On July 11, 1979, the abandoned U.S. space station Skylab reentered Earth’s atmosphere. Skylab had orbited Earth since 1973 and hosted several astronaut crews. After years of unmanned operation, its orbit decayed. Debris scattered across parts of Australia and the Indian Ocean. NASA had attempted to control reentry but could not fully guide the descent. Skylab’s fall marked the end of America’s first space station era.
