Editing Skylab (section)

=== Habitability ===
[[File:Skylab astronauts have fun.ogv|thumb|Jumping and flying in weightlessness]]

A dry workshop simplified plans for the interior of the station.<ref>{{harvp|Benson|Compton|1983|p=130}}.</ref> Industrial design firm [[Raymond Loewy]]/William Snaith recommended emphasizing habitability and comfort for the astronauts by providing a wardroom for meals and relaxation<ref>{{harvp|Benson|Compton|1983|pp=133–134}}.</ref> and a window to view Earth and space, although astronauts were dubious about the designers' focus on details such as color schemes.<ref name="ReferenceB">{{harvp|Benson|Compton|1983|p=137}}.</ref> Habitability had not previously been an area of concern when building spacecraft due to their small size and brief mission durations, but the Skylab missions would last for months.<ref>{{harvp|Benson|Compton|1983|p=133}}.</ref> NASA sent a scientist on [[Jacques Piccard]]'s ''[[Ben Franklin (PX-15)|Ben Franklin]]'' submarine in the [[Gulf Stream]] in July and August 1969 to learn how six people would live in an enclosed space for four weeks.<ref>{{harvp|Benson|Compton|1983|pp=139–140}}.</ref>

Astronauts were uninterested in watching movies on a proposed entertainment center or in playing games, but they did want books and individual music choices.<ref name="ReferenceB"/> Food was also important; early Apollo crews complained about its quality, and a NASA volunteer found it intolerable to live on the Apollo food for four days on Earth. Its taste and composition were unpleasant, in the form of cubes and squeeze tubes. [[space food#Skylab (1973–1974)|Skylab food]] significantly improved on its predecessors by prioritizing palatability over scientific needs.<ref>{{harvp|Benson|Compton|1983|pp=141–142}}.</ref>

For [[sleeping in space]], each astronaut had a private area the size of a small [[walk-in closet]], with a curtain, sleeping bag, and locker.<ref>{{harvp|Belew|1977|p=82}}.</ref> Designers also added a shower<ref>{{harvp|Benson|Compton|1983|p=139}}.</ref><ref name="harvp|Belew|1977|p=80|ps">{{harvp|Belew|1977|p=80}}.</ref> and a [[space toilet|toilet]]<ref>{{harvp|Benson|Compton|1983|pp=152–158}}.</ref><ref>{{harvp|Belew|1977|p=30}}.</ref> for comfort and to obtain precise urine and feces samples for examination on Earth.<ref>{{harvp|Benson|Compton|1983|p=165}}.</ref> The waste samples were so important that they would have been priorities in any [[#Launchers, rescue, and cancelled missions|rescue mission]].<ref name="evans20120812">{{cite web|last=Evans |first=Ben|title=Launch Minus Nine Days: The Space Rescue That Never Was |url=https://www.americaspace.com/2012/08/12/launch-minus-nine-days-the-space-rescue-that-never-was/|access-date=2020-07-09 |publisher=AmericaSpace|date=2012-08-12}}</ref>

Skylab did not have recycling systems such as the conversion of urine to drinking water; it also did not dispose of waste by dumping it into space. The S-IVB's {{convert|73280|L|sp=us}} [[liquid oxygen]] tank below the Orbital Work Shop was used to store trash and wastewater, passed through an [[airlock]].