OTD…Aug. 18 and STS-68 abort

The first crew to inhabit Skylab — Conrad, Weitz and Kerwin — launched today in 1973 for a 28-day mission that successfully made critical repairs, brought the station into operation and conducted solar astronomy, Earth resources and medical experiments.

#OTD in 2005…Discovery launched on the first space shuttle mission after the Columbia tragedy

#OTD in 1999…Columbia launched with the first woman commander and the Chandra X-ray Observatory