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Homesteading Space: The Skylab Story
As the United States and the Soviet Union went from exploring space to living in it, a space station was conceived as the logical successor to the Apollo moon program. But between conception and execution there was the vastness of space itself, to say nothing of monumental technological challenges. Homesteading Space , by two of Skylab’s own astronauts and a NASA journalist, tells the dramatic story of America’s first space station from beginning to fiery end.
Homesteading Space is much more than a story of technological and scientific success; it is also an absorbing, sometimes humorous, often inspiring account of the determined, hardworking individuals who shepherded the program through a near-disastrous launch, a heroic rescue, and an exhausting study of Comet Kohoutek, as well as the lab's ultimate descent into the Indian Ocean. Featuring the unpublished in-flight diary of astronaut Alan Bean, the book is replete with the personal recollections and experiences of the Skylab crew and those who worked with them in training, during the mission, and in bringing them safely home.
Homesteading Space is much more than a story of technological and scientific success; it is also an absorbing, sometimes humorous, often inspiring account of the determined, hardworking individuals who shepherded the program through a near-disastrous launch, a heroic rescue, and an exhausting study of Comet Kohoutek, as well as the lab's ultimate descent into the Indian Ocean. Featuring the unpublished in-flight diary of astronaut Alan Bean, the book is replete with the personal recollections and experiences of the Skylab crew and those who worked with them in training, during the mission, and in bringing them safely home.
548 pages, Hardcover
First published November 1, 2008
29 people are currently reading
384 people want to read
About the author
David Hitt
9 books10 followersDavid Hitt is the co-author of two books on spaceflight history: "Homesteading Space," with astronauts Owen Garriott and Joe Kerwin, and "Bold They Rise," with Heather R. Smith. A native of Huntsville, Alabama, and a graduate of the University of Mississippi, Hitt is a former newspaper editor who currently supports NASA human spaceflight efforts as a strategic communications contractor. Hitt is also the director of an improv comedy troupe and a Huntsville history storyteller.
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Displaying 1 - 18 of 18 reviews
August 2, 2023
Not many remember Skylab, America's first space station, built in the emptied out guts of a Saturn V rocket. Launched in May 1973, three separate crews (9 total astronauts) called it home for extended periods (topping out at 84 days!) until February 1974, when it was shut down and left to molder in low-Earth orbit. By the end of the 70s, its orbit and functionality had decayed to the point of no recovery, and Skylab was brought down, burning up over the Indian Ocean and Australia in July 1979.
1. I think, ultimately, my takeaway was that Skylab was a scrappy little experiment that suffered from its placement immediately after the highly structured, highly polished performances of the Apollo program. If Apollo was about a weekend getaway, Skylab was about moving to a new place and trying to settle in—with all the daily adjustments and habits that must be learned.
It doesn't help that the mission started with a (probably literal) bang as a critical micrometeorite shield tore away during launch, leaving the station baking in orbit and with limited electricity due to an un-deployed solar array, and another that had gone the way of the shield. But NASA and crew pulled through and saved the station by building reflective "sails" they installed in situ.
And of course there were growing pains as the crews and mission control figured out how to work together for weeks and months versus days. And questions of health, and fitness, and experiments, and crew habits and all the stuff that comes along with having a profession in space, instead of just having a singular job to do.
2. I did really enjoy this, all things told. There's a lot of interesting insight into each of the crews (Skylab 2, 3, & 4 or I, II, and III depending on how you count them) and the challenges they faced and the things they remember about their specific time in Skylab, and how it became a familiar entity that kept them safe and secure during their (at the time) record-setting stays in space.
3. And of course they did massive science, too, in case you were curious.
4. Sure, there are a few things that are repeated throughout the book but they are pretty minimal, especially in such a long narrative. My other minor complaint was that the "end" of Skylab (i.e., the period between 1974 and ~1978) was completely dropped, which was...frustrating. It seems like there was Stuff Going On (focus on the Shuttle, ongoing NASA budget concerns, politics, etc.) that may have been interesting to understand in the context of what was and was not done with Skylab. This is ultimately a small complaint, but the book seems to want to be the Definitive Skylab Summary, so that was kind of a disappointment.
