Launch of Skylab

Skylab was the first United States space station, launched by a Saturn V rocket in May 1973 and visited by three crews of astronauts between 1973 and 1974. During launch it lost its micrometeoroid shield and one solar panel, and the first crew had to deploy a makeshift sunshade to keep the interior from overheating. The astronauts carried out medical studies on long-duration spaceflight, took observations of the Sun with the Apollo Telescope Mount, and photographed Earth's resources and Comet Kohoutek. Plans to boost its orbit with a space shuttle were overtaken by delays, and Skylab re-entered the atmosphere in July 1979, scattering debris over the Indian Ocean and parts of Western Australia.

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