WIKIARCHIVES.SPACE

At the Kennedy Space Center in Florida, the Skylab space station, atop a modified Saturn V rocket, lifted off May 14, 1973, from Launch Complex 39A, ten minutes later the 100-ton space station reached orbit, where it will be visited by three astronaut crews during the next eight months. The first crew, consisting of Charles Conrad Jr., mission commander, Dr. Joseph P. Kerwin, science pilot, and Paul J. Weitz, pilot, will live and work in Skylab nearly a month. NASA directs the Skylab Program, which is designed to gain new knowledge in space for improving life on Earth. Its investigations and experiments will help develop new methods of learning about the Earth's environment and resources. It also will examine man's ability to live and work in space for extended periods, and provide new information about the sun. Two additional manned visits to Skylab will follow in August and November.