Former NASA astronaut Vance Brand speaks to guests at the Astronaut Scholarship Foundation's event celebrating the 40th anniversary of Skylab.

At the Kennedy Space Center's Apollo/Saturn V Center, former NASA astronaut Vance Brand speaks to guests at the Astronaut Scholarship Foundation's event celebrating the 40th anniversary of Skylab. Brand, along with astronaut Don Lind, were prepared to fly a mission to rescue a Skylab crew if their Apollo command-service module was unusable. Brand went on to fly as pilot on the Apollo-Soyuz Test Project and missions aboard the space shuttle.

The gala commemorating the 40th anniversary of Skylab included six of the nine astronauts who flew missions to America's first space station. The orbiting laboratory was launched unpiloted from Kennedy on May 14, 1973. Between May 25, 1973 and Feb. 8, 1974, crews of three spent 28, 59 and 84 days living and working in low-Earth orbit aboard the station. For more information, visit http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/skylab/ Photo credit: NASA/Kim Shiflett