Skylab, the orbiting workshop, launched on May 14, 1973 on an unmanned rocket, to be joined by 3-person crews. On liftoff, the space station lost its meteor shield/sunshade and a solar panel, severely crippling it. The first crew, which launched May 25, 1973, gamely made repairs, and went on to set a 28-day space endurance record. This record was topped shortly by the 2nd and 3rd crews of Skylab, the former achieving 84 days in space during 1973-1974. NASA intended the station to last into the 1980's, when the Space Shuttle could mate with it. However, the shuttle fell behind schedule, and atmospheric drag took its toll, causing the much-ballyhooed fragmentary demise of Skylab over the Indian Ocean and Western Australia on July 11, 1979. Credit: NASA.
