Sky Lab
Scott #1529

America's first orbiting space laboratory was launched from Kennedy Space Center on May 14, 1973. Equipped with a wide range of scientific instruments, this outpost in space was developed to test human adaptability to weightlessness, conduct experiments at zero gravity, study a broad view of the earth's surface, and take full spectrum photographs of our universe without the optical distortion of earth's atmosphere. The first manned Skylab mission left Kennedy Space Center May 25, 1973. Astronauts Charles Conrad, Joseph Kerwin, and Paul Weitz spent 28 days aboard Skylab. Most of the mission was spent under adverse conditions repairing the mother ship. Alan Bean, Owen Garriott, and Jack Lousma were the second crew, launched from earth on July 28, 1973. Their mission kept them on board Skylab for 59 days. The final crew of Skylab, Gerald Carr, Edward Gibson, and William Pogue, was launched November 16, 1973, from Kennedy Space Center and returned to earth February 8, 1974. The mission lasted a record 84 days.

Scott #1529