of 28, 59 and 84 days were recorded by NASA on film, video and audio tapes. Multiply the 171 days by 24 and you get over 4000 hours of audio material alone. Imagine now extracting the most interesting snippets and matching them to the relevant film without any reference. It's a gargantuan task for anyone. No wonder you have never seen a movie about Skylab of this calibre.
No wonder, you find relatively little new material or research done on Skylab. "Searching for Skylab" is attempting to change that now by presenting you with 10 years of research in 1.5 entertaining hours. Packed with exclusive interviews of astronauts, engineers, experts and their families, the film gives you a glimpse into one of the greatest - albeit mostly forgotten - American triumphs in space of all time!
…hover over the box to read more