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Skylab Falls to Earth

The day when fragments of the US space station Skylab hit the Australian town of Esperance, in 1979.

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 the Indian Ocean. Witness speaks to 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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Thu 11 Jul 2013 07:50GMT

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  • Thu 11 Jul 2013 07:50GMT

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