July 11, 2025
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.
The image on the left is a concept art for the proposed Skylab Boost Mission. The image on the right is the last photo taken of Skylab, by the last crewed mission Skylab 4, before its violent re-entry.
Both images courtesy of NASA.
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