For most of us, the Covid-19 pandemic will define the spring and summer of 2020. But 41 years ago, the impending crash of the Skylab space station defined the summer of 1979 for people across much of the southern hemisphere. The largest spacecraft ever to fall back to Earth was about to do so – but no one knew exactly when or where.
Many people were genuinely frightened; no one has ever been killed by falling space debris, but there’s a first time for everything, especially in 1979. Others made bets about when and where the falling space station would re-enter Earth’s atmosphere, and newspapers offered prizes for finding pieces of debris. Some enterprising sorts even sold Skylab-themed hard hats. It was, to say the least, a strange time; most of us in 2020 can probably relate.
