March 5, 2014

Image Caption: Pogue relaxes on the running board of the transfer van during a visit to the Skylab 4/Saturn 1B space vehicle at Pad B, Launch Complex 39, Kennedy Space Center, Florida. Credit: NASA

NASA

William Pogue, pilot on NASAs Skylab 4 mission in 1973-74, has died. He was 84 years old.

Skylab 4 was the third and final manned visit to the Skylab orbital workshop, launched Nov. 16, 1973, and concluded Feb. 8, 1974. At 84 days, 1 hour and 15 minutes, Skylab 4 was the longest manned space flight to that date.

Pogue was accompanied on the record setting 34.5-million-mile flight by Commander Gerald P. Carr and science-pilot Dr. Edward G. Gibson. They conducted dozens of experiments and science demonstrations during their 1,214 orbits of Earth, including extensive observations of the home planet as well as the suns solar processes. Pogue logged 13 hours and 31 minutes in two spacewalks outside the orbital workshop.

Pogue described the excitement of launch in a 2000 interview as part of Johnson Space Centers Oral History project.

I didnt think we were going to launch. You know, wed had so many problems. I was sitting there, and finally when we were at thirty seconds, I thought, well, maybe. Its a lot of noise.

Pogue said he thought he was pretty cool on liftoff, but a NASA doctor later told him his pulse jumped from 50 to 120. It was pretty exciting, he said.

Pogue was born Jan. 23, 1930, in Okemah, Okla. After graduating from Oklahoma Baptist University in 1951, Pogue enlisted in the Air Force, where he went on to fly combat missions in Korea. From 1955 to 1957, he was a member of the USAF Thunderbirds, the Air Forces elite flying team. Pogue eventually logged over 7,200 hours flying time in more than 50 types of aircraft, including more than 2,000 hours logged in space flight.

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Skylab 4 Mission Pilot William Pogue Has Died