Skylab was the first space station operated by the United States. It spent six years orbiting Earth until its decaying orbit caused it to re-enter the atmosphere. It scattered debris over the Indian Ocean and sparsely settled areas of Western Australia.

Three successive three-man crews lived on board the station for 28, 56 and 84 days in orbit — an American record that stood until the shuttle era. Astronauts aboard the station conducted 270 experiments in biomedical and life sciences, solar astronomy, Earth observations and materials processing. Among the most important were investigations on the astronauts' physical responses to long-term space flight.

Skylab had larger living areas on the space station allowing for an on-board refrigerator and freezer, which held perishable and frozen items making zero-gravity the remaining obstacle. When Skylab's solar panels were damaged during its launch and the station had to rely on minimal power from the Apollo Telescope Mount until Skylab 2 crew members performed repairs, the refrigerator and freezer were among the systems that Mission Control kept operational.

Menus on board included 72 items; for the first time about 15% of the food was frozen. Shrimp cocktail and butter cookies were consistent favorites; Lobster Newberg, fresh bread, processed meat products, and ice cream were also good choices. A dining room table and chairs, fastened to the floor and fitted with foot and thigh restraints, allowed for a normal eating experience. The trays used could warm the food, and had magnets to hold eating utensils and scissors used for opening food containers. The food was similar to that used for Apollo, but canned for preservation; the crew found it to be better than that of Apollo but still unsatisfying, partially due to food tasting different in space than on Earth. The frozen foods were the most popular, and they enjoyed spicy foods because of sinus congestion from weightlessness messing up their senses of taste and smell. Weightlessness also complicated both eating and cleaning up. Crews would spend up to 90 minutes a day on housekeeping.