Wreath for Bill Pogue Memorial

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. – Former NASA astronaut Edward G. Gibson, Ph.D., remarks on his friendship with former NASA astronaut William R. Pogue during a wreath laying ceremony at the United States Astronaut Hall of Fame at the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex. Col. Pogue, pilot on NASA's Skylab 4 mission in 1973-74, died March 3. 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 Gibson. They conducted dozens of experiments and science demonstrations during their 1,214 orbits of Earth. Pogue logged 13 hours and 31 minutes in two spacewalks outside the orbital workshop. For more information, visit http://www.nasa.gov/content/skylab-4-pilot-william-pogue-dies. Photo credit: NASA/Kim Shiflett