13-29 December 1973: The trio observed Comet Kohoutek—discovered in March 1973—the first men to study any comet from space; Carr & Pogue conducted an E.V.A. (25 December) & Carr & Gibson conducted an E.V.A. (29 December), to photograph the comet; the crew spoke several times with Dr. Luboš Kohoutek, the namesake discoverer, including a dialogue via teleconference (28 December).
The spacewalks to observe & photograph Comet Kohoutek were a late addition to the Skylab 4 flight plan, leading to a relative shortage of training, increasing the crew's stress level. On 27 December, midway between the two successful spacewalks, Commander Jerry Carr radioed the ground asking for an assessment of his crew's performance at the midpoint of the mission & requesting a discussion of the scheduling issues & tensions that had arisen between the Skylab 4 crew & Mission Control.
Bonus! Space Race Song o' the Day: Skylab 4
Jerry Goldsmith, "First Contact" from Star Trek: First Contact (Space Cadet Mike Papa DSKY)
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