1. I think, ultimately, my takeaway was that Skylab was a scrappy little experiment that suffered from its placement immediately after the highly structured, highly polished performances of the Apollo program. If Apollo was about a weekend getaway, Skylab was about moving to a new place and trying to settle in—with all the daily adjustments and habits that must be learned.
It doesn't help that the mission started with a (probably literal) bang as a critical micrometeorite shield tore away during launch, leaving the station baking in orbit and with limited electricity due to an un-deployed solar array, and another that had gone the way of the shield. But NASA and crew pulled through and saved the station by building reflective "sails" they installed in situ.
And of course there were growing pains as the crews and mission control figured out how to work together for weeks and months versus days. And questions of health, and fitness, and experiments, and crew habits and all the stuff that comes along with having a profession in space, instead of just having a singular job to do.
2. I did really enjoy this, all things told. There's a lot of interesting insight into each of the crews (Skylab 2, 3, & 4 or I, II, and III depending on how you count them) and the challenges they faced and the things they remember about their specific time in Skylab, and how it became a familiar entity that kept them safe and secure during their (at the time) record-setting stays in space.
3. And of course they did massive science, too, in case you were curious.
4. Sure, there are a few things that are repeated throughout the book but they are pretty minimal, especially in such a long narrative. My other minor complaint was that the "end" of Skylab (i.e., the period between 1974 and ~1978) was completely dropped, which was...frustrating. It seems like there was Stuff Going On (focus on the Shuttle, ongoing NASA budget concerns, politics, etc.) that may have been interesting to understand in the context of what was and was not done with Skylab. This is ultimately a small complaint, but the book seems to want to be the Definitive Skylab Summary, so that was kind of a disappointment.
October 27, 2019
Great history of the Skylab program that operated at the tail end of the Apollo era in the early 1970s.
Amazing story because Skylab was the first opportunity NASA had to learn about long-duration spaceflight - the longest mission to date was (I think) a 14-day Gemini mission. (imagine, 14 days with someone in the front seat of a Volkswagon Beetle... ugh).
Three Skylab missions were executed spanning 28, 58 and 85 days. There are definitely some great, exciting space cowboy stories in here. Skylab was significantly busted up after its launch; the heat shield and one of two solar panels were completely lost, and the second solar panel was stuck undeployed. The first mission, then, started off by rescuing the space station from overheating - the crew had to do an EVA on a station that was NOT designed to support EVAs (no translation aids on many exterior surfaces) to erect a hastily-developed sun shield.
Couple mild criticisms about how the book is organized. With 3 listed authors, at times it feels like the book was divided up and smashed together. The Skylab II mission (commanded by Alan Bean) chapter is mostly excerpts of diary entries, so the narrative format changes. While the book's editing for language and clarity is good, the editing for repetition is not: some bits of information are unnecessarily repeated. Lastly, there is a chapter near the end on the scientific experiments that I think should have been incorporated across the development/engineering and mission chapters.
All in all a great read!
Amazing story because Skylab was the first opportunity NASA had to learn about long-duration spaceflight - the longest mission to date was (I think) a 14-day Gemini mission. (imagine, 14 days with someone in the front seat of a Volkswagon Beetle... ugh).
Three Skylab missions were executed spanning 28, 58 and 85 days. There are definitely some great, exciting space cowboy stories in here. Skylab was significantly busted up after its launch; the heat shield and one of two solar panels were completely lost, and the second solar panel was stuck undeployed. The first mission, then, started off by rescuing the space station from overheating - the crew had to do an EVA on a station that was NOT designed to support EVAs (no translation aids on many exterior surfaces) to erect a hastily-developed sun shield.
Couple mild criticisms about how the book is organized. With 3 listed authors, at times it feels like the book was divided up and smashed together. The Skylab II mission (commanded by Alan Bean) chapter is mostly excerpts of diary entries, so the narrative format changes. While the book's editing for language and clarity is good, the editing for repetition is not: some bits of information are unnecessarily repeated. Lastly, there is a chapter near the end on the scientific experiments that I think should have been incorporated across the development/engineering and mission chapters.
