July 11, 2022
On this date in 1979, NASA’s Skylab space station tumbled back to Earth. Skylab was the first U.S. space station and was originally planned to be used with the Space Shuttle. However, the Space Shuttle was delayed and was not able to re-boost Skylab into a higher orbit. This caused the space station’s orbit to decay and re-enter the atmosphere. As it entered the atmosphere debris was scattered across the Indian Ocean and Australia.
This image shows an overhead view of the Skylab Orbital Workshop in orbit around Earth as photographed from the Skylab 4 Command and Service Modules (CSM). Image credit: NASA