The crew on this 59½ day flight included Alan Bean (spacecraft commander), Lousma (pilot), and Owen Garriott who acted as a science-pilot. The crew installed six replacement rate gyroscopes used for attitude control of the spacecraft and a twin-pole sunshade used for thermal control, and they repaired nine major experiment or operational equipment items. Skylab 3 accomplished all its mission goals while completing 858 revolutions of the Earth, and traveling some 24 million miles in orbit. They devoted 305-man hours to extensive solar observations from above the atmosphere, which included viewing two major solar flares and numerous smaller flares and coronal transients. Also acquired and returned to earth were 16,000 photographs and 18 miles of magnetic tape documenting earth resources observations. The crew completed 333 medical experiment performances and obtained valuable data on the effects of extended weightlessness on humans. Skylab 3 ended with a Pacific Ocean splashdown and recovery by .