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Witness History: When Skylab fell to Earth

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Skylab falls to Earth

16/04/2020 GMT

When Skylab fell to Earth

BBC World Service - Witness History, When Skylab fell to Earth

The space station which was meant to break up and fall into the sea but instead hit land

The American space station which was supposed to break apart and fall into the sea, but instead hit a small town in Australia.

In 1979 the world held its breath as the American space station Skylab, re-entered the Earth's atmosphere. NASA tried desperately to control Skylab's descent, but large fragments hit south-west Australia instead of falling into the sea. Simon Watts heard from two residents of Esperance, a remote coastal town which bore the brunt of the impact.

(Image: Saturn V giant booster used for all the Apollo and Skylab NASA space missions between 1967 and 1972. Credit: AFP/Getty Images)

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