SkylabIn 1973, the United States launched "Skylab One," its first manned space station. During the following nine months, three successive crews of astronauts manned the orbiting laboratory. This was the largest payload launched into space. It fell back into and burned up in the Earth's atmosphere in July, 1979. The official emblem (left) depicts the U.S. Skylab space station cluster in Earth orbit with the Sun in the background. The cluster is composed of the Apollo Command/Service Module, Orbital Workshop, Apollo Telescope Mount (ATM), Multiple Docking Adapter, and Airlock Module. The arrays of solar cell panels turn sunlight into electric power for the space station. |