All in all a great read!
October 10, 2022
This book is quite long but very thorough! I took my time reading through it and very much enjoyed it! This is definitely a must read for anyone interested in space stations or humans in space. I will say there were some parts that felt a little repetitive with information but nothing too bad. Overall a good read if a long one.
December 17, 2025
This is a thick book and a bit intimidating but as soon as I got into it, the size didn't matter. I got the audiobook to help me. There are lengthy quotes from the various characters, some of them go on for paragraphs or even pages, and it feels like they are talking to you. The narrator does a good job of changing the voices so you know it's a quote.
In the very beginning, it gets into a "what if" discussion which I always enjoy. What if Apollo hadn't had a quick timeline attached to it. Could NASA have spent the amount of time needed to build a good, long-term transportation system? Might we be regularly traveling to the moon and back today? I love to think about these questions. But perhaps if a deadline had not been set, we might still be trying to get to the moon today for lack of political ambition, i.e. money. If public sentiment fell away because no visible accomplishments were being made, then politicians would be quick to pull funding.
The majority of the book is about Skylab. It gives details about all 3 Skylab missions. In the case of the second mission, there is a day to day log book. This is facilitated in large part by Alan Bean's diary.
It's interesting to note that a lot of information from the Skylab experiment is still sitting in files. This could and should have been used along the way to the ISS. However, so much time lapsed that much of the knowledge was forgotten.
A lot of what I read did not seem to be ground breaking research because today it's common knowledge we all take for granted. For example, at the time of Skylab, there were many doctors who thought that a person could not live for a long duration in space without suffering severe health consequences. A lot of the details in the Skylab file will be day to day details about the health stats of the astronauts, how they handled their return to Earth, and even longitudinal studies years after. Skylab proved that humans could live in space and still live out a full life.
Skylab also proved that people could work in space.
There was telescope on board Skylab that they used to take pictures of the Earth and to monitor the sun among other things. The astronauts on the third Skylab mission managed to catch a major CME event and record it from its inception. Very cool.
This book is not for everyone. I would say you need to be a pretty serious space travel geek to find this stuff entertaining. Luckily, that's exactly what I am. This book is packed full of information. If you like this stuff, it's worth a look, even if you don't read the whole thing.
In the very beginning, it gets into a "what if" discussion which I always enjoy. What if Apollo hadn't had a quick timeline attached to it. Could NASA have spent the amount of time needed to build a good, long-term transportation system? Might we be regularly traveling to the moon and back today? I love to think about these questions. But perhaps if a deadline had not been set, we might still be trying to get to the moon today for lack of political ambition, i.e. money. If public sentiment fell away because no visible accomplishments were being made, then politicians would be quick to pull funding.
The majority of the book is about Skylab. It gives details about all 3 Skylab missions. In the case of the second mission, there is a day to day log book. This is facilitated in large part by Alan Bean's diary.
It's interesting to note that a lot of information from the Skylab experiment is still sitting in files. This could and should have been used along the way to the ISS. However, so much time lapsed that much of the knowledge was forgotten.
A lot of what I read did not seem to be ground breaking research because today it's common knowledge we all take for granted. For example, at the time of Skylab, there were many doctors who thought that a person could not live for a long duration in space without suffering severe health consequences. A lot of the details in the Skylab file will be day to day details about the health stats of the astronauts, how they handled their return to Earth, and even longitudinal studies years after. Skylab proved that humans could live in space and still live out a full life.
Skylab also proved that people could work in space.
There was telescope on board Skylab that they used to take pictures of the Earth and to monitor the sun among other things. The astronauts on the third Skylab mission managed to catch a major CME event and record it from its inception. Very cool.
This book is not for everyone. I would say you need to be a pretty serious space travel geek to find this stuff entertaining. Luckily, that's exactly what I am. This book is packed full of information. If you like this stuff, it's worth a look, even if you don't read the whole thing.
