On July 11, 1979, NASA commanded its Skylab space station to tumble and re-enter the Earth's atmosphere. NASA believed the tumble would cause the station to break up as it hit the atmosphere and burn up on re-entry. Instead, several pieces fell over parts of the southern Indian Ocean and western Australia.
One Western Australian citizen got more than a spectacular view of the re-entry. 17 year old Stan Thornton found a small piece of Skylab that fell on his backyard shed. After it cooled, he took it to the local authorities who informed him of a contest the San Francisco Examiner newspaper was running. The paper promised $10,000 to the first person to deliver a piece of Skylab to their offices within 48 hours of re-entry. Thornton hopped a plane and arrived at San Francisco in time to claim the prize.
Thornton's hometown of Esperance made other headlines when they forwarded a fine to NASA for littering to the tune of $400 USD. NASA ignored the penalty and Esperance did not persue the matter and the fine was forgotten. Thirty years later, California Highway Radio host Scott Barley commemorated the anniversary by collecting the $400 from donations from listeners to pay the bill in full.
Find out what else occurred on this day in science history.
One Western Australian citizen got more than a spectacular view of the re-entry. 17 year old Stan Thornton found a small piece of Skylab that fell on his backyard shed. After it cooled, he took it to the local authorities who informed him of a contest the San Francisco Examiner newspaper was running. The paper promised $10,000 to the first person to deliver a piece of Skylab to their offices within 48 hours of re-entry. Thornton hopped a plane and arrived at San Francisco in time to claim the prize.
Thornton's hometown of Esperance made other headlines when they forwarded a fine to NASA for littering to the tune of $400 USD. NASA ignored the penalty and Esperance did not persue the matter and the fine was forgotten. Thirty years later, California Highway Radio host Scott Barley commemorated the anniversary by collecting the $400 from donations from listeners to pay the bill in full.
Find out what else occurred on this day in science history.
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