Andrew Gray writes:

Anecdotally, the first Skylab crew were told that thanks to the fact
they were using a S-V launch, weight restrictions were flexible; there
would be an allocation of a couple of hundred pounds for entertainment
items and the like, and did they have any suggestions?

They were shortly asked for any *other* suggestions...

My recollection is one of the crews did that anyway -- that is,
they had one of the astronaut's wives record a few lines of conversation
such as, ``Oh, we were just observing the fires in California,'' ``I've
just been trying to keep out of the way'' and ``Now I've got to run, the
boys are coming back'' and played a fairly coherent conversation to a
baffled Mission Control.

(They recorded several possible ``observing natural events''
openers, on the assumption that *sometime* during the flight there'd be
fires in California or a hurricane in the Gulf of Mexico or so.)

Unfortunately I don't find a reference offhand ... but it is one
of the greater space pranks played.

--
Joseph Nebus
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