December 11, 2022
David Hitt has written a remarkably thorough account of the history of America's first space station: Skylab. He wrote the book with the help of eight of the nine men who lived aboard the outpost in 1973 and 1974 (with the exception only of the deceased Pete Conrad), along with many flight controllers, engineers, and managers. Each of those who contributed feel thankful for their experience in working on the facility while also feeling that the facility was a vital step forward in human spaceflight. After all, Skylab contained a habitable volume close to sixty times greater than the Apollo Command Module which had previously been the largest spacecraft in which Americans had flown in space. The last crew spent 84 days living there, which was several times the length of the Gemini 7 flight that had previously been the longest American crewed spaceflight. All of this meant that the Skylab crews needed to learn how to live in a microgravity environment, as opposed to simply making a brief sojourn. This lent itself to many lessons learned, whether it concerned food, exercise, extravehicular activity, science experiments, or the layout of such a spacious facility. The reader gains a much greater sense of that thanks to Hitt's attention to detail in bringing these lessons into his book. It also lent itself to problem solving, especially due to a mishap during the launch of Skylab that resulted in the loss of a thermal shield. This required the first crew to deploy a makeshift parasol and free a stuck solar array during an EVA. Hitt's account of how this happened is the most thorough I have ever read. Skylab personnel were foregoing sleep and having their families bring meals to them during that frantic period between the troubled launch of the outpost and the launch of the first crew, which especially drives home the dedication and creativity required to make the space station successful. As it turned out, twenty-seven years passed between the launch of Skylab and the first International Space Station expedition crew (1973 to 2000). This long gap did not make for an ideal situation in terms of instituting lessons learned about life in space, which is a regret that some of the participants voice in this book. But everybody who reads this book will understand that Skylab did contain several positive lessons. The crews and all who supported them faced some serious obstacles, but still proved that with regular exercise humans could thrive in microgravity while carrying out useful work in areas ranging from solar observations, to earth observations, to medical research, and more.
March 20, 2021
I'm working my way chronologically through the outstanding Outward Odyssey series published by the University of Nebraska press, so I went to this one next since this was America's first post-Apollo moon missions endeavor. Because of that, Skylab tends to get overlooked, book-ended as it was by the fist-punch, orgasmic lunar landings and the launch of the Space Shuttle.
To say that is unfair is an understatement, for Skylab's three missions were important for a few reasons, which form the backbone of this history. First, humans can live in space for long durations. Skylab's crewmembers were able to study for the first time the effects of zero-g living on the human body and to perfect what was later used in long-term space missions as far as diet, food (there's a whole fascinating section on menu selection!), and exercise. Second, Skylab showed the viability and value of science-in-space. Solar astronomy and multiple other sciences were shown by the work done on Skylab to be a feasible and logical enterprise for humans in orbit. Third, and this is where the title comes from, any other human endeavors in space have to have Earth's orbit as cradle and Skylab showed that it would work, for years, even. In fact, the original intention was to use Skylab as a waystation for a planned mission to Mars...in the 1970s.
Saturated in interviews with all eight surviving astronauts from the three Skylab missions (Pete Conrad died suddenly in a motorcycle accident) and their unpublished journals, you get an in-depth look at life in space as it happened, from bursting urine bags to the great butter cookie theft of Skylab II.
To say that is unfair is an understatement, for Skylab's three missions were important for a few reasons, which form the backbone of this history. First, humans can live in space for long durations. Skylab's crewmembers were able to study for the first time the effects of zero-g living on the human body and to perfect what was later used in long-term space missions as far as diet, food (there's a whole fascinating section on menu selection!), and exercise. Second, Skylab showed the viability and value of science-in-space. Solar astronomy and multiple other sciences were shown by the work done on Skylab to be a feasible and logical enterprise for humans in orbit. Third, and this is where the title comes from, any other human endeavors in space have to have Earth's orbit as cradle and Skylab showed that it would work, for years, even. In fact, the original intention was to use Skylab as a waystation for a planned mission to Mars...in the 1970s.
Saturated in interviews with all eight surviving astronauts from the three Skylab missions (Pete Conrad died suddenly in a motorcycle accident) and their unpublished journals, you get an in-depth look at life in space as it happened, from bursting urine bags to the great butter cookie theft of Skylab II.
August 10, 2019
Homesteading Space is a great look at the Skylab program from its origins to its eventual demise. It includes personal accounts from many people who worked on all phases of the program, making this book an important historical account of this often overlooked phase of the U.S. space program.
