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94/254/1 Space debris and soil in jar, fragment from Skylab space station, titanium / fibreglass / soil / plastic, made by McDonnell Douglas Astronautics Co, United States of America, 1970-1972, landed in Western Australia, 1979. Click to enlarge.
  • Image 1 of 3, 94/254/1 Space debris and soil in jar, fragment from Skylab space station, titanium / fibreglass / soil / plastic, made by McDonnell Douglas Astronautics Co, United States of America, 1970-1972, landed in Western Australia, 1979. Click to enlarge
  • Image 2 of 3, 94/254/1 Space debris and soil in jar, fragment from Skylab space station, titanium / fibreglass / soil / plastic, made by McDonnell Douglas Astronautics Co, United States of America, 1970-1972, landed in Western Australia, 1979. Click to enlarge
  • Image 3 of 3, 94/254/1 Space debris and soil in jar, fragment from Skylab space station, titanium / fibreglass / soil / plastic, made by McDonnell Douglas Astronautics Co, United States of America, 1970-1972, landed in Western Australia, 1979. Click to enlarge

Space debris fragment from Skylab space station

This is a piece of space debris from the oxygen tank of the Skylab space station. Launched in 1973, Skylab was the first United States space station and the largest such facility built at the time. It was as large as a three-bedroom house and its crew of three were housed there in 1973-1974. A number of space endurance records were made at the time.

In the early hours of 12 July 1979 Skylab, re-entered the earth's atmosphere and broke up scattering debris across the southern Indian Ocean and …

Parts of this object

94/254/1-1 Space debris, fragment from Skylab space station, titanium / fibreglass, made by McDonnell Douglas Astronautics Co, United States of America, 1970-1972, landed in Western Australia, 1979
Space debris fragment from Skylab space station
94/254/1-2 Soil, in jar, part of fragment from Skylab space station, organic material / plastic, collected Western Australia, 1979
Soil, in jar, part of fragment from Skylab space station, organic material / plastic, collected Western Australia, 1979

Summary

Object No.

94/254/1

Object Statement

Space debris and soil in jar, fragment from Skylab space station, titanium / fibreglass / soil / plastic, made by McDonnell Douglas Astronautics Co, United States of America, 1970-1972, landed in Western Australia, 1979

Physical Description

Space debris, Skylab space station, titanium/fibreglass, McDonnell Douglas Astronautics Co, USA, 1970-1972. The fragment is the end cap from pressurised oxygen tank from the Skylab space station. Originally the end of an enclosed cylinder, the titanium tank structure is torn and bent as a result of the stresses that ripped it away from the rest of the vessel. The exterior is covered by a composite insulation material with a woven fibreglass outer surface. A circular lid, protruding above the external insulation, covers an access hatch to the tank. A black and red wire, possibly originally connected to an external power source or sensor, is attached to the lid.

Short URL

https://ma.as/141107

Dimensions

Height

810 mm

Width

1120 mm

Depth

900 mm

Weight

140 kg

Source

Credit Line

Purchased 1994

Acquisition Date

4 December 1994

Cite this Object

Harvard

Space debris fragment from Skylab space station 2022, Museum of Applied Arts & Sciences, accessed 26 March 2023, <https://ma.as/141107>

Wikipedia

{{cite web |url=https://ma.as/141107 |title=Space debris fragment from Skylab space station |author=Museum of Applied Arts & Sciences |access-date=26 March 2023 |publisher=Museum of Applied Arts & Sciences, Australia}}

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