page_title: Skylab
section_title: Crewed missions
hierarchical_section_title: Skylab / Operational history / Crewed missions
caption_attribution_description: English: Solar prominence recorded by Skylab on August 21, 1973
context_page_description: Skylab was the first United States space station, launched by NASA, occupied for about 24 weeks between May 1973 and February 1974. It was operated by three separate three-astronaut crews: SL-2, SL-3 and SL-4. Major operations included an orbital workshop, a solar observatory, Earth observation, and hundreds of experiments.
  Unable to be re-boosted by the Space Shuttle, which was not ready until the early 1980s, Skylab's orbit decayed and it disintegrated in the atmosphere on July 11, 1979, scattering debris across the Indian Ocean and Western Australia.
context_section_description: Three crewed missions, designated SL-2, SL-3 and SL-4, were made to Skylab in the Apollo command and service modules.  The first crewed mission, SL-2, launched on May 25, 1973 atop a Saturn IB and involved extensive repairs to the station. The crew deployed a parasol-like sunshade through a small instrument port from the inside of the station, bringing station temperatures down to acceptable levels and preventing overheating that would have melted the plastic insulation inside the station and released poisonous gases. This solution was designed by NASA's "Mr. Fix It" Jack Kinzler, who won the NASA Distinguished Service Medal for his efforts. The crew conducted further repairs via two spacewalks (extra-vehicular activity, or EVA).  The crew stayed in orbit with Skylab for 28 days. Two additional missions followed, with the launch dates of July 28, 1973 (SL-3) and November 16, 1973 (SL-4), and mission durations of 59 and 84 days, respectively. The last Skylab crew returned to Earth on February 8, 1974.
  In addition to the three crewed missions, there was a rescue mission on standby that had a crew of two, but could take five back down.
  Skylab 2: launched May 25, 1973
  Skylab 3: launched July 28, 1973
  Skylab 4: launched November 16, 1973
  Skylab 5: cancelled
  Skylab Rescue on standby
  Also of note was the three-man crew of Skylab Medical Experiment Altitude Test, who spent 56 days in 1972 at low-pressure on Earth to evaluate medical experiment equipment. This was a spaceflight analog test in full gravity, but Skylab hardware was tested and medical knowledge was gained.
caption: Solar prominence recorded by Skylab on August 21, 1973[53]
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