Fifty years ago, America’s space program achieved its greatest triumph, when Apollo Eleven put the first men on the moon.
The Apollo program was a remarkable success story. But as NASA was sending men to the moon, they were engaged in another, less celebrated project — one even more important than the moon landings to humanity’s potential future in space. That project was called Skylab — America’s first space station.
Chances are you’ve never heard of Skylab. If you know anything about it at all, you know that after it was launched into orbit, it came crashing back down to Earth. But before that crash, Skylab taught NASA more things about living and working in space than any program before it.
So why did one of the engineers who worked on Skylab once call it “the little redheaded bastard out behind the barn”? Why do so many accounts of NASA’s achievements barely mention it? Why have most Americans never heard of America’s first space station?
Support us by supporting our Sponsors!
JustWorks - Try Justworks for yourself. For a limited time, you can get 2 free months when you go to justworks.com/ai
Listen Now: Wow in the World's Summer of Wow!
Listen Now: Once Upon a Beat
The Mystery of Stuxnet | Cracking the Code | 1
Man with No Memory | The Accident | 1
Predator Drone | From Albatross to Amber | 1
Pushing Painkillers | An Untapped Market | 1
Social Media | Find Your Friends | 1
Fracking | The Source Rock | 1
Cryonics | Immortality On Ice | 1
Storm Chasers | Tornado Alley | 1
Hacking | What’s in the Blue Box? | 1
Breaking The Sound Barrier | A Bullet With Wings | 1
Lie Detector | The Heart of a Liar | 1
Mission To Mars | Seeing Red | 1
Year In Review | When Will I Get the Vaccine? | 1
Telephone | Call Waiting | 1
Auto-Tune: From Cher to Kanye | 1
The Fight Against AIDS | The Epidemic Begins | 1
Keeping Cool | A Chilly Reception | 1
Video Games | Electric Dreams | 1
Create your
podcast in
minutes
It is Free
Prognosis: Losing it
Mythology
Tiny Desk Concerts - Video
Matter of Opinion
Proof