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Walk-around of the S-IVB's thrust structure.

Picture 1 of 5.

The actual Skylab did not have an exposed thrust structure or engine-related equipment installed. Rather, the aft end of the S-IVB serving as the Orbital Workshop had a radiator and a fairing covering nitrogen spheres for the Thruster Attitude Control System (TACS).

This is one of the earliest photos (2002) I took of the Skylab mockup. Note the LH2 chilldown pump line line near the top of the photo (coming from inside the aft skirt) and the LOX and LH2 ducts on either side of the gimbal bearing mount at center of the aft end of the thrust structure. Prior to Barack Obama cancelling the Constellation Program, MSFC engineers removed some components from this S-IVB stage for study. These appear to have been among the components removed, as my next photos (from 2006) show that these components had been removed.