Space debris. Paperweight made from part of an oxygen tank that fell to Earth as the US Skylab space station re-entered the Earth's atmosphere in July

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Space debris. Paperweight made from part of an oxygen tank that fell to Earth as the US Skylab space station re-entered the Earth's atmosphere in July 1979. The tank and its insulation were recovered at Rawlinna, Australia on July 12. Skylab was launched in 1973 and three successive teams of astronauts spent a total of 171 days on board, conducting scientific experiments. Tens of thousands of man-made objects are in orbit around the Earth, remnants left by the many space missions carried out since the 1950s. These objects are a hazard to future space missions and, if they re-enter its atmosphere, to property on Earth.

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Size: 4343px × 3243px
Photo credit: © DETLEV VAN RAVENSWAAY/SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No

Keywords: -entry, 1979, american, australia, authentic, authentication, certificate, dangerous, debris, hazard, hazardous, insulation, junk, object, oxygen, paper, rawlinna, rubbish, skylab, souvenir, space, states, station, tank, trash, united, weight