Skylab

The first US space-station project, called Skylab, was very much a makeshift affair. It used bits of Apollo hardware, left-over when the number of Moon landings was reduced. The main unit was the third stage of a Saturn rocket, to which other units were attached.

The completed "sky laboratory" was lifted into orbit on 14 May 1973 by a Saturn V rocket. Three teams of three astronauts visited the space station over the next nine months for periods of 28, 59 and 84 days respectively, travelling in Apollo spacecraft. They smashed all space duration records and proved that human beings could make their homes in space for long periods.

The third rocket stage formed the unit called the orbital workshop (OWS). The main living and working accommodation for the crew occupied the empty liquid hydrogen tank of the rocket. The smaller empty liquid oxygen tank provided storage space for waste. The upper part of the OWS led, through the airlock module, to the multiple docking adapter (MDA). This was a unit equipped with ports at which the Apollo spacecraft could dock.

Power for Skylab was provided by panels of solar cells on the OWS and on a sail-like structure mounted on the MDA. This structure, which also housed a package of instruments for studying the Sun, was called the Apollo telescope mount. There should have been two solar panels on the OWS, but one was ripped off during launch. A section of insulation was also ripped off the OWS and had to be repaired by the first team of astronauts. The astronauts had a heavy work load, carrying out all manner of observations and experiments. Their observation of the Sun produced the most spectacular results. They also carried out Earth-survey observations at different wavelengths, demonstrating the great potential of such remote sensing. In engineering, they experimented with melting and crystallizing materials to produce new compounds. All the while they used themselves as guinea pigs for space medicine experiments, to monitor how their bodies reacted to long periods of weightlessness. To help combat muscle wastage, they exercised on a bicycle ergonometer.

	Skylab as it finally appeared in orbit, photographed by the departing third crew in February 1974 after a record-breaking 84 days in space. The picture shows the makeshift sunshields that the astronauts erected over the damaged orbital workshop.
	The cavernous forward compartment of the orbital workshop provided plenty of room for the astronauts to carry out gymnastic feats. Here, Gerald Carr, one of the final crew, is performing for the camera.
	On the first Skylab visit, Dr Joseph Kerwin inspects Charles Conrod's mouth. Medical inspections were carried out regularly on Skylab to monitor the effects of prolonged weightlessness.
	Astronaut Jack Lousma, enjoying a shower during the second manned mission to Skylab. It was the first spacecraft to feature such a luxury. The problem was that, when an astronaut took a shower, fine droplets of water splashed everywhere around the cabin and had to be vacuumed up by a colleague.

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