Skylab fell on Australia in 1979, nearly four years early

Skylab, America’s first space station, fell back to Earth on July 11, 1979, breaking up over the Indian Ocean and scattering debris across a thinly populated stretch of Western Australia. At 169,000 pounds, it was the heaviest spacecraft to re-enter up to that time. No one was hurt.

It came down early. When the last crew left in February 1974, NASA expected Skylab to stay in orbit until about March 1983, long enough for the new space shuttle to attach a rocket and boost it higher or steer it into the Pacific. Instead the solar cycle turned into the second most active in a century. The heated upper atmosphere swelled, drag pulled the station down faster, and shuttle delays put the rescue out of reach. By 1977, revised estimates put the fall as early as mid-1979.

Controllers kept one lever. On the final day they put Skylab into a slow tumble at 93 miles up, aiming the entry point east of the southern tip of Africa. The station broke apart at about 10 miles, lower than expected, which shifted the footprint east onto Australia. The documented debris trail stretched 2,450 miles, and falling pieces set off sonic booms over Outback towns.

“The surprise is over. No more suspense. Skylab is on the planet Earth.” — Skylab flight director Charles Harlan, after the reentry

The town of Esperance sent NASA a $400 fine for littering. It went unpaid until 2009, when a California radio DJ covered it with donations from listeners. The town’s museum still displays an oxygen tank and a titanium tank from the station.

NASA says the lessons from Skylab and other large reentries will shape the eventual deorbiting of the International Space Station.