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LIVING AND WORKING IN SPACE: A HISTORY OF SKYLAB
14 May 1973

Saturn V SA-513 launched the Skylab Orbital Workshop (OWS) space station into a 435-kilometer-high orbit about the Earth. It was America first space station, and it was marred by a host of technical glitches.

On the eve of the launch all kind of “filler” plans were discussed – by filler, read, Apollo or Skylab missions to bridge the gap between the last Skylab flight in February 1974 and the planned first flight of Helios in spring 1976.

There are talks of launching Skylab B and cross it with the ASTP mission in July 1975.

Skylab B could also be used to bridge the “space station gap” that starts with the last Skylab mission and ends with the launch of Liberty core module in 1979.

While Helios will fly in spring 1976, its capabilities will be limited. Adding the second Skylab would make for a spectacular bicentennial mission.

...
The official NASA story of Skylab is SP-4208 LIVING AND WORKING IN SPACE: A HISTORY OF SKYLAB,by Compton, W. David, and Charles D. Benson published in 1983.

CONTENTS

PREFACE

 PART I. FROM CONCEPT THROUGH DECISION, 1962 - 1969

 PART II. DEVELOPMENT AND PREPARATIONS TO FLY, 1969 - 1973.

PART III. THE MISSIONS AND RESULTS, 1973 - 1979

14. SAVING SKYLAB.

15. THE FIRST MISSION.

16. THE SECOND MISSION.

17. THE LAST MISSION.

18. RESULTS.

19. WHAT GOES UP - SKYLAB SECOND LIFE

- Background: the space shuttle cancellation, a new manned program: Liberty, Helios, Agena

- Skylab revival mission: a docking with a Big Gemini ?

- A target for the Agena space tug

- The Skylab revival mission

- The Cosmos 954 crisis, January 1978

- The Skylab desorbit mission - Europe and Canada enter the play

- The end of an era

- Skylab B: cancelled plans - a ground-based trainer for the next space station

APPENDIXES

 SOURCE NOTES.

INDEX.

THE AUTHORS.

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