Skylab
Skylab was the United States' first space station, and the second space station visited by a human crew. It was also the only space station NASA launched alone.
The 100-ton Skylab space station was in Earth's orbit from 1973 to 1979 and it was visited by crews three times in 1973 and 1974.
Skylab was launched 14 May 1973 into a 235 nautical mile (435 km) orbit. Severe damage was sustained during launch, including the loss of the station's micrometeoroid shield and one of its main solar panels. Debris from the lost micrometeoroid shield further complicated matters by pinning the remaining solar panel to the side of the station, preventing its deployment, thus leaving the station with a huge power deficit.
The station underwent extensive repair during a spacewalk by the first crew, which launched on 25 May 1973. They stayed in orbit with Skylab for 28 days. Two additional missions followed on 28 July 1973 and 16 November 1973 with stay times of 59 and 84 days, respectively. The last Skylab crew returned to Earth on 8 February 1974.
Skylab orbited Earth 2,476 times during the 171 days and 13 hours with astronauts aboard during the three manned Skylab missions. Ten spacewalks totaling 42 hours 16 minutes were performed. Skylab logged about 2,000 hours of scientific and medical experiments, including eight solar experiments. Many of the experiments conducted investigated the astronauts' adaptation to extended periods of microgravity. Each Skylab mission set a record for the amount of time astronauts spent in space.
And on each mission, the astronauts were accompanied by their OMEGA Speedmaster Professional wristwatches.
