11 July - Space station, Skylab destroyed as it re-enters the Earth's atmosphere in 1979

 

On 11 July 1979, America's first space station, Skylab, was destroyed as it re-enters the Earth's atmosphere over the Indian Ocean.

Skylab was indeed America's first space station. It was launched into space by NASA (the National Aeronautics and Space Administration) on May 14, 1973. Skylab was a large space laboratory that orbited the Earth for about six years.

Skylab was created from the upper stage of a Saturn V rocket, which had been used to launch the Apollo missions to the Moon. It was repurposed and transformed into a habitable space station. The station consisted of a main workshop module, solar arrays for power generation, and a variety of scientific instruments and equipment.

Three crews of astronauts visited Skylab during its operational lifetime. The first crew, known as Skylab 2 or the "Skylab 2 Rescue Mission," was launched on May 25, 1973, and consisted of astronauts Charles Conrad, Joseph Kerwin, and Paul Weitz. They were followed by Skylab 3 (Pete Conrad, Joseph Kerwin, and Paul Weitz) and Skylab 4 (Gerald Carr, Edward Gibson, and William Pogue).

The primary objective of Skylab was to conduct scientific research in space, studying the effects of long-duration spaceflight on human physiology and conducting experiments in various fields such as astronomy, solar physics, Earth observations, and materials science. The astronauts performed numerous experiments and observations, including the first comprehensive study of the Sun from space.

Skylab faced some challenges during its mission, including a significant solar array deployment problem and a malfunctioning thermal shield. However, the crew managed to resolve these issues and successfully conducted their scientific work.

Skylab's mission came to an end in 1979 when it re-entered Earth's atmosphere. Some debris from Skylab fell into the Indian Ocean and parts of Western Australia.

Despite its relatively short operational lifetime, Skylab provided valuable scientific data and insights into living and working in space. It paved the way for future space station projects, such as the Russian Mir and the International Space Station (ISS).