Skylab 3

Skylab 3 carried Alan Bean, Owen Garriott, and Jack Lousma to America's first space station on July 28, 1973. Their second crewed expedition lasted approximately 59.5 days, more than doubling the first crew's stay and setting a human-spaceflight endurance record. The mission began with serious Apollo service-module thruster leaks. The crew completed docking with one thruster cluster disabled, then shut down another after reaching the station. NASA prepared a possible rescue flight by Vance Brand and Don Lind, but simulator work established procedures for a safe return with the remaining thrusters and the rescue launch was cancelled. Early space-motion sickness also delayed work. On August 6, Garriott and Lousma installed a twin-pole sunshade during a spacewalk, improving thermal protection. Further EVAs serviced solar-observatory film and station equipment. The crew pursued medical studies, Earth observations, solar astronomy, and technology experiments before returning safely on September 25. The expedition combined a large research programme with practical demonstrations of repair, contingency planning, and sustained orbital habitation.