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Even while the push to get human beings to the moon was still underway, a second
phase of the space program was being planned. Skylab was the first American
space station. It had two primary objectives: to prove that humans could live
and work in space for extended periods of time and to conduct extensive
observations of the sun and Earth.
Skylab was actually the third stage of a Saturn V rocket. Instead of carrying
fuel, however, the rocket stage was outfitted for use as an experimental outpost
in space. The Apollo spacecraft was used to ferry
astronauts to and from the station.
There were technically four Skylab missions. The first mission was the launch
of the station and was not manned. Launch occurred on May 14, 1973. Just over  one
minute into the flight, the meteoroid shield deployed causing it to be torn from
the spacecraft. The deployment of the shield damaged one of the solar array
mounts and caused the array to be torn from its mount. Despite the technical
problems, Skylab made it successfully into orbit. Ground personnel worked for
ten days to find solutions to the problems created during ascent. After
designing solutions, the first crew to inhabit the station completed repairs
that allowed Skylab to complete its objectives.
Charles Conrad, Paul J. Weitz and Joseph Kerwin were aboard Skylab from May
25, 1973 to June 22, 1973. Their time in space was a record for Americans. They
worked to restore the primary systems to near full capacity so that future crews
would be able to conduct their missions.
Each of the succeeding missions broke the endurance record of the one before.
Alan L. Bean, Jack R. Lousma, and Owen Garriott stayed in space for 59 days.
Gerald P. Carr, William R. Pogue and Edward Gibson broke the Skylab 3 record in
the final Skylab (4) mission that lasted for 84 days. That record would stand
for Americans until Norm Thagard flew aboard Mir in 1995.
When the Skylab 4 crew splashed down on February 8, 1974, mission control
conducted a few more experiments from the ground and then shut the station down.
It was expected to remain in a safe orbit for at least ten years. Unexpected
atmospheric drag, however, caused Skylab to fall to Earth much sooner than
expected. On July 11, 1979 Skylab reentered the Earth’s atmosphere and much of
it burned. Some of the debris did fall in the Indian Ocean and on sparsely
inhabited parts of Australia.
Only one mission remained for the Apollo program after the Skylab program
ended. The Apollo-Soyuz docking would signify the end
of an era.
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