+ 1970 News Releases (7.6 Mb PDF file) - NASA

N,-,TIONAL AERONAUTICS AND SPACE ADMINISTRATION
MANNEDSPACECRA
CENT
Houston
11,Texas
483-5111 RELEASED BY NASA May 15, 1970
MSC 70-49
HOUSTON_ TE_ZAS---Saturn IB and Saturn V launches scheduled for
the 19T2-73 Skylab Program will be from Laumch Complex 39, Kennedy
Space Center, Fla.
The decision to conduct Saturn IB launches at Launch Complex 39,
rather than Complex 34, Cape Kennedy, was reached after a comprehensive
study of the capabilities and costs of both locations, Skylab Program
officials sa%d.
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration's Skylab Program
calls for the launch of a Saturn V third stage configured as an
experimental space station. Three astronauts in an Apollo spacecraft
will be launched aboard a Saturn IB about 24 hours later to rendezvous
with the space station and spend up to 28 days in orbit.
_o more manned flights to Skylab are planned for approximate
three-month intervals thereafter. Both of these missions could last
up to 56 days.
Initial plans called for the Saturn IB launches to take place at
Complex 34, a part of the U.S. Air Force Eastern Test Range used by
both NASA and the Department of Defense.
William C. Schneider, Skylab Program Director_ said the decision
to move the Saturn IB launch site to Complex 39 was made to take
advantage of the more modern facilities at the site and to save money
by consolidating manpower and spacecraft support and oheckout equipment
requirements and to reduce transportation costs.
Advantages include operating inside the Vehicle Assembly Building
with its controlled environment as compared with preparation at Laanch
Complex 34 which is exposed to the weather.
-more-