SKYLAB (SL)-4 - POST-FLIGHT (WASHINGTON, D.C.)

S74-34046 (October 1974) --- Dr. James C. Fletcher, left, NASA Administrator, explains the formation of the indium-antimonide crystal, manufactured in space, to President Gerald R. Ford at the White House. Standing at right is Harold Johnson, Chairman of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. The segment of indium-antimonide is cut from a cylindrical single crystal that was partially melted and resolidified aboard the Skylab space station on Jan. 6, 1974, during the third and final manned flight. This segment is approximately one by one centimeters and about three millimeters thick. The sequence of heating and cooling was started and supervised by the members of the third Skylab crew, astronauts Gerald P. Carr, Edward G. Gibson and William R. Pogue. The crystal forming was accomplished in a special multipurpose furnace, known as the Materials Processing Facility (Skylab Technology Experiment M512). Photo credit: NASA