It has been 50 years since the Skylab Space Station, the first American space station, was launched.
50 Years Ago: Historic Skylab Space Station's Patchy Launch
The Skylab space station was launched into orbit 50 years ago today — the last launch of a Saturn V rocket! #Skylab50
— NASA History Office (@NASAhistory) May 14, 2023
63 seconds into the flight, controllers saw the first signs that something had gone wrong, kicking off a dramatic race to save the entire Skylab program. pic.twitter.com/MT2vdgLVVy
According to Space.com, Skylab orbited around the Earth for six whole years. It was also able to support three crewed missions that enabled hundreds of scientific experiments to be conducted.
Overall, Skylab was considered a success. However, its start was quite rough and rocky. The Skylab was deployed from Pad 39A at the Kennedy Space Center as it was lifted off a Saturn V rocket. Roughly a minute into its deployment, the station's micrometeoroid shield unintentionally got deployed and ended up flying out. As it did so, one solar panel was taken out.
The accident caused some debris to get stuck in a different solar array, jamming it. Because of this, the Skylab was left to operate without solar power.
Despite this, the station fortunately had fuel cells to prolong its run until astronauts were able to save it. However, the absence of Skylab's micrometeoroid shield made the station reach dangerously hot levels, as the shield was supposed to protect it against heat.
Space.com reports that the crew arrived 12 days later with a new heat shield. They were also able to fix the solar panel and keep the station running.
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Skylab Space Station's Astronomical Impact
EarthSky reports that, generally, Skylab had two vital goals. The first one was to prove that humans may work and live in space for a prolonged period of time. The second one was for the crew in Skylab to examine and stretch their current understanding of solar astronomy.
During its entire operation, three different crews, comprising three members each, were able to live in Skylab for 171 days and 13 hours. Over 300 scientific experiments were conducted during this time. The crews were also able to examine the Earth and the Sun.
The astronauts were able to hit new space records, such as man-hours spent in space and extravehicular activity time. Their cumulative total exceeded all the earlier spaceflights during this time.
Overall, according to NASA, Skylab aided in paving the way for permanent operations to take place in low-Earth orbits. EarthSky also adds that the station demonstrated that humans were capable of having a space station, conducting experiments, and staying physically healthy while living weightlessly in space.
Skylab's Final Days
After the third crew's return to the Earth, the crew on the ground conducted other tests on the Skylab's systems. They were mainly searching for failures and degradation of equipment. Later on, the station was positioned into one for reentry, and every system got shut down.
EarthSky reports that its orbit was thought to decay in more than a decade. However, it only stayed in orbit for eight years and reached the Earth earlier than expected. Its landing was quite famous, as it may have been the first major satellite fall.
The station crashed into the Earth's surface on July 11, 1979. Because of its strong fall, big hardware chunks ended up falling across Western Australia and into the Indian Ocean.
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