[Skylab.]

Washington, National Aeronautics and Space Administration, Office of Public Affairs, 1973. 4to. (2),+ i,+ (blank),+ ii-1-10,+ iii-1-7,+ (blank),+ I-1-48,+ II-1-100,+ III-1-76,+ IV1-28,+ V-1-12,+ VI-120,+ VII-1-6,+ VIII-1-8,+ IX-1-2,+ X-1-10,+ XI-1-2,+ XII-1-6,+ A-1-8,+ B-1-5,+ (9) pp. Richly illustrated in black & white. One folding design in pagination. A few pencil marks. Publisher’s printed wrappers, spine extremities worn. Owner’s signature of Carl O. Löfman on front cover, title lettered on spine, both with black felt pen. The Skylab was the first space station of the United States and pioneered the concept of a laboratory in zero gravity, combined with a orbiting observatory. It was sent into orbit by a Saturn V rocket on May 14 1973 and met with problems during the launch. A micrometeoroid shield was torn off, taking one of the two main solar panel arrays with it and jamming the second one. Repairs, which were largely successful, had to be undertaken by the first crew and after some initial uncertainties Skylab could be put into operation. Between May 1973 and February 1974 three separate crews conducted solar and earth observations and made a large number of experiments. For some time, plans were made to push Skylab into a higher orbit using the Space Shuttle, but delays in the development of the latter made this option impossible. On July 11 1979, Skylab reentered the atmosphere and disintegrated.The Skylab News Reference was compiled by NASA to inform the press corps about the mission and contains detailed information on everything from the hardware and systems of the space station to its missions, experiments and crews. In a separate section, various experiments designed by American high school students are presented. A new edition was published in 2012 and this original printing is now getting hard to find.The present copy was bought directly at the NASA press center by the Swedish photographer and Emmy-awarded tv-producer Carl O. Löfman (1938-2016).