Astronauts on strike?

This week's question 

How did the Skylab astronauts protest to their bosses at ground control? Did they…

a) pretend the radio had broken?

b) stop shaving and grew beards?

c) fake the results of their experiments?

Listen to the programme to find out the answer. 

Vocabulary

micromanage
control every part of a situation, including small details

go on strike
refuse to continue working because of an argument with an employer, usually about working conditions or pay

tight schedule
a small amount of time to complete a job or task

bossy
always telling people what to do

twenty-four hours a day
all day and night; all the time

the way to go
the best method for doing a particular job

Transcript

Note: This is not a word-for-word transcript

Neil
Hello. This is 6 Minute English from BBC Learning English. I’m Neil.

Georgina
And I’m Georgina. Have you finished writing that report yet, Neil?

Neil
Err, not quite – it’s almost done.

Georgina
Well, finish it this morning please, then make sure you’ve planned all the studio sessions for the week and show me so I can double check, OK?

Neil
[Sigh] OK. Has this ever happened to you? Being micromanaged by someone? That’s what it’s called when your boss wants to control everything, down to the smallest detail.

Georgina
…and I notice you’ve written the report in font size 11 when I told you to use size 12!

Neil
[Sigh] If this keeps up I’m might go on strike. It wouldn’t be the first time someone has refused to continue working because of an argument with their boss.

Georgina
Hmm, maybe I’d better go easy on Neil. After all, I don’t want a repeat of what happened on the American spaceship, Skylab - the subject of this programme.

Neil
In 1973, three US astronauts on board the Skylab space station had a disagreement with mission control over their workload in an incident that has, incorrectly, been called the Skylab space ‘strike’. But before we find out more, let me ask you my quiz question – if that’s OK, boss?

Georgina
Go ahead.

Neil
Well, the Skylab astronauts felt they had been given too much work to complete during the space flight. But how did they protest to their bosses at ground control? Did they…

a) pretend the radio had broken?
b) stop shaving and grew beards?, or,
c) fake the results of their experiments?

Georgina
I guess, a) pretending the radio had broken, would show them who’s boss – although floating in space without radio contact sounds a bit dangerous to me!

Neil
OK, Georgina, we’ll find out what really happened later. Now, Skylab was planned to be the fourth – and final - crewed flight to orbit the Earth.

Georgina
For scientists it was the last chance to test out their theories in space and the Skylab crew were asked to study everything about space travel, from its effects on the human body to how spiders make webs.

Neil
Here’s one of the Skylab astronauts, Ed Gibson, telling Lucy Burns, presenter of BBC World Service programme, Witness History, how they communicated with ground control:

Ed Gibson
We got our instructions over a teleprinter. One morning we had about 60 feet of teleprinter message to cut up and divide up and understand before we even get to work.

Lucy Burns
All space missions run to a tight schedule all the way down to exercise times and meal breaks but the Skylab 4 astronauts felt their ground control team was being particularly bossy.

Ed Gibson
I don’t know if any of you have ever had to work… do something under the conditions of micromanagement – it’s bad enough for an hour, but try 24 hours a day… we’re just not constructive that way, we’re not getting things done the way we should because we couldn’t use our own judgment.

Neil
With so many experiments to carry out and a limited time in space, the Skylab crew had a tight schedule - a small amount of time to finish a job.

Georgina
Bosses at ground control sent radio messages every morning, detailing exactly their duties for that day. They sound like real micromanagers, Neil!

Neil
Absolutely! Or in other words, bossy - always telling people what to do!

Georgina
Astronaut, Ed Gibson, wanted to use his professional judgement to complete the work, not be bossed around by ground control 24 hours a day – an expression meaning, all day and night.

Neil
When one of the astronauts got sick, it was decided that they would take turns talking to ground control.

Georgina
But one day, all three of them missed the daily radio meeting and some Nasa bosses thought they’d gone on strike!

Neil
In the crisis talks that followed, both crew and ground control agreed better ways of working and communicating – and less micromanagement!

Georgina
But the newspapers had already got hold of the story, and to this day the incident is misremembered as the ‘strike’ in space.

Neil
Here’s Ed Gibson again, speaking to BBC World Service’s, Witness History, on what he learned from the experience:

Ed Gibson
We all conclude that we learned something from it – micromanagement does not work, except when you’re in a situation that demands it like a lift-off or a re-entry… and fortunately I think that’s been passed down to the space station people and they learned that that’s the way to go.

Georgina
In the end Nasa agreed that trusting people to do their jobs was the way to go – the best method for doing a particular thing.

Neil
I told you, Georgina – no-one likes being bossed around!

Georgina
Including the Skylab astronauts! But was my answer correct? About how they protested?

Neil
Ah yes, in my quiz question, I asked how the Skylab astronauts protested to their bosses. What did you say?

Georgina
I thought the astronauts, a) pretended the radio had broken.

Neil
Ah, good guess, Georgina, but actually the answer was… b) they stopped shaving and grew beards. Unless that was just another experiment?!

Georgina
Let’s recap the vocabulary, starting with micromanage – control everything, down to the smallest detail.

Neil
If you’re bossy, you’re always telling people what to do.

Georgina
But be careful, because your workers might go on strike – refuse to work.

Neil
The Skylab astronauts had a tight schedule – a small amount of time to complete their jobs. They felt their bosses were watching them twenty-four hours a day, or all the time.

Georgina
But in the end, trusting people is the way to go – the best method of doing something.

Neil
That’s all for now, but watch this space for more trending topics and useful vocabulary, here at BBC 6 Minute English.

Georgina
And if you like topical discussions and want to learn how to use the vocabulary found in headlines, why not try out our New Review podcast? Don’t forget you can also download the app for free from the app store. And remember to check us out on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

Neil
Over and out!

Georgina
Bye!