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Skylab 2 or SL-2 was the first human spaceflight mission to Skylab, the first U.S. orbital space station. The mission was launched on a Saturn IB rocket. The name also refers to the vehicle used for that mission. Skylab 2 established a record for human spaceflight duration. (Skylab 2 was sometimes called Skylab 1, but this name properly refers to the unmanned launch of the space station itself.)
Crew Backup Crew Support Crew Mission parameters Space walks See also Mission highlights Launched on May 25, 1973 the first Skylab crew's main job first was to repair the space station. Skylab's meteorite and sunshield and one of its solar arrays had torn loose during launch, and the remaining primary solar array was jammed. Due to concerns that high temperatures inside the workshop — the result of no sunshield — would release toxic materials and ruin on-board film and food, the crew had to work fast. After a failed attempt to deploy the stuck solar panel, they set up a "parasol" as a replacement sunshade. The "fix" worked, and temperatures inside dropped low enough that the crew could enter. Two weeks later Conrad and Kerwin conducted a space-walk, and after a struggle, were able to free the stuck solar panel and begin electricity flowing to their new "home." For nearly a month they made further repairs to the workshop, conducted medical experiments, gathered solar and Earth science data and returned some 29,000 frames of film with a total of 392 hours of experiments. The Skylab 2 astronauts spent 28 days in space, which doubled the previous U.S. record. The mission lasted until June 22, 1973. Skylab 2 splashed down in the Pacific Ocean 9.6 km from the recovery ship, USS ''Ticonderoga''. The mission set the records for the longest duration manned spaceflight, greatest distance traveled and greatest mass docked in space. Conrad set the record for most time in space for an astronaut. Spacecraft location The command module they flew to the station in is displayed at the National Museum of Naval Aviation, Pensacola, Florida. | ||||||||
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