Through this painstaking work of comparing nightly photographs to see if any spots of light had changed, indicating a moving object, Kohoutek had found a new comet, still far away but approaching the Sun fast. At the time, this was a scientific sensation - by finding it this early, astronomers all over the world would have many months to observe this comet before it disappeared again. A worldwide effort began to make most of the comet’s December 1973 appearance. The engineers and astronauts preparing to launch Skylab in May, 1973 still had no idea what a famous role they would play in these observations to come.

The new comet Kohoutek excited scientists and the public all over the world. NASA quickly tried to decide how to best take this opportunity. Although the launch of a dedicated probe mission to Kohoutek was ruled out, another option remained. By postponing the launch of the third manned Skylab mission (Skylab 4) with the plan that the crew could make observations of the comet while in space. Telescopes and other instruments on Earth, onboard planes and launched with rockets would also take part in these studies. The Soviet Union’s space program decided to launch Soyuz 13 to observe the comet in December so at Kohoutek’s close approach, two manned spacecraft were looking at the comet. Astronomical information of these observations would later be shared, bypassing national and political borders such as the Iron Curtain.

Unfortunately to the eager viewing public all around the world who were excited to see Comet Kohoutek, the close 1973 pass of the comet by the sun ended up being something of a disappointment. Overly optimistic predictions of the brightness of the comet meant that it ended up not being properly visible with the naked eye. Even Dr. Kohoutek himself had no luck when he joined 200 others onboard the luxury liner Queen Elizabeth to see the comet. The weather was cloudy, and everyone got seasick. Despite the comet failing to live up to the drummed up expectation of a once in a century spectacle, scientists working with instruments that did not require visible light gathered extraordinary information that would help increase the knowledge about comets and the solar system in general.