Next came the missing solar panel. When it was ripped off during launch, debris, wiring, tubing and metal straps became stuck against the opposite solar wing, still flush against Skylab's body.

The first crewed Skylab mission arrived 12 days later with a new replacement heat shade, and they were able to fix the jammed solar panel and get the station up and running. Space.com ...

The ATM contained telescopes for solar observations and four solar arrays for additional power. Once in orbit, the station weighed 170,000 lbs. Photos: Skylab, the 1st U.S. space station ...

Flight controllers moved Skylab's secondary solar panels to face the sun to provide as much electricity as possible, but because of the loss of the debris shield this caused the station's interior ...

Flight controllers moved Skylab's secondary solar panels to face the sun to provide as much electricity as possible, but because of the loss of the debris shield this caused the station's interior ...

Skylab was intended to have two solar panels to supply electrical power to the station, but when the station arrived in orbit in 1973, one was found to be missing, while the other had not deployed.

Nearly four years later, Skylab was launched on May 14, 1973, and became the first American space station to reach orbit. However, there were multiple issues that arose putting the mission in jeopardy ...

While shut down for a four-year nap, Skylab's orbit had decayed, and a surprisingly active solar cycle in 1977 had warmed up Earth's atmosphere, expanding it and rendering it denser than expected.

But the station’s actual power levels averaged a measly 25 watts. ... Part of the heat shield’s debris wrapped itself around the Skylab’s No. 2 solar array and damaged the No. 1 array’s ...

The first crew to Skylab, whose launch was delayed by 10 days, installed a parasol-like sun shield and fully extended the jammed solar panel wing, while the second crew deployed a second sun ...

Skylab's re-entry into the atmosphere in July of 1979 was really a huge loss. The plan was to keep it in orbit until the Space Shuttle was ready, when a reboost mission could be undertaken to ...