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When Skylab fell to Earth

The American space station which was supposed to break apart and fall into the sea, but instead hit a small town in Australia.

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)

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9 minutes

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Fri 17 Apr 2020 03:50GMT

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