Skylab 1 was the launch of America’s first and only space station of the 1970s — a bold repurposing of Apollo-era hardware into an orbital laboratory. Launched on May 14, 1973, atop the last Saturn V rocket ever flown, Skylab was built from a modified S-IVB third stage of the Saturn V, converted into a spacious orbital workshop with living quarters, a solar observatory, and experiment bays.

Disaster struck just 63 seconds after liftoff. During ascent through maximum aerodynamic pressure, the micrometeoroid shield — which also served as a thermal sunshade — tore away from the station. The departing shield ripped off one of Skylab’s two main solar array wings and jammed the other one shut against the workshop hull. Without the shield, the station’s exterior was exposed to direct sunlight, and internal temperatures soared to over 130°F (54°C), threatening to ruin food supplies, film, and onboard experiments.

NASA scrambled to devise a rescue plan. Engineers at Marshall Space Flight Center, Johnson Space Center, and contractor facilities worked around the clock to design a deployable parasol sunshade that could be pushed through a scientific airlock to shade the hull. They also developed tools for the Skylab 2 crew to free the jammed solar wing during a risky EVA. The repairs would become one of NASA’s greatest improvisational feats.

Despite the crippled state, Skylab successfully reached orbit at approximately 270 miles altitude. Over the next six years, the station hosted three crews (Skylab 2, 3, and 4) who performed groundbreaking research in solar astronomy, Earth observation, materials science, and the effects of long-duration spaceflight on the human body. After the final crew departed in February 1974, Skylab orbited unoccupied. Higher-than-expected solar activity expanded the upper atmosphere, increasing drag on the station. On July 11, 1979, Skylab reentered the atmosphere, scattering debris across the Indian Ocean and Western Australia. The Shire of Esperance in Australia famously fined NASA $400 for littering.