HUNTSVILLE, Ala. (WHNT) — Looking for some ‘out of this world’ activities at no cost for the kids this summer?
The U.S. Space & Rocket Center (USSRC) will be celebrating the 50th anniversary of SkyLab, America’s first space station, with a series of completely free activities that are scheduled throughout the summer.
Events will begin on Sunday, May 28 at 2 p.m. when the USSRC will host ‘Cocktail Napkin to Space Station: Skylab’s Origin Story’. It will take place in the Rocket Center Discovery Theater.
The program is set to explore the “challenges and opportunities of launching an orbiting laboratory where Americans would live and work in space.”
Other events in the series will include:
- ‘The Science of Skylab’ – A discussion focusing on the range of experiments done during SkyLab’s three missions and how NASA first engaged students across the country to contribute ideas for scientific research.
- Sunday, June 18 at 2 p.m. in the Discover Theater
- ‘Lessons on Living in Space: Skylab’ – A key step in learning the effects of space on humans and equipment during long stays in space was Skylab’s missions. These lessons helped drive the design and functions of today’s International Space Station.
- Sunday, July 2, 2 p.m. in Discover Theater
- ‘Saving Skylab’ Documentary and Panel Discussion – The documentary and discussion will show the “heroic efforts to repair the solar arrays on the Skylab orbiter” after they were badly damaged in liftoff.
- Thursday, Aug. 17, at 6 p.m. – National Geographic Theater in the Davidson Center for Space Exploration
Skylab was managed by the Marshall Space Flight Center. USSRC said the first space station lifted off on May 14, 1963, on the last Saturn V Rocket.
Three astronauts lived aboard the station on missions that lasted anywhere from 28 to 85 days. These took place between May and November 1973.
For more information on these events, you can visit the ‘Summer of Skylab’ website.
