During the early hours of the 12th of July 1979 something big was falling from the sky crossing the Indian Ocean and heading towards the Western Australia town of Esperance. It was an object that was to makes news throughout the world and create panic in the Philippines.

We have lift-off

Launched by NASA’s immense Saturn V rocket in May 1973, America’s first space station ‘Skylab’ ran into immediate trouble just 63-seconds into flight when the micrometeoroid shield broke free taking with it one of the two solar panels and jamming the other. Once Skylab reached its orbit the result of the damage became clearer. The remaining solar panel would not deploy and without power there was no way to keep the station cool enough for the upcoming astronaut crews to live in.

Space umbrella

NASA’s technical teams rushed to find a solution and a simple, collapsible heat shield – a panel of heat reflecting material that folded like an umbrella  – was the result. The first Skylab crew to the station was a rescue mission that installed the heat shield and replaced the solar panels making Skylab habitable once more. Four crews in total worked within Skylab running experiments in science, astronomy and physiology and setting many endurance records on the way.

Houston we have a slight problem

Designed to stay in orbit for at least 10-years, Skylab’s orbit began to decay as a result of greater than predicted solar activity heating the outer layers of Earth’s atmosphere and increasing the drag on Skylab’s frame as it passed through it. In the same year as launch NASA had been made aware of Skylab’s likely 1979 demise by the British Royal Aircraft Establishment, a fact later confirmed by US-based NORAD in 1977. NASA had planned to use the future Space Shuttle to install a booster to increase Skylab’s orbit but the Shuttle project was two years away from its first flight, which didn’t occur until 1981.

Intending to minimise the risk of dropping debris on a populated area, NASA tried to adjust Skylab’s orbit targeting the South Indian Ocean but a 4% error in calculation meant debris was going to spread further north than anticipated. NASA advised Australia and the Philippines, both in the debris path, and prepared emergency response teams in the event of a landfall over a populated area.

So, despite last minute attempts to shift Skylab’s failing orbit, the tumbling 77-ton spacecraft was now out of control and heading for Earth with a predicted debris path 6,400KM long and 1,000KM wide cutting a fiery path over the Indian Ocean and across a lowly populated region of Australia. NASA later reported that the spacecraft had plunged harmlessly into the ocean 1,120KM southwest of Perth and no doubt in the process startling any sea life that happened to be in its path.

Startled too was NASA when eye-witness reports started coming in from Australia confirming that debris had hit land in Western Australia. Heavier debris had indeed fallen into the ocean but many fragments and even intact parts landed between Esperance, Rawlinna and a 150KM radius around the outback township of Balladonia. Subsequent analysis of the debris showed Skylab broke apart at a much lower altitude than expected, which meant significantly less of the space station burned up in the atmosphere and scattered over a longer footprint.

Finders Rewards

The San Francisco Examiner newspaper joined in the race to recover pieces of the spacecraft by offering a reward of $10,000 for the first authenticated piece of the station to be handed in. It sparked a treasure hunt in Western Australia but the rules of the reward required the finder to deliver in person to the newspaper within 72-hours of Skylab re-entering the atmosphere.

Not to be outdone, the Western Australia government joined in the hunt offering $1000 for the biggest piece of debris to be handed in. Under its rules the debris had to measure at least 30x30cm and be delivered within a week. The winner was also to be offered a trip around the state as well as, wait for it, two seats to the final of the Miss Universe pageant in Perth – more of which later and believe me you couldn’t make this up.

NASA’s Reward

NASA too was anxious to recover debris, which could provide valuable information on what occurs during re-entry and how any future de-orbit could be performed with greater accuracy. They did not want a repeat of a Russian satellite that crashed into Canada spreading radioactive debris.

NASA’s reward of $98,000 was offered for a piece of debris triggering a wide scale treasure hunt. Then a Hong Kong newspaper upped the ante offering an ounce of gold for each ounce of debris recovered. At the time gold was fetching $259 per ounce.

The winner of the Examiner reward was 17-year old Stan Thornton who caught the first available flight to SAN Francisco and as a bonus became quite a celebrity receiving considerable payments for making public appearances and product endorsements. The Examiner then paid for his family to fly over and join him. On his return to Australia Stan used the money to buy a house.

So much of Skylab survived its fall through the atmosphere that debris will continue to be found for many years into the future. Indeed so remote is much of the debris field that as recently as 1993 a huge oxygen tank, weighing 1-tonne, was discovered laying on the ground of Pauline and Geoff Grewar’s Woorlba sheep station 290KM east of Norseman.

The tank was only spotted while the station owners were flying over a remote section of their 2.5 million acre property. Even then it was a challenge just to travel overground to find it. The oxygen tank is now on display in the Esperance Museum.

Fines

In contrast to the rewards being offered for debris finds, and slightly tongue-in-cheek, Esperance Shire slapped NASA with a $400 fine for ‘Littering’. 

Miss Universe

An enterprising American photographer frustrated with America’s lake of interest in their Miss Universe competitor Mary Friel, who was in Perth for the contest, flew Miss Friel to Balladonia to be photographed with the station manager who’s property Skylab was believed to have fallen on. Within hours her picture was being sent to the giant metropolitan city of New York from a telephone kiosk below a large gum tree in the outback.

Meanwhile, back in Perth, and just four days after Skylab’s landfall, the Miss Universe Pageant was about to take place. Australian authorities thought it fitting that such a major international news event as Skylab’s demise would be a great opportunity to put a large piece of debris on display sharing the same stage as the pageant contestants for the rest of the world to see. Unfortunately the recovered oxygen tank proved a little too heavy resulting in the stage collapsing during the coronation of Miss Venezuela, tearing the dress of Miss Brazil and traumatising the diminutive Miss Japan.

Final Payment

In 2009 on the 30th anniversary of Skylab’s Australian stopover, DJ Scott Barley from Highway Radio in California realised NASA had still not paid the $400 fine for littering. So he started a collection among his audience to raise the funds to finally pay the outstanding fine. Travelling with his wife to Esperance, a giant cheque was presented to the town for payment in full. And for the gesture Mr Barley was presented with the keys to the city. The oversized cheque is now proudly displayed above the Skylab exhibit in the Esperance Museum.

During Skylab’s eleven years in space the station completed 34,981 orbits of Earth while clocking up a staggering 1,400,000,000KM – equivalent to 18,200 trips to the moon… and back.

And finally

This year, in 2019, Western Australia is celebrating the 40th anniversary of Skylab’s inglorious tumble and reacquaintance with terra firma. In the not too distant future the International Space Station will be reaching the end of its design life. Hopefully by now a more precise and thought out plan has been developed for its eventual de-orbit.

Esperance Museum is a must see for space buffs like myself who keenly followed the Apollo programme as a child in the 1960’s and 1970’s.