To view items in this collection, use the Online Finding Aid

Skylab was a manned space station launched into Earth orbit by the United States in May 1973. It was made from the third stage of a Saturn V launch vehicle. A crew of three astronauts occupied Skylab during each of three missions. The longest mission, which ended in February 1974, lasted almost three months. The Skylab missions obtained vast amounts of scientific data, and they demonstrated to the American public that people could live and work productively in space for months at a time. The Orbital workshop (OWS) was a modified Saturn 4B stage that served as crew quarters. It could hold provisions for a three-man crew for up to 84 days each. Skylab crews lived and did most of their scientific research in the workshop.

Identifier

NASM.XXXX.0090

Creator

McDonnell Douglas Corp. McDonnell Douglas Astronautics Co.

Date

1970-1974

Provenance

No donor information, Gift, unknown, XXXX-0090, unknown

Extent

1.53 Cubic feet ((1 records center box) (1 flatbox))

Archival Repository

National Air and Space Museum Archives

Scope and Contents

This collection consists of McDonnell-Douglas Astronautics Co. documents relating to the construction of NASA's Skylab Orbital Workshop in 1970-1972. It contains still photographs covering the construction of the vehicle and its transportation to Kennedy Space Center, Florida, which were submitted to NASA every month during the project. Also included are daily status reports during the operating life of Skylab (29 May 1973 - 8 February 1974), as well as engineering drawings of the vehicle prepared by McDonnell-Douglas for the Smithsonian Institution's National Air and Space Museum.

Rights

Material is subject to Smithsonian Terms of Use. Should you wish to use NASM material in any medium, please submit an Application for Permission to Reproduce NASM Material, available at Permissions Requests

Restrictions

No restrictions on access

Topics

Astronautics

Astronautics

Manned space flight

Space vehicles

Skylab Orbital Workshop

Type

Collection descriptions

Archival materials

Photographs

Drawings

Reports