SKYLAB LAUNCHED FROM KENNEDY SPACE CENTER
Cape Kennedy, Florida (JFK+50) At 1:30 p.m. Eastern time on May 14, 1973, Skylab*, America's first space station, was launched into earth orbit. The space station was the world's second as the Soviet Union launched Salyut I** two years earlier.
According to NASA, during liftoff "a critical meteoroid shield ripped off" taking one of the vehicle's solar panels with it. NASA engineers were forced to develop procedures to make the space station "habitable."
Eleven days following the launch of Skylab, U.S. astronauts Charles Conrad, Joseph Kerwin and Paul Weitz began a 28 day stay aboard the space station.
*Skylab cost $2.2 billion & was in earth orbit 2,249 days.
**Salyut I was launched on April 19, 1971 & was followed by 7 more Russian space stations. The final module, Zvezda, became the core of the Russian segment of the International Space Station.
SOURCE
"Launch of the Uncrewed Skylab Station," May 6, 2013, NASA, www.nasa.gov/
