The end of the year calls for a Skylab party, and enjoying food at the dinner table with good friends! From Dec. 28, 1973: “The three members of the Skylab 4 crew confer via television communication with Dr. Lubos Kohoutek, discoverer of the Comet Kohoutek. This picture of the three astronauts was reproduced from a TV transmission made by a TV camera aboard the space station in Earth orbit. They are, left to right, Gerald P. Carr, commander; Edward G. Gibson, science pilot; and William R. Pogue, pilot. They are seated in the crew quarters wardroom of the Orbital Workshop.” NASA image.

As 2016 winds down, I’d like to thank everyone who read this blog and other articles I’ve written throughout the last year. Here is a short list of some of the most popular things I’ve written during 2016, if you’d like to revisit those pieces:

• “Space Myths Busted: No, There Wasn’t A Mutiny on Skylab”: This was a fun piece to write, and I hope it set some minds at ease concerning Skylab 4’s (very successful) mission. 
• “Space Myths Busted: Gus Grissom Didn’t Blow The Hatch on Liberty Bell 7”: Another piece that set out to debunk some myths still perpetrated in cinema/literature/on the Internet, etc. 
• “Space Pop Culture Moment: Landing on the Moon at the Arcade”: A smaller post that was surprisingly popular, about how the Apollo lunar missions influenced video gaming culture. Enjoy!
• “Orion, SLS Development Continues to Take Shape for Inaugural Late 2018 Launch” (AmericaSpace.com, external link): I was privileged to write some news pieces for AmericaSpace.com this year; here is one from September concerning the development of America’s next launch system and crew vehicle. 
• “Car Crashes, Cursing, and Carousing – The Story of the Second Soviet in Space” (Ars Technica, external link): A VERY fun piece to write about the career and life of Gherman Titov, the second Soviet to orbit the Earth. Was going for a sort of The Right Stuff vibe with this one. 

I’ve taken a bit of a break over the last couple of months (I was so busy, and needed to devote time to personal stuff, no biggie), but I am looking forward to devoting my time to new projects in 2017. I was delighted to be asked to moderate the Skylab/ASTP panel at Spacefest VIII in June 2017, so I am really looking forward to that!

Stay tuned, and I wish you all a great New Year!

Emily Carney is a writer, space enthusiast, and creator of the This Space Available space blog, published since 2010. In January 2019, Emily’s This Space Available blog was incorporated into the National Space Society’s blog. The content of Emily’s blog can be accessed via the This Space Available blog category.

Note: The views expressed in This Space Available are those of the author and should not be considered as representing the positions or views of the National Space Society.