Manned Space Flight, USA, Apollo-Skylab The Skylab space station, 1974

Manned Space Flight, USA, Apollo-Skylab The Skylab space station, 1974. This view of America's first space station was taken at the end of the third and last manned mission, Skylab 4, to the station. Astronauts Gerald Carr, Edward Gibson and William Pogue lived aboard Skylab from 16th November 1973 to 8th February 1974, setting what was then a world spaceflight endurance record of 84 days. Skylab was intended to have two solar panels to supply electrical power to the station, but when the station arrived in orbit in 1973, one was found to be missing, while the other had not deployed. The first crew to visit the station made a spacewalk and were able to deploy the panel, restoring power to Skylab. The absence of the missing panel can clearly be seen in this picture. ©SSPL/NASA