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It's August 1973 at the Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas.

A pair of astronauts named Vance Brand and Don Linde sit inside a command module simulator

in full spacesuits.

One works a pair of joystick-like hand controllers, as Linde flips a series of switches.

Then, Linde radios to an engineering team outside the simulator.

RCS thrusters are at 100%.

How much fuel do we have left?

You've got about seven minutes.

Is that enough for a full retro burn?

That's affirmative.

The simulation they're running is a reentry into the Earth's atmosphere from space, but

there's a twist.

In this simulation, their module has lost two of the thrusters it would normally use

for what's called a retro burn.

A reverse thrust used to slow the module down so it comes out of orbit.

To compensate for the missing thrusters, they're using a smaller set that were only designed

to help steer the module, not slow it down.

At stake in the simulation are the fates of three astronauts aboard Skylab, America's

first space station.

Two thrusters on their command module have failed, leaving them potentially stranded.

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