Skylab as photographed by its departing final crew (Skylab 4).
Skylab program insignia
Station statistics
COSPAR ID
1973-027A
SATCAT no.
06633
Call sign
Skylab
Crew
3 per mission (9 total)
Launch
May 14, 1973 17:30:00 UTC (51 years ago)
Carrier rocket
Modified Saturn V
Launch pad
Kennedy Space Center, LC-39A
Reentry
July 11, 1979 16:37:00 UTC
Mission status
Deorbited
Mass
168,750 pounds (76,540 kg)[1] w/o Apollo CSM
Length
82.4 feet (25.1 m) w/o Apollo CSM
Width
55.8 feet (17.0 m) w/ one solar panel
Height
36.3 feet (11.1 m) w/ telescope mount
Diameter
21.67 feet (6.61 m)
Pressurised volume
12,417 cubic feet (351.6 m3)
Atmospheric pressure
5.0 pounds per square inch (34 kPa) Oxygen 74%, nitrogen 26%[2]
Perigee altitude
269.7 miles (434.0 km)
Apogee altitude
274.6 miles (441.9 km)
Orbital inclination
50.0°
Orbital period
93.4 minutes
Orbits per day
15.4
Days in orbit
2249 days (6.6 years)
Days occupied
171 days
No. of orbits
34,981
Distance travelled
~890,000,000 mi (1,400,000,000 km)
Statistics as of Re-entry July 11, 1979
Configuration
Skylab configuration as planned
Preview warning: Page using Template:Infobox space station with unknown parameter "orbit_reference"
Preview warning: Page using Template:Infobox space station with unknown parameter "Duration of Mission"
Preview warning: Page using Template:Infobox space station with unknown parameter "orbit_regime"
Part of a series on the
United States space program
NASA
U.S. Space Force
Human spaceflight programs
Mercury
Gemini
Apollo
Skylab
Space Shuttle
Shuttle–Mir
International Space Station
Commercial Crew
Constellation
Artemis
Lunar Gateway
Robotic spaceflight programs
CRS
Explorers
GLS
Large Strategic
Lunar Orbiter
Lunar Precursor
Mariner
Mars Exploration
New Millennium
Pioneer
Planetary Missions
Discovery
New Frontiers
Solar System Exploration
Planetary Observer
Ranger
Surveyor
Vanguard
Viking
Voyager
X-37
NASA Astronaut Corps
Mercury
Gemini
Apollo
Space Shuttle
Spaceports
Eastern Range
Cape Canaveral Space Force Station
Kennedy Space Center
Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport
Pacific Spaceport Complex – Alaska
Western Range
Vandenberg Space Force Base
Space launch vehicles
Alpha
Antares
Atlas V
Delta IV Heavy
Electron
Falcon 9
Full Thrust
Falcon Heavy
LauncherOne
Minotaur
I
III
IV
V
C
New Glenn
New Shepard
Pegasus
Space Launch System
Starship
Vulcan Centaur
National security space
United States Space Force
National Reconnaissance Office
United States Space Command
Civil space
Department of Energy national laboratories
Federal Aviation Administration
Office of Commercial Space Transportation
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
National Environmental Satellite, Data, and Information Service
Office of Space Commerce
Space Weather Prediction Center
Department of State Office of Space Affairs
Office of Science and Technology Policy
Commercial space industry
Astra
Ball Aerospace
Bigelow Aerospace
Blue Origin
Boeing
Firefly Aerospace
Lockheed Martin
Raytheon
Rocket Lab
Northrop Grumman
Sierra Nevada Corporation
SpaceX
SSL
United Launch Alliance
Virgin Galactic
Virgin Orbit
v
t
e
Skylab was the United States' first space station, launched by NASA,[3] occupied for about 24 weeks between May 1973 and February 1974. It was operated by three trios of astronaut crews: Skylab 2, Skylab 3, and Skylab 4. Operations included an orbital workshop, a solar observatory, Earth observation and hundreds of experiments. Skylab's orbit eventually decayed and it disintegrated in the atmosphere on July 11, 1979, scattering debris across the Indian Ocean and Western Australia.
