Space research days in the space station, but this achievement was quickly overshadowed since the crew died on reentry to Earth. Salyut 1 was intentionally deorbited six months into orbit since it prematurely ran out of fuel. Skylab was the first American space station. It was 4 times larger than Salut 1. Skylab was launched in May 19, 1973. It rotated through three crews of three during its operational time. Skylab’s experiments confirmed coronal holes and were able to photograph eight solar flares. From 1986 to 2001, Russian space station Mir served as a permanent microgravity research laboratory in which crews conducted
Space architecture On July 12, 2006 the "Genesis I" experimental space habitat was launched into low Earth orbit. "Genesis I" demonstrated the basic viability of inflatable space structures, even carrying a payload of life science experiments. The second module, "Genesis II", was launched into orbit on June 28, 2007 and tested out several improvements over its predecessor. Among these are reaction wheel assemblies, a precision measurement system for guidance, nine additional cameras, improved gas control for module inflation, and an improved on-board sensor suite. While Bigelow architecture is still modular, the inflatable configuration allows for much more interior volume than rigid modules.