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The '''Skylab Rescue Mission''' (also '''SL-R''')<ref name="missionreq">" [https://ntrs.nasa.gov/archive/nasa/casi.ntrs.nasa.gov/19740004370_1974004370.pdf Mission Requirements, Skylab Rescue Mission, SL-R]" NASA, 24 August 1973.</ref>{{Rp|iii}} was a backup rescue flight as part of a [[contingency plan]] for the [[Skylab]] space station.<ref name="astrorescue">Wade, Mark. "[http://www.astronautix.com/flights/skyescue.htm Skylab Rescue]". ''[[Encyclopedia Astronautica]]''. Retrieved 2009-04-10.</ref><ref name="time"/> It used a modified [[Apollo Command Module]] that could be launched with a crew of two and return a crew of five.<ref name="missionreq"/>{{Rp|1-1}}<ref name="astrorescuecm"/>
==History==
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After [[Skylab 3]] was launched, the crew's CSM developed a problem with two of its [[Reaction Control System]] thruster quads. They were leaking fuel, one failing before the CSM docked with the station and another on August 2, six days later. The malfunctions only left two available quads, and while the spacecraft could operate with just one, the leaks posed a possible risk to other systems.<ref name=shayler2001>{{cite book|last=Shayler|first=David J.|title=Skylab: America's Space Station|year=2001|publisher=Springer|location=Berlin|isbn=1-85233-407-X|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=X4WaYqQDVKwC&lpg=PA211&dq=don%20lind%20skylab&pg=PA208#v=onepage&q=don%20lind%20skylab&f=false}}</ref>{{rp|208}}
NASA first considered bringing the crew home immediately.<ref name="time"/> However, because the astronauts were safe on the station with ample supplies and because plans for a rescue flight existed,{{r|shayler2001}}{{rp|209}} the mission continued while the [[Saturn IB]] rocket AS 208 with CSM 119<ref name="astrorescuecm">Wade, Mark. "[http://www.astronautix.com/craft/apouecsm.htm Apollo Rescue CSM]". ''Encyclopedia Astronautica''. Retrieved April 10, 2009.</ref> was assembled in the [[Vehicle Assembly Building]] at [[Kennedy Space Center Launch Complex 39|Launch Complex 39]] for possible use. It was at one point rolled out to LC-39B.
NASA announced on August 4, 1973 that [[Skylab 3]] and [[Skylab 4]] backup crewmen [[Vance Brand]] and [[Don Lind]] would fly any rescue mission; they had immediately begun training for the flight once the second quad had failed on August 2. After engineers found that the leaks would not disable the spacecraft, the two men used simulators to test reentry using two quads. If ground personnel worked 24 hours a day and skipped some tests, the mission could launch on September 10,<ref name="time">"[http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,907680-1,00.html Skylab's New Crisis: A Rescue Mission?]" ''[[Time (magazine)|TIME]]'', August 13, 1973. Retrieved April 10, 2009.</ref><ref name="livingandworking">Benson, Charles Dunlap and William David Compton. ''[https://history.nasa.gov/SP-4208/contents.htm Living and Working in Space: A History of Skylab]''. NASA publication SP-4208.</ref>{{Rp|299}} and would last no more than five days.<ref name="missionreq"/>{{Rp|2–6}}{{r|shayler2001}}{{rp|208–209}} The astronauts would attempt to prepare Skylab for further use but returning experimental data and diagnosing the cause of the problem were more important,<ref name="missionreq"/>{{Rp|2-1}} with Lind choosing what would be brought back.{{r|shayler2001}}{{rp|211}}<ref name="lindoh">[http://www.jsc.nasa.gov/history/oral_histories/LindDL/linddl.pdf Don L. Lind oral history transcript], NASA Johnson Space Center Oral History Project, May 27, 2005.</ref> Although Skylab had two docking ports the primary one would be used if possible, jettisoning the Skylab crew's CSM if necessary.<ref name="missionreq"/>{{Rp|2-2,3,8}}
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