 Skylab as seen by the arriving Skylab 3 crew | |
| Operator | NASA |
|---|---|
| COSPAR ID | 1973-050A |
| SATCAT no. | 6757 |
| Mission duration | 59 days, 11 hours, 09 minutes, 01 seconds |
| Distance travelled | 39,400,000 kilometers (24,500,000 mi) |
| Orbits completed | 858 |
| Spacecraft properties | |
| Spacecraft | Apollo CSM-117 |
| Manufacturer | North American Rockwell |
| Launch mass | 20,121 kilograms (44,359 lb) |
| Crew | |
| Crew size | 3 |
| Members | |
| Start of mission | |
| Launch date | July 28, 1973 |
| Rocket | Saturn IB SA-207 |
| Launch site | Kennedy LC-39B |
| End of mission | |
| Recovered by | USS New Orleans |
| Landing date | September 25, 1973, 22:19:51 UTC |
| Landing site | 30°47′N 120°29′W / 30.783°N 120.483°W |
| Orbital parameters | |
| Reference system | Geocentric |
| Regime | Low Earth |
| Perigee altitude | 423 kilometers (263 mi) |
| Apogee altitude | 441 kilometers (274 mi) |
| Inclination | 50.0 degrees |
| Period | 93.2 minutes |
| Epoch | August 8, 1973[1] |
| Docking with Skylab | |
| Docking port | Forward |
| Docking date | July 28, 1973, 19:37:00 UTC |
| Undocking date | September 25, 1973, 11:16:42 UTC |
| Time docked | 58 days, 15 hours, 39 minutes, 42 seconds |
 Due to a NASA management error, crewed Skylab mission patches were designed in conflict with the official mission numbering scheme.  L-R: Garriott, Lousma and Bean Skylab program | |
Skylab 3 (also SL-3 and SLM-2[2]) was the second crewed mission to the first American space station, Skylab. The mission began on July 28, 1973, with the launch of NASA astronauts Alan Bean, Owen Garriott, and Jack Lousma in the Apollo command and service module on the Saturn IB rocket, and lasted 59 days, 11 hours and 9 minutes.[3] A total of 1,084.7 astronaut-utilization hours were tallied by the Skylab 3 crew performing scientific experiments in the areas of medical activities, solar observations, Earth resources, and other experiments.
The crewed Skylab missions were officially designated Skylab 2, 3, and 4.[4] Miscommunication about the numbering resulted in the mission emblems reading "Skylab I", "Skylab II", and "Skylab 3" respectively.[2][5]
- ^ McDowell, Jonathan. "SATCAT". Jonathan's Space Pages. Retrieved March 23, 2014.
- ^ a b "Skylab Numbering Fiasco". Living in Space. William Pogue Official WebSite. 2007. Archived from the original on February 2, 2009. Retrieved February 7, 2009.
- ^ "Skylab 3 Characteristics SP-4012 NASA Historical Data Book". NASA. Retrieved November 12, 2022.
- ^ "NASA Skylab Chronology". NASA. Retrieved November 12, 2022.
- ^ Pogue, William. "Naming Spacecraft: Confusion Reigns". collectSPACE. Retrieved April 24, 2011.