February 21, 2023
A good and enjoyable read on one of my favorite topics. I've been enamored with this space station since grade school, I even wrote a poem about Skylab (and Apollo & the Shuttle) back then. There were lots of great interviews, insights and history in this pretty thorough work.
Echoing some other commenters, I do think it could have used more editing. There were several examples of repetition throughout different chapters. At first, I doubted myself for the "deja vu" sense, but then I started keeping track and noticed the duplications. Part of this might be due to having multiple authors working on the project.
Echoing some other commenters, I do think it could have used more editing. There were several examples of repetition throughout different chapters. At first, I doubted myself for the "deja vu" sense, but then I started keeping track and noticed the duplications. Part of this might be due to having multiple authors working on the project.
July 12, 2023
Even as a definite space nerd, I’m certainly guilty of under-appreciating the relatively short Skylab program - sandwiched in between Apollo and the Space Shuttle - but this fascinating book has certainly changed that. It goes into great detail about the development of the station, the three manned missions to it and the gains in science and knowledge of working in space; you certainly get a good mental picture of Skylab’s layout and what it was like to live there, and you can appreciate that these flights were just as interesting as going to the Moon.
March 28, 2019
It seems to me we all to often trace space exploration history in the U.S. from Mercury through Apollo and onto the Shuttle. The @UnivNebPress "Homesteading Space" about the oft-ignored Skylab missions is a corrective action to this missing piece of space history. It’s an excellent book in every facet. If you love the history of American space exploration, then this book should be on your bookshelf.
September 13, 2021
Really enjoyed the book. I've admired Pete Conrad and Al Bean from Apollo 12, and nice to get to know them better through this work. Also good to get to know the final crew who, to my and others, surprise were all rookies. This was the first missions I really remember growing up. The possibilities seemed immense, but sadly we took so long to come back to space habitation. Al Bean's diary is reproduced in full, and you see a man who worries so much about his crew.
March 29, 2025
Very detailed and comprehensive report of the genesis, preparation and execution of the 3 Skylab missions.
I really enjoyed the book and learned a lot about the realities of living in a space station however I had some difficulty understanding some of the procedures without better photos. Some extra diagrams would be welcome, especially the deploying of the remedial sunshades.
Besides this I recommend this book on a fairly forgotten chapter of space exploration.
I really enjoyed the book and learned a lot about the realities of living in a space station however I had some difficulty understanding some of the procedures without better photos. Some extra diagrams would be welcome, especially the deploying of the remedial sunshades.
Besides this I recommend this book on a fairly forgotten chapter of space exploration.
February 11, 2020
The story behind the idea was more interesting than the mission details (especially #3) but this is the best Skylab book anyone will write so just read it.
Edit: being from Huntsville I really appreciated the Marshall parts. We got to see the neutral buoyancy tank at Space Academy (er, Camp) and I'm sure it's still there.
Edit: being from Huntsville I really appreciated the Marshall parts. We got to see the neutral buoyancy tank at Space Academy (er, Camp) and I'm sure it's still there.
November 26, 2017
I cannot figure out why Hitt chose to include some of the details he did. Instead of adding personality or color, they just bog down the story. I don't care what news stories Houston read to the crew on Day 5 or that the Indianapolis 500 was cut short due to weather.
July 6, 2019
Fantastic insight in the race to homestead space full of details and inside information
December 22, 2024
Drug in places and more detail than some people likely want about some things. But a great resource for lots of details about an underappreciated program in NASA history.
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August 4, 2011517 pages, illustrated. Get this from your library unless you are student of NASA history. It's a Good history of an important but over looked portion of NASA history. Skylab was the 1st US space station. We learned much of what makes long term space missions possible. This is a detailed look at the program. Its written by the men who flew on it and those who made it. This was the 1st space repair mission. Skylab set ground work for the Hubble repair mission, and the building of the International Space Station.
March 22, 2012
This is an amazing book! Filled with unique stories that one would never have imagined in space,and fascinating details, this is a wonderful read!
Displaying 1 - 18 of 18 reviews