Skylab's In-Orbit Repair and Reboost Plan

America's first space station, Skylab, suffered significant damage during launch in 1973, prompting astronauts to perform an urgent spacewalk to free a jammed solar array and deploy a sunshade to save the mission. There were also ambitious plans for a Space Shuttle mission to reboost Skylab, which ultimately never happened before its re-entry.

The top 3

1. Skylab's First-Ever Orbital Rescue: Key Repairs: The Skylab 2 crew executed critical in-orbit repairs, deploying an improvised parasol sunshade to cool the overheated station and freeing a jammed solar array, marking the first major space station repair of its kind.
2. The Skylab Reboost Mission That Never Flew: NASA planned for the Space Shuttle (STS-2A) to launch a Teleoperator Retrieval System (TRS) to reboost Skylab, with astronauts Fred Haise and Jack Lousma, but Shuttle delays and increased solar activity led to Skylab's early reentry in 1979.
3. Skylab's Repair: Top 3 Precedents for Future Space Missions: The Skylab repair demonstrated unprecedented capabilities: the first complex in-orbit EVA repair of a major spacecraft component, the successful improvisation of tools in space (like the pole cutter), and proved human ability to save a critical, damaged asset, setting precedents for later missions like the Hubble Space Telescope servicing and International Space Station assembly. Skylab

Sources

• STS-2A
• The Last Hurrah: Skylab's 1978-1979 Unmanned Mission - NSS - National Space Society
• Skylab 2: First Repair Spacewalk - NASA
• Space Rocket History #432 – Skylab – Reboost

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