Homesteading Space - The Skylab Story

Pioneering long-duration spaceflight, the three Skylab missions are chronicled here by an authorial team that includes Skylab astronauts Owen Garriott and Joe Kerwin. Written largely in oral-history style, with extensive quotation from participants in the Skylab program, the work explains the genesis of the space-station concept, the decisions that led to its actual configuration, and the station’s near-death experience when launched in 1973. As space-history readers know, critical pieces of Skylab ripped off during its launch, causing a crisis overcome by repairs the first crew made in one of NASA’s finer moments.