Skylab was a space station launched and operated by NASA and was the United States' first space station. Skylab orbited the Earth from 1973 to 1979, and included a workshop, a solar observatory, and other systems. It was launched unmanned by a modified Saturn V rocket, with a weight of 169,950 pounds (77 t). Three manned missions to the station, conducted between 1973 and 1974 using the Apollo Command/Service Module (CSM) atop the smaller Saturn IB, each delivered a three-astronaut crew. On the last two manned missions, an additional Apollo / Saturn IB stood by ready to rescue the crew in orbit if it was needed.
Skylab included the Apollo Telescope Mount, which was a multi-spectral solar observatory, Multiple Docking Adapter (with two docking ports), Airlock Module with EVA hatches, and the Orbital Workshop, the main habitable volume. Electrical power came from solar arrays, as well as fuel cells in the docked similar Apollo type CSM. The rear of the station included a large waste tank, propellant tanks for maneuvering jets, and a heat radiator. Numerous scientific experiments were conducted aboard Skylab during its operational life, and crews were able to confirm the existence of coronal holes in the Sun.
NASA drawing that shows the crew transfer Apollo type CSM docked at the left. The cone of the CSM with the Skylab crew returns to Earth and is recovered.
The Skylab display at Pensacola USA shows here the return Command Module similar to that used in the Apollo program. Crew were from the US Navy at a certain period and recovered within the cone of the CSM.
Photographed, February 2012 by Cees Hendriks (C) Copyright IPMS Nederland
Only a few plasic scale models exits of the Skylab, most very specialized and ready made. DRAGON had a very impressive 1/72 !! kit that combined Saturn V and Skylab. REALSPACE has a 1/144 kit as well as AIRFIX (A11150) with a Saturn and Skylab combined. Of the CSM itself several models exits..... look at the Apollo CSM kit list....