top of page

Skylab

 

Skylab was a 100-ton space station launched into Earth orbit in 1973.  The first manned mission to Skylab, Skylab 2, spent 28 days at the space station repairing launch-related damage and beginning Skylab’s tenure as a working space station.  The second manned mission, Skylab 3, was launched on July 28 and lasted 59 days.  The third crew of Skylab was launched on November 16 and manned Skylab for 84 days.  This was the final crew to man the space station.  After a gradual decrease in its orbit, the Skylab space station finally succumbed to the forces of gravity, re-entering the Earth’s atmosphere in July 1979. During reentry, the burning debris streaked across the sky near southeastern Australia.

bottom of page