dipper@utastro.UUCP (Debbie Byrd) (05/14/85)
This is the anniversary of the launch of the first human habitat in space. More on Skylab -- after this. May 14: Skylab On today's date in the year 1973, the world's first space station was launched into orbit around the Earth. It was called Skylab. Skylab was begun as an offshoot of NASA's Apollo missions to the moon. It was meant to use some of the hardware left over from the moon landings. Besides proving that humans can live in outer space, the Skylab mission was aimed at studying the sun -- and at looking down toward Earth. Three crews of astronauts visited Skylab. The last crew set what was then a space endurance record -- 84 days in space. By the way, since then, the Soviets have greatly extended that record in their Salyut space stations -- staying up three times as long. The crews of Skylab and Salyut have proven that people can live and work for long periods in space. They've paved the way for future permanent space stations -- and for future manned flights to the planets. Skylab proved something else -- that even if a LAUNCHING doesn't go just right, we can replace equipment and make repairs in space. On May 14, 1973 the launching of Skylab tore away the spacecraft's heat shield and jammed its solar power system. Temperatures inside Skylab soared as high as 190 degrees Fahrenheit. The first crew was launched eleven days later. They docked with Skylab, and made the necessary repairs WHILE IN SPACE. The mission was saved -- the crews went on to occupy Skylab -- and the world had its first space station. Script by Deborah Byrd. (c) Copyright 1984, 1985 McDonald Observatory, University of Texas at Austin