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Skylab in Orbit

Skylab in orbit
Before departing for Earth on June 22, 1973, the first Skylab crew took this image of the Skylab space station.

Before departing for Earth on June 22, 1973, the first Skylab crew took this image of the Skylab space station. The crew made a careful visual and photographic inspection of the orbiting laboratory that showed the golden-colored parasol sunshade deployed by the crew to protect the workshop from solar heating. Skylab’s original sunshield and one of its solar arrays were damaged during launch, and the crew conducted the first repair in space to deploy the parasol sunshade and remove the solar array. They worked out many of the repair procedures in an underwater simulator at NASA Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala. Skylab remained in orbit unmanned until the second crew arrived on July 28, 1973. It operated at reduced power with many of its systems either inoperative or operating at reduced capacity until the next crew arrived.

Image credit: NASA/MSFC