NASA Skylab News Reference

Книга "NASA Skylab News Reference". America's first space station, known as Skylab, proved the concept of a zero-g laboratory and orbiting observatory, and paved the way for today's International Space Station. Launched on May 14, 1973, the station nearly didn't make it into operation when an aluminum micro-meteoroid shield tore loose during lift-off, taking one of two solar power arrays with it. While Skylab made orbit, the station was left underpowered and its interior overheated. NASA quickly came up with a salvage plan and after a ten-day delay the crew of the SL-2 mission rendezvoused with the station. Contingency repairs, including the installation of a parasol-like sun shield and deployment of the remaining solar array, succeeded and Skylab functioned more or less as intended for the duration of its mission. During that time two additional crews designated SL-3 and SL-4 visited the station and conducted a wide range of experiments. The SL-4 crew departed the station ...