Pioneering the Heights: Skylab Quiz

Skylab was launched on May 14, 1973. It was created using the third stage of a Saturn V rocket, which was originally intended for a Moon mission but repurposed to create a laboratory in Earth orbit.

True. High-speed winds during launch tore away the micrometeoroid shield and one solar wing. The first crew had to perform the first major "repair mission" in space to save the station from overheating.

Because Skylab’s interior was huge (about the size of a three-bedroom house), astronauts had to push off a surface (action) to receive an equal force pushing them forward (reaction). If they got stuck in the middle of a room, they had no way to move!

To save money and time, NASA used a leftover Saturn V stage. Instead of being full of fuel, it was outfitted as a living space and lab, making it the largest pressurized volume ever put into orbit at that time.

Skylab carried the Apollo Telescope Mount, which took over 150,000 photos of the Sun. It also proved that humans could live and work in space for months at a time, paving the way for the ISS.

With the heat shield gone, temperatures inside reached 126°F. The crew pushed a folding sunshade through a small port (action/reaction) to block the sunlight, cooling the station down so they could live inside.

True. Because Skylab was so spacious, it had a shower (a collapsible bag) and enough room for astronauts to run around the circular walls. This helped study how centripetal force and motion work in microgravity.

Missions SL-2, SL-3, and SL-4 each broke records for time spent in space. The final crew stayed for 84 days, which was a massive feat for the 1970s.

Just like on the ISS today, Skylab crews used exercise to fight the effects of weightlessness. Without a force pushing back against their bones, they would lose density and strength.

NASA hoped to save Skylab using the Space Shuttle, but the shuttle wasn't ready in time. Increased solar activity caused the atmosphere to expand, dragging Skylab down until it broke up over the Indian Ocean and Western Australia.

True. Two spiders named Arabella and Anita were sent to Skylab. They initially struggled to build webs in microgravity but eventually learned to adjust their "actions" to the lack of gravity to create perfect webs.

In space, every time you try to turn a screwdriver (action), your body will spin in the opposite direction (reaction). By locking their feet into the floor, astronauts could apply force to tools without spinning away.

Attached to the side of the station, the ATM allowed astronauts to study the Sun's corona and solar flares in X-ray and ultraviolet light, which are blocked by Earth's atmosphere.

Skylab was very advanced for its time. It featured a wardroom with a table for eating and a large window for viewing the Earth. The crew had small, curtained areas for sleeping so they wouldn't float away.

Feeling overworked by Mission Control, the final crew turned off their radio for a day to rest and look out the window. It taught NASA that mental health and downtime are just as important as science on long-distance missions.

True. Because the heart doesn't have to work as hard to pump blood "up" against gravity, it actually shrinks slightly. This was one of the many biological discoveries made during the 171 total days of human occupation.

After the Moon missions ended, NASA used the remaining Apollo capsules and small Saturn 1B rockets to ferry crews up to the station and back down to a splashdown in the ocean.

The town of Esperance playfully sent NASA a $400 littering ticket after pieces of the station landed nearby. A radio station eventually paid the fine for NASA years later!

Everything we know about living in space for a long time started with Skylab. It was the first "home away from home" that proved we could survive the journey to another planet.

Skylab used large spinning wheels called gyroscopes. By changing the speed of these wheels (action), the station would rotate in the opposite direction (reaction). This allowed it to point the solar telescope at the Sun with extreme accuracy.