[jjw1414]

Interesting take and I agree. I always thought of it as a labor-relations issue rather than a crime. However, the article states, "a single day on Skylab was worth about $22.4 million in 2017 dollars, and thus any work stoppage was considered inappropriate due to the expense". Makes the Apollo 15 scandal seem like peanuts.

[ctchocula]

It's interesting to consider how the balance of power tilts between strikers and management in a situation like that. On one hand, the astronauts cost NASA much more money and opportunity cost from lost experiment time than perhaps an ordinary strike. On the other hand, the astronauts only have limited supplies and the strike will eventually break itself.

[walrus01]

On the other hand, NASA has been known to put astronauts on a "never flies into space again" list for even the smallest indiscretion or misstep. Engaging in something the equivalent of a very brief labor stoppage can be a literal career ender. Not that any of the astronauts on Skylab couldn't walk out the door of NASA and into a new job in the aerospace industry at probably 175%+ of their former government salary.

[ChuckNorris89]

> Not that any of the astronauts on Skylab couldn't walk out the door of NASA and into a new job in the aerospace industry at probably 175%+ of their former government salary.

Curious, what are the job opportunities of ex-astronauts? I assume they're not the kind of openings to be found on linkedin.

[Merad]

I don’t know about modern astronauts, but bear in mind that at the point when the Skylab missions happened there were only about 50 astronauts total in the US. Only about half of those had actually flown in space. I have a feeling that being one of the ~25 people in the country with space flight experience was enough to open doors at basically every aerospace company, most large defense contractors, etc.

[CraftThatBlock]

The astronauts finished all the experiments ahead of schedule, even with the "strike". It seems like taking a break (accidental or not) increased their productivity afterwards