May 25-Jun. 22, The workshop had developed technical problems due to vibrations during liftoff and the meteoroid shield¾designed also to shade Skylab's workshop from the Sun's rays¾ripped off, taking with it one of the spacecraft's two solar panels, and another piece wrapped around the other panel keeping it from properly deploying. In spite of this, the space station achieved a near circular orbit at the desired altitude of 270 miles. While NASA technicians worked on a solution to the problem, an intensive ten day period followed before the Skylab 2 crew launched to repair the workshop.

After substantial repairs requiring extravehicular activity (EVA), including deployment of a parasol sunshade that cooled the inside temperatures to 75 degrees Fahrenheit, by June 4 the workshop was in full operation. In orbit the crew conducted solar astronomy and Earth resources experiments, medical studies, and five student experiments. This crew made 404 orbits, in the process making three EVAs totaling six hours and 20 minutes. The first group of astronauts returned to Earth on June 22, 1973, and two other Skylab missions followed.