^Belew, L. F.; Stuhlinger, E. (January 1973). "EP-107 Skylab: A Guidebook". NASA. Retrieved February 28, 2017. This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
February 1974. It was operated by three trios of astronaut crews: Skylab 2, Skylab 3, and Skylab 4. Operations included an orbital workshop, a solar observatory...
Skylab 4 (also SL-4 and SLM-3) was the third crewed Skylab mission and placed the third and final crew aboard the first American space station. The mission...
Skylab 2 (also SL-2 and SLM-1) was the first crewed mission to Skylab, the first American orbital space station. The mission was launched on an Apollo...
Skylab 3 (also SL-3 and SLM-2) was the second crewed mission to the first American space station, Skylab. The mission began on July 28, 1973, with the...
The Skylab Rescue Mission (also SL-R): iii was an unflown rescue mission, planned as a contingency in the event of astronauts being stranded aboard the...
Skylab B was a proposed second US space station similar to Skylab that was planned to be launched by NASA for different purposes, mostly involving the...
Skylab Two may refer to: Skylab II, NASA L2 space station concept Skylab 2 (SL-2), second mission in the Skylab space station program Skylab 3 (SLM-2)...
would have been the final crewed mission to the Moon, was canceled to allow Skylab to launch as a "dry workshop" (assembled on the ground in an unused S-IVB...
Skylab One may refer to: Skylab I, the first generation of U.S. space stations Skylab 1 (SL-1), the first Skylab mission Skylab 2 (SLM-1), the first crewed...
The Skylab Medical Experiment Altitude Test, or SMEAT, was a 56-day simulation of an American Skylab space mission from 26 July-19 September 1972 at NASA's...
Searching for Skylab - America's Forgotten Triumph is a 2019 documentary about the 1970s American space station Skylab. It was written by Carl Alessi and...
Skylab II was a space station concept proposed in 2013 by the Advanced Concepts Office of NASA Marshall Space Flight Center, to be located at the Earth-Moon...
for SkylabSkylab III, a 2002 album by Rogério SkylabSkylab One (disambiguation) Skylab Two (disambiguation) Skylab Four (disambiguation) Skylab (disambiguation)...
Telescope Mount, or ATM, was a crewed solar observatory that was a part of Skylab, the first American space station. It could observe the Sun in wavelengths...
Skylab Four may refer to: Skylab 4 (SL-4), the fourth Skylab mission Skylab 5 (SLM-4), the fourth crewed Skylab mission Skylab IV, a 2003 album by Rogério...
the development of the Skylab space station. In 1973–74, Gibson made his only flight into space as science pilot aboard Skylab 4, the third and final...
to 1973, it was used for nine crewed flights to the Moon, and to launch Skylab, the first American space station. As of 2024,[update] the Saturn V remains...
NASA Distinguished Service Medal for creating the solar shield that saved Skylab after the original micrometeoroid shield was lost during launch of the station...
with over $1 billion being required for FY 1968. The AAP eventually led to Skylab, which absorbed much of what had been developed under Apollo Applications...
restraint layer, the TMG for the A7L suit worn on the Moon and during the Skylab Program began with a layer of neoprene-coated nylon ripstop. This was the...
missions. Lind was then assigned as backup pilot for Skylab 3 and Skylab 4 and would have flown on Skylab Rescue. Lind was the payload commander on his only...
launch the Low Earth Orbit missions (Apollo 1 (planned), Apollo 7, Skylab 2, Skylab 3, Skylab 4, and Apollo–Soyuz) could not handle the 66,900-pound (30,300 kg)...
second and final flight into space on the Skylab 3 mission in 1973, the second crewed mission to the Skylab space station. After retiring from the United...
Module. The same system was later used for the Skylab 2, Skylab 3 and Skylab 4 CSMs to dock with the Skylab space station, and the Apollo–Soyuz Test Project...
Global Information
This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
