The Skylab Rescue Mission was an unflown rescue mission, planned as a contingency in the event of astronauts being stranded aboard the American Skylab space station. If flown, it would have used a modified Apollo Command Module that could be launched with a crew of two and return a crew of five.
Skylab Rescue Command Module Diagram
Skylab rescue crew portrait (Left to right; Vance Brand and Don Lind)
The Skylab Rescue CSM is removed from its Saturn IB Launch vehicle in the Vehicle Assembly Building, following the successful recovery of Skylab 4.
CSM 119 on display at the Apollo/Saturn V Center
Skylab was the United States' first space station, launched by NASA, occupied for about 24 weeks between May 1973 and February 1974. It was operated by three trios of astronaut crews: Skylab 2, Skylab 3, and Skylab 4. 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.
Skylab as photographed by its departing final crew (Skylab 4).
Skylab configuration as planned
Von Braun's sketch of a Space Station based on conversion of a Saturn V stage, 1964
The floor grating of Skylab under construction