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A spider named Arabella spins a web aboard a crippled Skylab while engineers race to prove a half-disabled Apollo can bring three men home.
The Spider's Web Held the Clock That Saved Skylab
In this episode, we follow the sequence of events aboard Skylab in 1973: a damaged station, a cramped crew, a student experiment, and a failing return vehicle. What choices and calculations did NASA make while a spider kept weaving above Earth?
Person: Arabella
Event: Skylab second crew mission
Date: 1973
Location: Skylab, 435 kilometers above Earth
- Arabella and another garden spider, Anita, were part of a student-proposed experiment to test orb-weaving without gravity.
- Skylab launched unmanned on May 14, 1973; a micrometeorite and debris shield tore away 73 seconds after launch, costing one solar panel and jamming another.
- The first crew deployed an improvised parasol sunshade through an airlock to lower internal temperatures and stabilize power.
- Commander Alan Bean, Owen Garriott, and Jack Lousma launched July 28, 1973 for a planned 59-day mission that included solar physics and medical experiments.
- During docking and the first six days, two of four thruster quads on the Apollo command module developed propellant leaks, forcing engineers to compute whether reentry with only two quads was survivable.
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© 2026 Created by an independent creator of the OBOMEDIA Network. All rights reserved.
This episode and its content (audio, text, and related materials) are the property of their respective creator, who is solely responsible for them, and are distributed by the OBOMEDIA Network on platforms such as Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music, and Pocket Casts. Reproduction, distribution, editing, or commercial use, in whole or in part, without the creator's prior written permission is prohibited. For permissions, licensing, and business inquiries: [email protected].
The Spider's Web Held the Clock That Saved Skylab
In this episode, we follow the sequence of events aboard Skylab in 1973: a damaged station, a cramped crew, a student experiment, and a failing return vehicle. What choices and calculations did NASA make while a spider kept weaving above Earth?
Person: Arabella
Event: Skylab second crew mission
Date: 1973
Location: Skylab, 435 kilometers above Earth
- Arabella and another garden spider, Anita, were part of a student-proposed experiment to test orb-weaving without gravity.
- Skylab launched unmanned on May 14, 1973; a micrometeorite and debris shield tore away 73 seconds after launch, costing one solar panel and jamming another.
- The first crew deployed an improvised parasol sunshade through an airlock to lower internal temperatures and stabilize power.
- Commander Alan Bean, Owen Garriott, and Jack Lousma launched July 28, 1973 for a planned 59-day mission that included solar physics and medical experiments.
- During docking and the first six days, two of four thruster quads on the Apollo command module developed propellant leaks, forcing engineers to compute whether reentry with only two quads was survivable.
Tired of ads? Listen to this podcast and 200+ more ad-free on OBOMEDIA.
Try it free for 7 days, cancel anytime: https://obomedia.com/en/gratis?ref=desc-7290100
© 2026 Created by an independent creator of the OBOMEDIA Network. All rights reserved.
This episode and its content (audio, text, and related materials) are the property of their respective creator, who is solely responsible for them, and are distributed by the OBOMEDIA Network on platforms such as Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music, and Pocket Casts. Reproduction, distribution, editing, or commercial use, in whole or in part, without the creator's prior written permission is prohibited. For permissions, licensing, and business inquiries: [email protected].
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