Editing Skylab (section)

=== Crewed missions ===
[[File:S73-32568skylab3saturnibnight.jpg|thumb|right|upright|Skylab 3's Saturn IB at night, July 1973]]
[[File:Skylab 3 flyaround.jpg|thumb|left|Skylab in orbit in 1973 as flown, docking ports in view]]

Three crewed missions, [[#Mission designations|designated]] [[Skylab 2]], [[Skylab 3]], and [[Skylab 4]], were made to Skylab in [[Apollo command and service module]]s. The first crewed mission, Skylab 2, was launched on May 25, 1973, by a Saturn IB and involved extensive repairs to the station. The crew deployed a parasol-like sunshade through a small instrument port from the inside of the station, bringing station temperatures down to acceptable levels and preventing overheating that would have melted the plastic insulation inside the station and released poisonous gases. This solution was designed by [[Jack Kinzler]], who won the [[NASA Distinguished Service Medal]] for his efforts. The crew conducted further repairs via two [[spacewalk]]s ([[extravehicular activity]] or EVA). The crew stayed in orbit with Skylab for 28 days. Two additional missions followed, with the launch dates of July 28, 1973, (Skylab 3) and November 16, 1973, (Skylab 4), and mission durations of 59 and 84 days, respectively. The last Skylab crew returned to Earth on February 8, 1974.<ref>{{cite web |url = https://space.skyrocket.de/doc_sdat/apollo-csm.htm |title = Apollo 201, 202, 4 – 17 / Skylab 2, 3, 4 / ASTP (CSM)}}</ref>

In addition to the three crewed missions, there was a rescue mission on standby that had a crew of two, but could take five back down.
* Skylab 2: launched May 25, 1973<ref>{{Cite web |title=SL-2 (Skylab 1) |url=http://heroicrelics.org/naval-aviation/apollo-sl-2/index.html |access-date=2023-02-19 | publisher= Naval Aviation Museum |website=heroicrelics.org}} {{pd-notice}}</ref>
* Skylab 3: launched July 28, 1973
* Skylab 4: launched November 16, 1973
* Skylab 5: cancelled
* Skylab Rescue on standby

Also of note was the three-man crew of [[Skylab Medical Experiment Altitude Test]] (SMEAT), who spent 56 days in 1972 at low-pressure on Earth to evaluate medical experiment equipment.<ref name="part3b">{{cite web |url=https://history.nasa.gov/SP-4011/part3b.htm|title=part3b|website=history.nasa.gov|access-date=19 January 2017}} {{PD-notice}}</ref> This was a spaceflight analog test in full gravity, but Skylab hardware was tested and medical knowledge was gained.