Skylab was the first American space station. It spent six years orbiting the Earth until its orbit caused it to re-enter the atmosphere. In addition, when it came into contact with the atmosphere, it spread its remains over the Indian Ocean and various areas of Australia.
Astronauts aboard the station conducted 270 experiments in life and biomedical sciences, Earth astronomy, and materials processing. Thus, among the most important are research on the physiological responses of astronauts in long-duration space flights.
Importance of the space race
Before the launch of Skylab, NASA had been working on creating a space station for years. However, they were very focused on the space race to the moon that dominated the collective imagination in the sixties. As early as 1970, NASA started the Apollo Applications Program (the continuation of the Apollo project).
The idea was to build a space station from a rocket platform that had not been used. However, the design was modified as NASA struggled to reduce costs and funding.
What was the space station like?
Skylab featured four main components: the orbital workshop, the airlock module, the multi-dock adapter, and the Apollo telescope mount. In addition, the orbital workshop served as a work area, home and bedroom. It contained exercise tools, a kitchen, and numerous science experiments. It also owned two solar panels that supplied the station with 12 kilowatts of power.
In addition, the lock module allowed astronauts to conduct spacewalks, while the multi-docking adapter had a rescue docking enabled. That is, a second capsule with two astronauts who could come to help the crew in case the space station broke down.
