Skylab was the first U.S. space station, launched by NASA on May 14, 1973.
The station was built from a modified Saturn V rocket stage and included living quarters, laboratories, solar observatories, and an Earth-observation system. Its launch damaged a protective micrometeoroid shield and one solar array, but astronauts repaired the station during the first crewed mission.
Three crews visited Skylab between May 1973 and February 1974. They conducted biomedical studies, Earth observations, solar research, and experiments in microgravity. The final crew spent nearly three months aboard, setting a human spaceflight endurance record at the time.
Skylab was not permanently occupied and was never expanded into an international complex. It reentered Earth’s atmosphere in 1979, with debris falling across parts of Australia and the Indian Ocean.