Why Did the Skylab 4 Crew Stage a Mutiny in Orbit? 

Best part of the Skylab story is that it landed in Australia and Australia billed NASA/USA for littering.

I remember reading about this "mutiny" decades ago. As I recall, not only was mission control pushing the astronauts to work unreasonably, but in his radio call informing mission control that they were taking a day off, the commander said (and Im paraphrasing) "...is all this part of the original schedule, or are things being added as we go?". It turned out later that this was true: As the experiments progressed, scientists on the ground were getting new ideas, making changes and adding extra tasks to explore while in space--and who can blame them for their excitement? And who can blame NASA for wanting to get the most results out of the billion dollars that the space program costs? But they went too far and forgot the human element, and it's a mark of the professionalism and high intelligence of the astronauts that they know when to take appropriate action...or in this case, inaction. I cannot help thinking: Come on NASA, thats why you picked those guys, remember? Because they're the ones who will deal decisively with whatever situation comes up. Thats why people in space are better than robots.

I tape-recorded all of the network coverage of these launches. What precipitated this was interesting, but you have to pay attention to see what was going on. During the TV coverage of the launch, there was an interview with Bill Schneider, who was the Program Manager for Skylab. He told the interviewer (I think it was Roy Neal) that he had told the crew to 'pace yourselves, and for God's sake, don't get yourselves sick'. He had this attitude because it was a long mission, and the last one. NBC then went to commercial. I changed the channel to (I think it was) CBS. On CBS. the lead Flight Director (Neil Hutchinson) was being interviewed. He was gushing, 'The flight controllers are an extraordinarily motivated group', then proceeded to describe how they had written a computer program that was going to schedule the crew's work day in increments of 30 seconds.

Packed schedule = understatement. 6051 hours / 84 days / 3 men = 24.1 hours work per man per 24 hour day.

It's a shame it took something like this to knock some sense into NASA about crew time management and extended duration missions. People need downtime. I don't see how anyone can be expected to work around the clock, straight through meals, for months at a time.

Case in point of one of the greatest business models I have seen.

Too bad that organizations like NASA don't understand that human efficiency does not equal constant work. The crew was right.

It's a shame that things got to the point that it had to occur, but I think it was something that had to happen, and NASA learned some very important lessons about crew and work management that has allowed them to carry on with programs like the ISS successfully.

It wasn't a mutiny. Since the commander of the mission was part of the "job action" ,it was, and forever shall be, the first strike by astronauts in world history!!! This was a basic labor sit down strike where the workers stayed on the job site but refused to work the unreasonable schedule demanded by management pukes. I, for one, appreciate and support the blow for decent working conditions that the brave crew took on that mission. And the fact that the standards and schedules for work duties were changed, meant that the oppressed workers were correct and legitimate in their complaints. All workers need ample time to relax and rest without the bosses riding on their butts to produce! Astronauts of the World Unite!! You have nothing to lose but the shackles of your toils!! And the bonds of gravity!!

Will you update this video in light of the growing consensus that no mutiny occurred?

Chris Kraft set the tone: As flight director from Mercury onwards, he set the tone for Mission Control-Astronaut relations. Kraft insisted the flight directors were the ultimate authority on a mission and even when he had moved on from being flight director and had people like Gene Krantz, Glynn Lunney and Gerry Griffin working for him, the rule was flight director dictates, astronauts follow. Kraft, for all his vision, skill and brilliance in his role could be very vindictive if crossed: Scott Carpenter falls behind on his checklist and lands off target...never gets chosen for a flight again. Apollo 7 crew complain (even though Schirra had a cold), never get chosen for a flight again and even though Kraft had become head of the Manned Spaceflight Centre by Skylab 4, that crew mutinies, they get dropped from crew rotation afterwards. Basically, no second chances with Chris Kraft, or Deke Slayton for that matter.

I remember skylab when I was a kid. I also remember the days that even while living in the inner Sydney Australia suburbs, at night I could still see the thousands upson thousands of stars............. now i'm lucky to see much at all. I was pleased when I went on a snow trip now in my 40's to relive the days when I looked up during a night in the snowy country sides to see the milky way once again. It almost brought a tear of happiness seeing the beauty that we live in.

I've read from a couple sources the Skylab 4 crew was also hampered by the two prior crews not always putting components back into storage properly.

One small work strike in space.

Solidarity for these Astronaut actions!✊🏾✊🏾✊🏾

Late April 2021....I love this channel. I can't believe how much more I've learned here in a week than I did all thru High School

NASA does not have the best record when it comes to understanding human nature. Forcing such a schedule on the SkyLab crews ignored the fact that the rest of the employees at NASA did not have that kind of workload. I think it was unfortunate that the crew never flew again. That was NASA taking it's ball and going home. But it did eventually change the way they treat crews - both on shuttle and ISS missions.

Thanks Amy! Great vlog!

This story reminds me why I've been self employed for the last 25 years.

While you state that none of them ever flew again, which is correct, it is kind of misleading. The next and last Apollo mission, Apollo 21, oops the ASTP, was still over 2 years away, and it's flight crew was already selected. After that it was the Shuttle, which kept getting pushed back and pushed back over 7 years after Skylab before it flew. The only Apollo era crew to fly in space after Skylab and ASTP were John Young, Ken Mattingly, Vance Brand, and Paul Weitz on the Shuttle. So while your statement is technically correct, it could be said for almost all of the Apollo astronauts after their last flight.