SkyLab B

Mission Profile

Skylab B was the backup hardware built for NASA's Skylab space station program, consisting of a fully assembled and flight-ready Orbital Workshop identical to the Skylab 1 station launched in May 1973. After Skylab's operational life was extended and the station remained functional with repairs, there was no immediate need for the backup, and various proposals for its use — including refitting it with a shuttle docking adapter or launching it as a second station — were never funded. Skylab B was instead donated to the National Air and Space Museum in Washington D.C. where it remains on permanent public display, representing the only flight-ready Apollo-era space station hardware preserved intact.