Post-Skylab activities

The Apollo Soyuz Test Program is described. A modification of the Skylab furnace was developed for the ASTP mission that had a maximum temperature of 1200 C, a programmed cool down to give more uniform growth rates, and a He quench system to shorten the time required to reach allowable touch temperature. The Space Processing Applications Rocket (SPAR) program was initiated to provide some continuity in flight experimentation. Liquid mixing, immiscible alloy solidification, composite materials, bubbles and dispersed particles during solidification, and containerless processing techniques were studied in the SPAR program.