Crewed between May 1973 and February 1974, it was the \u2018great uncle\u2019 of Mir and the International Space Station<\/a>, engineered from the shell of a redundant rocket stage (part of an earlier epic space programme).<\/p>\n Transformed with additional modules and structures, Skylab became an unmitigated success.<\/p>\n With humans now scheduled to return to the Moon<\/a> in the near future, it\u2019s time to celebrate this venerable one-of-a-kind space station.<\/p>\n Skylab was ultimately the result of Cold War political hostility between the Soviet Union and the United States, known as the Space Race<\/a>.<\/p>\n When Russia launched its first artificial satellite, Sputnik, in October 1957 \u2013 aboard an R-7 rocket designed by Russian Sergei Korolev<\/a> \u2013 the United States was worried.<\/p>\n The race between these two superpowers for the domination of space began in earnest. Their next target? The Moon.<\/p>\n Having already sent astronauts into orbit during Project Gemini, on 20 July 1969 the Moon race was won by the USA when Apollo 11<\/a>\u2019s Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin took humankind\u2019s first footsteps in the lunar dust.<\/p>\n The next goal was to achieve a lasting presence in space: Skylab.<\/p>\n With the Apollo programme in the 1970s cut short, NASA began the Apollo Applications Program, its remit to adapt redundant hardware and systems developed for the lunar landing.<\/p>\n Needing to keep his staff employed, famed Apollo rocket engineer and head of NASA\u2019s Marshall Flight Center, Wernher von Braun, advocated launching an orbiting workshop using two-stage Saturn IB rockets.<\/p>\n The hydrogen tank of the S-IVB stage would have ample room for what would be known as a \u2018wet\u2019 workshop.<\/p>\n It could be launched loaded with liquid oxygen and liquid hydrogen, functioning as the rocket\u2019s second stage in ascent.<\/p>\n Once in orbit, any residual fuel and oxidiser could be vented and the oxygen tank pressurised to give astronauts a breathable atmosphere.<\/p>\n Pre-installed fittings could be made to the floors and walls \u2013 an aluminium grid structure with plentiful openings for fuel flow \u2013 enabling equipment to be mounted and experiments conducted.<\/p>\n On top of the S-IVB stage could be a Multiple Docking Adaptor (MDA) with two docking ports \u2013 a prime axial one and back-up radial one \u2013 for the Apollo Command and Service Modules (CSM) ferrying crews and supplies.<\/p>\n In the event of a spacecraft being disabled, a second two-person crewed Apollo CSM capsule could rescue resident crew, enabling all five astronauts to safely return to Earth.<\/p>\n But concerns arose about the time required for astronauts, working in zero-G, to unload copious equipment from the MDA and install it in this \u2018wet\u2019 workshop.<\/p>\n By 1969, and with unused Apollo 18, 19 and 20 Saturn V<\/a> rockets waiting in the wings, the decision was made to switch Skylab\u2019s launch from the smaller Saturn IB rocket to the much larger Saturn V.<\/p>\n The greater capacity of the Saturn V meant that the S-IVB no longer needed to function as a rocket stage during launch.<\/p>\n This \u2018dry\u2019 Orbital Workshop (OWS) could be outfitted on the ground, the hydrogen fuel tank serving as the main living quarters, with exercise equipment, a galley, zero-gravity shower system and the necessary instruments for scientific experiments.<\/p>\n The liquid oxygen tank could be utilised as a waste facility.<\/p>\n On 8 August 1969, after years of development and workshops, the McDonnell Douglas Corporation was awarded the contract to create an orbital workshop out of two existing S-IVB stages.<\/p>\n The unpiloted Skylab (SL-1) \u2013 weighing 77,088kg and the only space station built and operated solely by the USA \u2013 was launched on a two-stage Saturn V rocket (SA-513) on 14 May 1973 from Kennedy Space Center\u2019s Pad 39A.<\/p>\n Shortly after lift-off, a large micrometeoroid shield \u2013 installed to deflect debris and act as a thermal blanket \u2013 structurally failed. Within seconds, aerodynamic forces ripped it from the station.<\/p>\n One of the two main solar array wings, designed to deploy in space, also partially deployed.<\/p>\n Several minutes later, after the rocket\u2019s second stage burn, retro rockets fired, separating the booster from the station.<\/p>\n Their exhaust hit the partially deployed solar array and tore it off.<\/p>\n Later, in orbit, it was discovered that the other solar array had been tangled in debris and failed to deploy.<\/p>\n With the micrometeoroid shield missing, the station was exposed to extreme levels of solar radiation \u2013 a withering 52\u00b0C (126\u00b0F).<\/p>\n Mercifully, four solar arrays on the Apollo Telescope Mount (ATM) deployed as planned, giving sufficient power for Marshall Space Flight Center controllers to stabilise the station until repairs could be made.<\/p>\n On 25 May, after a delay for tools to be modified and techniques developed, and after subsequent crew training, Skylab 2 (SL-2) launched on a Saturn IB rocket (SA-206) carrying the first Skylab crew: commander Charles \u2018Pete\u2019 Conrad, pilot Paul Weitz and science pilot Joseph Kerwin.<\/p>\n On their second day in orbit, in searing temperatures, they deployed a 6.7m x 7.3m \u2018parasol\u2019 \u2013 a solar shade \u2013 through an airlock in the side of the OWS. Made of woven nylon, mylar and aluminium it instantly reflected sunlight and made the inside temperature bearable.<\/p>\n Along with the Orbital Workshop (OWS) and Multiple Docking Adaptor (MDA), there was the Airlock Module (AM), which could be sealed off and depressurised, enabling astronauts to exit via a large hatch to conduct spacewalks for changing camera film, performing experiments and doing routine maintenance.<\/p>\n On 7 June, the crew used this facility to release the jammed solar array and deploy it fully, increasing the available power.<\/p>\n Also key was the octagonal Apollo Telescope Mount (ATM) to which three control moment gyroscopes (CMGs) were attached, stabilising the entire station.<\/p>\n The ATM housed the four solar arrays and a battery of solar instruments.<\/p>\n Inside, a cylinder, divided into four quadrants and gimballed to enable exquisite pointing control, provided mounting points for X-ray and hydrogen-alpha telescopes, a spectroheliograph, spectrographs, a spectroheliometer, cameras and a white-light coronagraph.<\/p>\n Working at a complex control console, astronauts viewed and studied our nearest star in X-ray, extreme ultraviolet, ultraviolet and hydrogen-alpha wavelengths \u2013 an operation, according to commander Charles Conrad, akin to \u201cplaying three 88-keyboard pianos at the same time\u201d.<\/p>\n Solar flares, filaments, coronal holes, coronal mass ejections and even a comet \u2013 Kohoutek \u2013 were observed and imaged with hitherto unrivalled clarity.<\/p>\n These lengthy solar observations across the electromagnetic spectrum<\/a>, above Earth\u2019s atmosphere, vastly increased our knowledge of the Sun and the heavens.<\/p>\n![\"""\"](\""https:\/\/images.immediate.co.uk\/production\/volatile\/sites\/25\/2019\/07\/skylab-65c95aa-e1683810532774.jpg?quality=90&resize=620%2C596"\" "\\"\"\"\\"\/")
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<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture><\/div>Reusing Apollo hardware<\/strong><\/h2>\n
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<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture><\/div>Launch time for Skylab<\/strong><\/h2>\n
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<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture><\/div>Stabilising Skylab for operations<\/strong><\/h2>\n
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