Living and Working in Space: A History of Skylab

by William David Compton, Charles D. Benson

Skylab was American's first space station and was actually planned during the early 1960's. It was finally launched and became operational in an orbit above earth in 1973. The history of Skylab was very turbulent, the project was almost cancelled several times before it even left the ground and even after it launched there were several incidents in space. Still as in Apollo 13 some of the worse accidents created some of NASA's greatest moments.

NASA SP 4208
NASA History Series

CONTENTS:
Preface
PART I. From Concept Through Decision, 1962–1969: What to Do for An Encore: Post-Apollo Plans – From Spent Stage to Orbital Cluster, 1965–1966 – Apollo Applications: “Wednesday’s Child” – A Science Program for Manned Spaceflight – Years of Uncertainty, 1967-1969.
PART II. Development and Preparations to Fly, 1969-1973: Managing the Design Phase – Living and Working in Space – The Medical Experiments – Studying the Sun – Late Additions to the Experiments – Putting the Pieces Together – Preparations for Flight – Launching the Skylab.
PART III. The Missions and Results, 1973-1979: Saving Skylab – The First Mission – The Second Mission – The Last Mission – Results – What Goes Up…
Appendixes: A. Summary of the Missions -- B. Major Contractors -- C. International Aeronautical Federation World Records Set by Skylab -- D. Experiments -- E. Astronauts' Biographies -- F. Comet Kohoutek -- G. Joint Observing Program 2, Active Regions.
Source Notes
Index
The Authors

Genres: Space, Nonfiction

449 pages, Hardcover

First published June 1, 1983

Reviews

[Paul Kratochwill · Rating 4 out of 5]

Skylab is a forgotten part of the Apollo program. This book told the story of the decisions made by the Apollo Applications Office to build and put into orbit the first true space station.