The Skylab Project

America's first experimental space station was Skylab. It was designed to last for long periods of time in space. It measured 86ft x 55ft x 24ft.and was used to prove to mankind that humans could work and live in space. The program was also used to find out more about the solar system and beyond what earth's observations into space. The problems with the Skylab were some early technical difficulties.

The Skylab

Skylab was launched on May 13, 1973. It was launched into earth's orbit by a third stage Saturn V Rocket. Crews visited the Skylab and returned to earth in the Apollo Spacecrafts. Three crews of three men occupied the Skylab for a total of one hundred and seventy-one days and thirteen hours. Over three hundred (300) science and technical experiments would be conducted on Skylab. Some of these experiments included: effects of zero gravity on humans, solar experiments and earth resources experiments. Another aircraft was always observing the spacecraft ready to rescue the crew in an emergency. The empty spacecraft returned to earth on July 11, 1979. The spacecraft scattered all type of parts all over the western hemisphere and Australia.

The Skylab program objectives were twofold: To prove that humans could live and work in space for extended periods, and to expand our knowledge of solar astronomy well beyond Earth-based observations. The program was successful in all respects despite early mechanical difficulties.