As of 2024, Skylab was the only space station operated exclusively by the United States. A permanent station was planned starting in 1988, but its funding was canceled and U.S. … See more

Apollo Applications Program
NASA management was concerned about losing the 400,000 workers involved in Apollo after landing on the Moon in 1969. A reason von … See more

Skylab had certain features to protect vulnerable technology from radiation. The window was vulnerable to darkening, and this darkening could affect experiment S190. As a result, a light shield that could be open or shut was designed and installed on Skylab. … See more

Rocket engineer Wernher von Braun, science fiction writer Arthur C. Clarke, and other early advocates of crewed space travel, expected until the 1960s that a space station would … See more

Completion and launch
On August 8, 1969, the McDonnell Douglas Corporation received a contract for the conversion of … See more

Prior to departure about 80 experiments were named, although they are also described as "almost 300 separate investigations".
Experiments were … See more

There were two types of gyroscopes on Skylab. Control-moment gyroscopes (CMG) could physically move the station, and rate gyroscopes … See more