* Astronomy

The United States launched its first space station, Skylab on the 14th May, 1973.

Skylab's demise was an international media event.
In the hours before re-entry, ground controllers adjusted Skylab's orientation to try to minimise the risk of re-entry on a populated area. They aimed the station at a spot 1,300 km south southeast of Cape Town, South Africa, and re-entry began at approximately 16:37 UTC 11 July 1979. The Air Force provided data from a secret tracking system able to monitor the reentry. The station did not burn up as fast as NASA expected, however. Due to a 4% calculation error, debris landed southeast of Perth, Western Australia, and was found between Esperance and Rawlinna, from 31° to 34°S and 122° to 126°E. Residents and an airline pilot saw dozens of colourful fireworks-like flares as large pieces broke up in the atmosphere. The Shire of Esperance facetiously fined NASA A$400 for littering, a fine which remained unpaid for 30 years. The fine was paid in April 2009, when radio show host Scott Barley of Highway Radio raised the funds from his morning show listeners and paid the fine on behalf of NASA.
Seventeen year-old Stan Thornton found 24 pieces of Skylab at his home in Esperance. A Philadelphia businessman flew him, his parents, and girlfriend to San Francisco, where he collected the Examiner prize. In a coincidence for the organisers, the annual Miss Universe pageant was scheduled to be held a few days later, on 20 July 1979 in Perth. A large piece of Skylab debris was displayed on the stage. Analysis of the debris showed that the station had not disintegrated until 10 miles above the Earth, much lower than expected.
Read more

 

Anniversary of the Skylab-3 mission launched on the 28th July, 1973.

Skylab 4 (also SL-4 and SLM-3) was the fourth Skylab mission and placed the third and final crew on board the space station. The mission started November 16, 1973 with the launch of three astronauts on a Saturn IB rocket, and lasted 84 days, 1 hour and 16 minutes.
Read more