Editing Skylab (section)

== Background ==
Rocket engineer [[Wernher von Braun]], science fiction writer [[Arthur C. Clarke]], and other early advocates of crewed space travel, expected until the 1960s that a space station would be an important early step in space exploration. Von Braun participated in the publishing of a series of influential articles in ''[[Collier's]]'' magazine from 1952 to 1954, titled "[[Man Will Conquer Space Soon!]]". He envisioned a large, circular station {{convert|250|ft|m|round=5}} in diameter that would rotate to generate [[artificial gravity]] and require a fleet of {{convert|7000|ST|t|sp=us|abbr=off}} [[Space Shuttle design process|space shuttles]] for construction in orbit. The 80 men aboard the station would include [[astronomer]]s operating a telescope, [[meteorologist]]s to forecast the weather, and soldiers to conduct surveillance. Von Braun expected that future expeditions to the [[Moon]] and [[Mars]] would leave from the station.<ref>{{harvp|Heppenheimer|1999|pp=2–5}}.</ref>

The development of the [[transistor]], the [[solar cell]], and [[telemetry]], led in the 1950s and early 1960s to uncrewed satellites that could take photographs of weather patterns or enemy nuclear weapons and send them to Earth. A large station was no longer necessary for such purposes, and the United States [[Apollo program]] to send men to the Moon chose a mission mode that would not need in-orbit assembly. A smaller station that a single rocket could launch retained value, however, for scientific purposes.<ref>{{harvp|Heppenheimer|1999|pp=55–60}}.</ref>

=== Early studies ===
[[File:Dr. von Braun's Sketch of the Space Station 8883912 original.jpg|thumb|upright|Von Braun's sketch of a Space Station based on conversion of a Saturn V stage, 1964]]

In 1959, von Braun, head of the Development Operations Division at the [[Army Ballistic Missile Agency]], submitted his final [[Project Horizon]] plans to the [[United States Army|U.S. Army]]. The overall goal of Horizon was to place men on the Moon, a mission that would soon be taken over by the rapidly forming NASA. Although concentrating on the Moon missions, von Braun also detailed an orbiting laboratory built out of a Horizon upper stage,<ref>{{harvp|Benson|Compton|1983|p=23}}.</ref> an idea used for Skylab.<ref>{{harvp|Benson|Compton|1983|p=9}}.</ref> A number of NASA centers studied various space station designs in the early 1960s. Studies generally looked at platforms launched by the Saturn V, followed up by crews launched on Saturn IB using an [[Apollo command and service module]],<ref>{{harvp|Benson|Compton|1983|p=10}}.</ref> or a [[Project Gemini|Gemini capsule]]<ref>{{harvp|Benson|Compton|1983|p=14}}.</ref> on a [[Titan II GLV|Titan II-C]], the latter being much less expensive in the case where cargo was not needed. Proposals ranged from an Apollo-based station with two to three men, or a small "canister" for four men with Gemini capsules resupplying it, to a large, rotating station with 24 men and an operating lifetime of about five years.<ref>{{harvp|Benson|Compton|1983|pp=13–14}}.</ref> A proposal to study the use of a Saturn S-IVB as a crewed space laboratory was documented in 1962 by the [[Douglas Aircraft Company]].<ref>{{cite book|title=MSFC Skylab Orbital Workshop Vol. 1|date=May 1974|page=21-1|oclc=840704188}} {{PD-notice}}</ref>

=== Air Force plans ===
The [[United States Department of Defense|Department of Defense]] (DoD) and NASA cooperated closely in many areas of space.<ref>{{harvp|Heppenheimer|1999|pp=198–202}}.</ref> In September 1963, NASA and the DoD agreed to cooperate in building a space station.<ref name="ReferenceA">{{harvp|Benson|Compton|1983|p=17}}.</ref> The DoD wanted its own crewed facility, however,<ref name="Heppenheimer203">{{harvp|Heppenheimer|1999|p=203}}.</ref> and in December 1963 it announced [[Manned Orbital Laboratory]] (MOL), a small space station primarily intended for photo reconnaissance using large telescopes directed by a two-person crew. The station was the same diameter as a [[Titan II GLV|Titan II upper stage]], and would be launched with the crew riding atop in a modified Gemini capsule with a hatch cut into the [[heat shield]] on the bottom of the capsule.<ref>{{harvp|Benson|Compton|1983|pp=17–19}}.</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.astronautix.com/craft/mol.htm |title=MOL (Manned Orbiting Laboratory)|url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090721035424/http://www.astronautix.com/craft/mol.htm|archive-date=July 21, 2009}}</ref> MOL competed for funding with a NASA station for the next five years<ref>{{harvp|Benson|Compton|1983|p=15}}.</ref> and politicians and other officials often suggested that NASA participate in MOL or use the DoD design.<ref name=Heppenheimer203/> The military project led to changes to the NASA plans so that they would resemble MOL less.<ref name="ReferenceA"/>