U.S. space exploration history on U.S. stamps also the only space station NASA launched alone. The 100-ton space station was in Earth's orbit from 1973 to 1979 and it was visited by crews three times in 1973 and 1974. Circling 50 degrees north and south of the equator at an altitude of , Skylab had an orbital period of 93 minutes. There were a plethora of UV astronomy experiments done during the Skylab lifetime, as well as detailed X-ray studies of the Sun. The station was active until July 11, 1979, when it fell out of orbit. The 10-cent Skylab commemorative stamp first day of release took
Lissajous orbit , and also the Genesis mission collecting solar particles at . On 14 May 2009, the European Space Agency (ESA) launched into space the Herschel and Planck observatories, both of which use Lissajous orbits at Sun–Earth . ESA's current Gaia mission also uses a Lissajous orbit at Sun–Earth . In 2011, NASA transferred two of its THEMIS spacecraft from Earth orbit to Lunar orbit by way of Earth-Moon and Lissajous orbits. China's lunar orbiter Chang'e 2 left lunar orbit on June 8, 2011 and was placed in a Lissajous orbit at Earth-Sun until mid-2012 prior to leaving Earth orbit entirely