Skylab was the United States' first space station. Launched on May 14, 1973, it was manned by three separate crews (May 25 to June 22, 1973; July 28 to September 25, 1973; and November 16, 1973, to February 8, 1974) who conducted an array of scientific, medical and technical experiments and observations. Skylab was destroyed in controlled re-entry (like Mir) on July 11, 1979.