Skylab

Skylab

Skylab as photographed by its departing final crew (Skylab 4).
Skylab program insignia
Station statistics
COSPAR ID	1973-027A
SATCAT no.	06633
Call sign	Skylab
Crew	3 per mission (9 total)
Launch	May 14, 1973 17:30:00 UTC (50 years ago)
Carrier rocket	Modified Saturn V
Launch pad	Kennedy Space Center, LC-39A
Reentry	July 11, 1979 16:37:00 UTC
Mission status	Deorbited
Mass	168,750 pounds (76,540 kg)[1] w/o Apollo CSM
Length	82.4 feet (25.1 m) w/o Apollo CSM
Width	55.8 feet (17.0 m) w/ one solar panel
Height	36.3 feet (11.1 m) w/ telescope mount
Diameter	21.67 feet (6.61 m)
Pressurised volume	12,417 cubic feet (351.6 m3)
Atmospheric pressure	5.0 pounds per square inch (34 kPa) Oxygen 74%, nitrogen 26%[2]
Perigee altitude	269.7 miles (434.0 km)
Apogee altitude	274.6 miles (441.9 km)
Orbital inclination	50.0°
Orbital period	93.4 minutes
Orbits per day	15.4
Days in orbit	2249 days (6.6 years)
Days occupied	171 days
No. of orbits	34,981
Distance travelled	~890,000,000 mi (1,400,000,000 km)
Statistics as of Re-entry July 11, 1979
Configuration
Skylab configuration as planned

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v t e

Skylab was the United States' first space station, launched by NASA,^[3] occupied for about 24 weeks between May 1973 and February 1974. It was operated by three trios of astronaut crews: Skylab 2, Skylab 3, and Skylab 4. Operations included an orbital workshop, a solar observatory, Earth observation and hundreds of experiments. Skylab's orbit eventually decayed and it disintegrated in the atmosphere on July 11, 1979, scattering debris across the Indian Ocean and Western Australia.