The United States’ first space station, Skylab, was launched 25 years before construction began in 1998 on the International Space Station, and two Skylab astronauts will be at the Museum on May 13 for a program celebrating Skylab’s 50th anniversary.
In a rare reunion, astronauts Ed Gibson and Jack Lousma, plus Skylab Flight Director Neil Hutchinson will look back at their pioneering space station missions done on the heels of NASA’s Apollo flights to the Moon. The Museum’s Adjunct Curator for Space History, Geoff Nunn, will moderate the program.
The Skylab Mission
The project began as the Apollo Applications Program in 1968 with an objective to develop science-based human space missions using hardware originally developed for the effort to land astronauts on the moon. The 169,950-pound space station included a workshop, a solar observatory, a multiple docking adapter and systems to allow three crews to spend up to 84 days in space. The space station lifted off unpiloted as Skylab 1 atop a Saturn V launch vehicle, the astronaut crews were launched to orbit by Saturn 1B rockets.
FREE with Museum admission.
