1973 – Skylab, the United States’ first space station, is launched. Skylab is occupied between May 1973 and February 1974. There were three astronaut crews: Skylab 2, Skylab 3, and Skylab 4. Skylab was constructed from a repurposed Saturn V third stage (the S-IVB). Operations included an orbital workshop, a solar observatory, Earth observation and hundreds of experiments. Skylab’s orbit eventually decayed and it disintegrated in the atmosphere on July 11, 1979, scattering debris across the Indian Ocean and Western Australia.
Birthdays
1952 – Donald R. McMonagle, born in Flint, Michigan, USA is a retired American astronaut and Colonel in the US Air Force. Selection: 1987 NASA Group. Time in space 25d 05h 34m on Missions STS-39, STS-54, STS-66.
1964 – James M. Kelly, born in Burlington, Iowa, USA is an American astronaut and retired Colonel in the US Air Force. He was a member of the 1996 NASA Group. Time in space 26d 17h 21m on Missions STS-102, STS-114
1679 – Peder Horrebow Danish Astronomer who invented a
way to determine a place’s latitude from the stars now known as the Horrebow-Talcott Method. The crater Horrebow on the Moon is named after him.