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It was an international media event and I was honored to take part in the coverage. On July 11, 1979. Skylab returned to earth after officials closed a huge swath of airspace and many genuinely feared someone might get hurt. If you are worried about the satellite crashing back to earth tonight, please keep in mind that Skylab was more than 10 times as heavy and ultimately did no damage
A few months ago Andy Franklin, now the international producer for Nightly News with Brian Williams, unearthed some black and white photos taken while he and I were in NBC broadcast positions near NASA headquarters in Washington. Such photos are always stark reminder of the passage of time.
From the Archives: Skylab, the first U.S. space station, caught the world's attention as it plunged to earth and crashed in Australia. NBC's John Chancellor and Robert Bazell report.
Our Skylab reports were an around-the-clock effort and I was honored be the junior member of the three-person reporting team next to two giants of early television news, Doug Kiker and Bob Abernathy.
Skylab, a converted piece of a Saturn V rocket from the Apollo era, had been launched in 1973 with every expectation that the space shuttle would be built in time to lift to a higher orbit. Three missions with three-member crews laid the groundwork for the current international space station. But delays in the shuttle program pushed its first launch to 1981 so Skylab was left to fall out of the earth's orbit.
Skylab’s demise created much news and many gimmicks. The San Francisco Examiner offered $10,000 to the first person to show up at its offices with a piece of Skylab. Its competitor the San Francisco Chronicle offered $200,000 to anyone who was hurt by a chunk of the satellite.
The Chronicle never had to pay but the Examiner did. Most of the satellite fell in pieces across the uninhabited Australian Outback and Australian teenager Stan Thornton flew with his souvenir to San Francisco to collect the reward.
NASA controllers had tried to get all the debris into the ocean but they miscalculated and later admitted they were worried they had even miscalculated more and feared Skylab would hit the Pacific Northwest of North America.
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Here is a fleecing of America story for you Brian,
How about flying air force 1 on a 4 hour round trip at $181,000.00 per hour for a 17 minute speech in front of a bridge that does not need fixing. There will be a new bridge built beside the old one. starting in 2015, and the old one will stay in use.
How about that?
Brian, Erica had the chance of a lifetime, and her finance said, "franklyI don't give a damn what you need--how selfish of him, she should havetold him to take a hike. I have a fall top that matches your tie. Shallwe dance:o) Have a nice weekend. PhyllisI live in Northern Kentucky, my husband works and our families live in Cincinnati. Yes, the bridge DOES need fixing. Ask the guy who was thrown off the bridge to his death a couple months ago after he was struck standing outside of his disabled vehicle. - There are no break down lanes anymore because they were converted into driving lanes to handle the massive amount of extra traffic the bridge gets. If someone does break down, traffic snarls for miles. It's backed up even on a good day. It handles hundreds of thousands more vehicles daily than it was designed for. The Brent Spence Bridge doesn't handle just local traffic. It's on I-75 which is the major north-south corridor in this part of the country. It's overworked and out of date.
So yeah, how about that? Come live here and travel on it daily, then tell me we don't need it. Or does it need to fall into the Ohio River first?
A good post. I live in Louisville and the Sherman Minton Bridge is a
nightmare. I suppose you have to live in Cincinnati and Louisville and
experience it or like Erica when someone tells you don't need it tell him
to take a hike. So yeah how about that
This bill doesn't even exist so it can't be voted on. It also won't do anything to build the extra bridge needed to take the load off The Brent Spence Bridge.
"Pass this bill, right now!! is 2012's YES WE CAN!!! it doesn't mean jack squat. Oh but if the Progressive traitor Party of America and their crony capitalist parasites keep going like they have traffic on that bridge may slow way down because no one will have any place to go.
PS: I love Kentucky, especially the area from Paris Landing to the other side of land between the lakes. Happy times spent up there.
I am glad you had happy times in Ky. What's not to love about kentucky:o)
it sounds like some of the basics have been forgotten with the progressive rant that took hold in america. it's time to go back to a less frantic time. all of that bigger, faster vibe can't possibly be good for the human brain and psyche. and definitely not for our children and grandchildren. at least the recession put on the brakes and brought it to a screeching halt. what is important will come back because those people are made of damn good stock that doesn't give up and knows how to pace themselves.
which reminds me of that song lyric ' let's get back to the basics of you
and me."
We need to run a drone program on the US/Mexican border the same way we do on the Afgan/Pakistan border. When we see a truck load of drugs coming across the desert, take it out. After half dozen or so, they will start thinking about it. Those troops returning, put them on the border with live ammo.
i wonder if satellites falling out of the sky is what was happening when chicken little was running around saying, 'the sky is falling! the sky is falling!' just asking! history does repeat itself . . . . .
I am impressed by both Palestinian President Abbas and Israeli Prime Minister
Benjamin Netanyahu who I saw this morning on Meet the Press with
David Gregory who got my attention with remarks by former president
Bill Clinton who I think can work out a deal with the two men if the
Quartet is unsuccessful. Anyway, according to Clinton and I have no
reason not to believe him, the Palenstinian goverment is the best they've
ever had, that the "King of Saudi started lining up all the Arab countries to
say to the Isralies, "If you work out with the Palestians, we will give you
immediately not only recognition but political, economic security and
partnership." Which seems like a good deal to me. And I think a favorable
side for a two-state solution than ever before.
Not to be lightly dismissed is that the stars are in alignment, in a manner
of speaking. Just my opinion.
David Gregory is adorable, but he would not be a good go-between,
because I thought he was rude to the Prime Minister of Israel.
Good interview, however.
I think he felt like the Prime Minister was dancing around the questions, so I don't think it was so much rude as pointed. Journalists are too afraid to ask those pointed follow up questions anymore, so it's maybe perceived as rude when it happens.
You have a point! And David Gregory does not strike me as a rude guy