Editing Skylab (section)

=== Operations ===
For the final two crewed missions to Skylab, NASA assembled a backup Apollo CSM/Saturn IB in case an in-orbit rescue mission was needed, but this vehicle was never flown. The station was damaged during launch when the [[Space debris|micrometeoroid shield]] tore away from the workshop, taking one of the main solar panel arrays with it and jamming the other main array. This deprived Skylab of most of its electrical power and also removed protection from intense solar heating, threatening to make it unusable. The first crew deployed a replacement heat shade and freed the jammed solar panels to save Skylab. This was the first time that a repair of this magnitude was performed in space.

The Apollo Telescope significantly advanced solar science, and observation of the [[Sun]] was unprecedented. Astronauts took thousands of photographs of Earth, and the [[Earth Resources Experiment Package]] (EREP) viewed Earth with sensors that recorded data in the [[Visible spectrum|visible]], [[infrared]], and [[microwave]] spectral regions. The record for human time spent in orbit was extended beyond the 23 days set by the [[Soyuz 11]] crew aboard [[Salyut 1]] to 84 days by the [[Skylab 4]] crew.

Later plans to reuse Skylab were stymied by delays in the development of the Space Shuttle, and Skylab's [[decaying orbit]] could not be stopped. Skylab's atmospheric reentry began on July 11, 1979,<ref name=benson371/> amid worldwide media attention. Before re-entry, NASA ground controllers tried to adjust Skylab's orbit to minimize the risk of debris landing in populated areas,<ref name="time19790716"/> targeting the south Indian Ocean, which was partially successful. Debris showered [[Western Australia]], and recovered pieces indicated that the station had disintegrated lower than expected.<ref name= lewis1984/> As the Skylab program drew to a close, NASA's focus had shifted to the development of the Space Shuttle. NASA space station and laboratory projects included [[Spacelab]], [[Shuttle-Mir|Shuttle-''Mir'']], and [[Space Station Freedom|Space Station ''Freedom'']], which was merged into the International Space Station.