Returning to Skylab's Re-Entry

By

  1979: Space Doom or Excitement? 


If you remember this map and those three red orbit lines published for newspapers in 1979, you'll also remember that Skylab's fall back to Earth was both exciting and dangerous for Earth's citizens. 

Would it crash on a populated area or plop harmlessly into an open sea? 

Did you know that money was offered for pieces of the wreckage?

As a small boy living in Logan City, Brisbane, I wasn't anxious but excited. I wanted it to crash into my backyard!

They said it could fall anywhere. My home was anywhere.

Like other parts of Australia (and World), Brisbane was in the possible crash zone. I ignored NASA's statements that it'd most likely fall into the Indian Ocean. One of Skylab's final orbits tracked over my house. To me, that was the drop point, not some boring ocean!

It'd fall somewhere over Woodridge perhaps, and my parents and I would go and pick it up in the morning.

Scientists get things wrong all the time. Why can't it drop next to my home?
SKYLAB debris
I saw it pass by on it's final orbit. I sure did. It broke apart and two pieces tracked across the sky until they disappeared over the horizon. Dammit! It was supposed to fall on us!

Esperance was in the headlines by morning and I my head sunk. Logan City wasn't the crash site after all. Esperance was nowhere near Woodridge. I didn't know where Esperance was. I had to pull out an Atlas to locate it on a map.

Western Australia had received what was left of the six year old space structure. Bits of the lab were strewn from there to the Nullarbor Plain. Both were miles from were we lived - many days of driving if we went to see it by car.

It landed in the right country but at the wrong damn place!

Oh well, what an exciting time for a child growing up in the seventies!

more SKYLAB debris

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Sex Before Marriage and The Devil's Work

By
Image
Sex Before Marriage. It's The Devil's Work! A.D. 1202: Europe is coming out of its darkness. The Middle Ages witnessed the fall of the Roman Empire and the rise of The Church. It was a disorganized, brutal period in history but The Church held up a shining light with its promises of a royal life after death. The Holy See, protected by its loyal soldiers and ideals, offered hope to the poor, lost and lonely. The Vatican became the authority of everything. A.D. to NOW-ish: History  shows that thirty-nine Popes were married! Oh? Nobody mentioned that, did they? For over a millennia, Popes, Bishops, Cardinals, Priests and any clergy who had a desire to wed, could do so, no questions asked. Sex was allowed too. Sex before marriage was fine. Sex wasn't an unholy act. It was allowed on any day, on every day if that's what you liked. Sex was never an issue. That became a topic of debate much later - when it suited the Church to do so. Control Se
Read more

Saving a Drowning Pigeon from the Sea.

By
Image
In a former life, I raised racing pigeons . My early teenage years were spent breeding pigeons to fly in competitions. Their unique ability to find their way home from long distances totally amazed me. Fast-forward to March 2008: Mark and I were on a sailing a trip from Woody Point to Sandgate in his unusual-looking trailer-sailer for a meat pie at Doug's Cafe . On the way I noticed something floating in the water ahead. I wasn't sure what it was, but I asked Mark to navigate towards it anyway. It was a baby pigeon! Only a tip of beak and a bit of a tail was left above the surface. The chick was in distress and completely exhausted. My best guess was that it fell from the nearby Hornibrook Highway bridge (They nest underneath the support structures) and fell while trying out it's new wings. Yes, it was a toddler learning to walk.  Baby pigeons aren't perfect on their first flight. They mess up and fall down, staggering about just like a toddler test
Read more

"Totally Disgraceful!" Review of Silver Sands Resort

By
Image
You're considering visiting Silver Sands Resort.  There are rumours about and you want to know the deal.  Is the trip worth it? Will the stay be plagued with issues?  Just to make sure we're talking about the right holiday destination: This is Silver Sands Resort, Mandurah, Western Australia . It's not to be confused with another place in America or Africa. Ivan Hill manages this (plus) forty-year-old resort. It's part of the Classic Holidays group — built in the eighties when time-share resorts were popular. Silver Sands Resort has fantastic potential — but it's limited by one thing. Its leader.  Ivan Hill has produced a toxic workplace — in turn, it's become a toxic vacation destination too. The guests are complaining and unsatisfied with the resort's standards. Ivan Hill continues to mismanage the place. His actions remain unchecked by head office.  Morale is low at SSR. This flows onto everything that functions within the resort. The staff dislike Ivan&
Read more