Skylab

Skylab, 1973 and 1974: the first American space station, damaged at launch and repaired in orbit by its first crew. Three crews lived aboard, the last for 84 days.

14 photographs · 1973 to 1974 · Mission 5 of 14
14 photographs
Pete Conrad cutting Paul Weitz's hair inside Skylab, Skylab 2, 1973
Skylab 2 · 1973SL2-09-755

A Haircut in Orbit

The barber is Pete Conrad, the third man to walk on the Moon.
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Owen Garriott preparing a meal in the Skylab crew quarters, Skylab 3, 6 August 1973
Skylab 3 · 6 August 1973SL3-111-1519

Dinner on Skylab

Sugar cookies baked on the ground were a favourite aboard, and some crews traded them like money.
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Owen Garriott in the Lower Body Negative Pressure Device, Skylab 3, 1973
Skylab 3 · 1973SL3-108-1279

Testing the Body in Orbit

The device pulled blood toward his legs, the way gravity does on Earth.
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Skylab repaired, the Apollo Telescope Mount at right angles to the workshop, Skylab 3, 28 July 1973
Skylab 3 · 28 July 1973SL3-114-1660

Shaded and at Work

Two months after the damage: a parasol over the workshop, the telescope mount turned to the Sun.
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Owen Garriott seated at the Apollo Telescope Mount console, Skylab 3, August 1973
Skylab 3 · August 1973SL3-108-1288

Steering the Sun Telescopes

The telescopes were outside the station. The scientist aiming them from this panel had taught at Stanford.
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Joseph Kerwin blowing a floating sphere of water on Skylab, Skylab 2, 1 June 1973
Skylab 2 · 1 June 1973SL2-X9-730

A Perfect Sphere of Water

He blew it through a straw. Surface tension did the rest.
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The first Skylab crew at a practice meal in Houston, Skylab 2 training, 1 March 1973
Skylab 2 training · 1 March 1973S73-20236

Practice Meal in Houston

Two months later the same three men flew to Skylab and had to repair it before they could live in it.
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Jack Lousma spacewalking with Earth reflected in his visor, Skylab, 6 August 1973
Skylab · 6 August 1973SL3-115-1833

Reflected in the Visor

The man is Jack Lousma, and this was the first time he had ever been outside a spacecraft.
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Edward Gibson coming up through the airlock hatch, Skylab 4, February 1974
Skylab 4 · February 1974SL4-150-5074

Through the Hatch

Edward Gibson had been living aboard Skylab for more than two months when this was made.
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Gerald Carr balancing William Pogue on one finger, Skylab 4, November 1973 to February 1974
Skylab 4 · November 1973 to February 1974SL4-150-5080

Balanced on One Finger

Gerald Carr and William Pogue, a week before they came home from eighty four days aboard.
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Station with gold sun shield and one solar wing, Skylab, 8 February 1974
Skylab · 8 February 1974SL4-143-4706

Left in Good Order

The last crew tidied the station for visitors who were never sent.
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Exposed workshop hull and Apollo Telescope Mount, Skylab, 25 May 1973
Skylab · 25 May 1973SL2-04-265

Bare to the Sun

The gold band is the workshop's own hull. The shield that should have covered it came off during launch.
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Owen Garriott working at the Apollo Telescope Mount, Skylab 3, 6 August 1973
Skylab 3 · 6 August 1973SL3-115-1837

The Second Sunshade

Skylab tore its heat shield off at launch. The crew before this one had rigged a parasol; these two covered it over.
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Orbital workshop under its orange parasol sunshade, Skylab 2, 22 June 1973
Skylab 2 · 22 June 1973SL2-X7-633

An Umbrella Over Skylab

The orange sheet was pushed out through a hatch eight inches square and opened like a parasol.
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Skylab, 1973 and 1974: the first American space station, damaged at launch and repaired in orbit by its first crew. Three crews lived aboard, the last for 84 days.

14 photographs · 1973 to 1974 · Mission 5 of 14
About Skylab

Skylab was the first American space station, launched on 14 May 1973 and lived in by three crews until 8 February 1974. It lost its micrometeoroid shield and one of its two solar wings during launch, and the first crew arrived eleven days later to find it overheating in the sun. These prints show the damage as they found it, the parasol pushed out through a small hatch, and the second sunshade laid over it. The last crew stayed 84 days, the longest spaceflight of its time.