Quote:
HOW COMMON IS MAN-MADE SPACE DEBRIS?
Debris from satellites, space launches and the International Space Station enters the atmosphere every few months, but only one person is known to have been hit by any of it: American woman Lottie Williams, who was struck but not injured by a falling piece of a U.S. Delta II rocket while exercising in an Oklahoma park in 1997.
Most famously, America's 77-ton Skylab crashed through the atmosphere in 1979, spreading pieces of wreckage near the southwestern Australia city of Perth, which fined the U.S. $400 for littering.
|
Quote:
Skylab and its fiery re-entry
Back in the late 1970's Balladonia was thrust into the international spotlight. In July, the world was captivated by the plight of a wayward NASA space station called Skylab. For weeks there was a lot of speculation about where it would come crashing to earth. NASA scientists predicted South Africa but in the early morning of July 13, 1979 they were proved wrong. On the centenary of Balladonia's settlement, fiery pieces of Skylab landed around the grounds of our hotel prompting a call by then president Jimmy Carter to apologise for the mess!
Our museum has a lot of information about Skylab and the events that unfolded that night so it's well worth a visit.
|
Skylab oxygen tank which arrived in Australia pretty much intact.
If the snakes and spiders don't get you, the space junk will. Well, almost.
That image, plus several others, available in supersized versions here:
Space.com
Link
Link