Between May 1973 and February 1974 three teams of astronauts increased the American space endurance record from 14 days, set in 1965, to three months aboard the Skylab space station in missions lasting 28, 59 and 84 days. American astronauts did not surpass these records for over 20 years until the NASA Mir missions began in 1995. In "Skylab - America's space station", David Shayler chronicles the evolution of the station, its infrastructure on the ground including astronaut training, each of the three manned missions, summary of results, achievements and the lessons learned. The creation of the International Space Station is the real legacy of Skylab as American astronauts once again embark on extended missions around the Earth.

Book & DVD. By the end of 1973 the United States was firmly entrenched in its long-term space station program. The Skylab Orbital Workshop had managed to survive its birthing pains and had already successfully carried two crews in low earth orbit when Apollo astronauts Gerald Carr, William Pogue and Ed Gibson strapped themselves atop one of the remaining Saturn IB super boosters. Destined to be the second-to-last crew to fly in the remarkable Apollo spacecraft the three men would spend an unprecedented 84 days in space. Although none of them had any previous spaceflight experience they had all trained for many years in hopes of a trip to the moon, only to find themselves slated to set new long-duration records for spaceflight. Over almost three months Carr, Pogue and Gibson conducted an inordinate amount of experiments inside the cavernous Skylab space station. They studied the sun in ways never before achieved, monitoring solar flares and coronal mass ejections from our home star. They also began the first real work of earth observation. The crew of Skylab 4 proved that it was possible for humans to live in space for extended periods without too many adverse effects. They worked out the first stringent space exercise regimens to help them to maintain their health and they conducted multiple spacewalks. Without a doubt, the crew of Skylab 4 pioneered the way forward in space station research and their efforts would light the path for the International Space Station. In this book you will find the remarkable details of NASAs final early space station experiment through the original documents published at the time of the mission, including the mission debriefing telling the story in the crews own words. Included with this book is a DVD featuring launch video of the Skylab 4 mission, rare audio of the re-entry of Skylab with a Skylab slideshow, Skylab 4 Status Report, Skylab 4 Inflight Press Conference, The Legacy of Skylab and more!