Skylab

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A spaceborne laboratory launched by the United States in the 1970s that facilitated numerous experiments in microgravity conditions; An orbiting facility utilized to expand knowledge in various scientific disciplines during its operational period; A significant contribution to space exploration that paved the way for future manned missions and research in outer space
2. A United States orbital station used in the 1970s for conducting experiments in zero gravity and space sciences
3. An American spacecraft functioning as a laboratory in Earth orbit where astronauts performed diverse research tasks

Etymology: The word "skylab" is a plain compound: "sky" joined to "lab," short for "laboratory." Its more surprising history is that the English word went out into the world and came back. The name was given to NASA's American space station, launched in 1973 and abandoned in orbit by 1979, and the Filipino language Cebuano borrowed the English name and used it as its own word for a crude, makeshift shack. Those Cebuano speakers saw a resemblance in shape. The derelict station, with its cylindrical body and jutting solar arrays, looked to them like a rough hut built on stilts. So a bit of English space-age vocabulary was taken into Cebuano and given a down-to-earth sense, and that Cebuano usage is where the word's current meaning as a rickety dwelling comes from.

Synonyms: space station