When Skylab fell to Earth

Witness History

BBC

History, Personal Journals, Society & Culture

4.4 • 1.6K Ratings

🗓️ 16 April 2020

⏱️ 10 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

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)

Transcript

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0:00.0	Just before this BBC podcast gets underway, here's something you may not know.
0:04.7	My name's Linda Davies and I Commission Podcasts for BBC Sounds.
0:08.5	As you'd expect, at the BBC we make podcasts of the very highest quality featuring the most knowledgeable experts and genuinely engaging voices.
0:18.0	What you may not know is that the BBC makes podcasts about all kinds of things like pop stars,
0:24.6	poltergeist, cricket, and conspiracy theories and that's just a few examples.
0:29.7	If you'd like to discover something a little bit unexpected, find your next podcast over at BBC Sounds.
0:37.0	Hello and thank you for downloading witness history from the BBC World Service with me Simon Watts.
0:47.0	All this week we're looking back at stories of space exploration to mark 50 years since the Apollo 13 mission almost ended in tragedy.
0:57.0	Today we're going back to 1979 when the remains of the American Space Station Skylab hit a small town in Australia.
1:06.0	It's July 1979.
1:09.0	After six years in orbit, Skylab, the first ever American space station, is hurtling back into the Earth's
1:16.2	atmosphere.
1:17.6	NASA tries desperately to control its descent.
1:20.9	Preliminary estimates by Naurat indicate that Skylab has impacted at 42 degrees 87 minutes south, 105
1:30.4	degrees.
1:31.5	97 minutes east, which puts it off the southwest corner of Australia.
1:36.7	And on that corner of the Australian coast was the small town of Esperance.
1:41.6	In 1979 the shire President or Mayor was Merv Andre.
1:46.0	The controller of SES, the State Emergency Service, a very good friend of mine and fellow
1:52.2	counselor, he was in touch with NASA for a week
1:55.1	beforehand and they were telling us where the loop was going, it was going over to the east and gradually
2:00.6	heading west and they were trying to get it in a fairly non-inhabited area.
	...

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