Skylab may be visible tonight

Press, 11 July 1979, Page 1

Skylab may be visible tonight

Will the fiery demise of Skylab be visible to New Zealanders? Expert opinions vary, but it is possible that it will start to break up over New Zealand towards midnight tonight. A noted Invercargill astronomer, Mr Geoffrey Hall-Jones, would say last evening only that he would be wide awake in the early hours of this morning checking information. The United States’ Aeronautical and Space Administration (N.A.S.A.) has predicted that the space station will fall to Earth at 4.21 a.m. tomorrow near southern Australia and the Indian Ocean. Mr HallJones confirmed that, but said that his own calculations were not yet completed. Mr D. V. Smith, of the Canterbury Astronomical Society, said, however, that Skylab’s re-entry would be visible in New Zealand.

According to information he has received and calculations he has made, the space laboratory — assuming that it maintains its present orbit — should be visible to Christchurch

people just after midnight tonight. He predicted that it would cross the skies about 100 km south of New Zealand about 11.42 p.m. heading north-east. He also predicted that it would cross the Southern Alps at 28 minutes past midnight and, at 1.50 a.m„ would be visible over Whangarei. By 3.12 a.m., said Mr Smith, the debris should be over.mid New South Wales and, if not down by that time, should cross Western Australia at 4.54 a.m.

The Canterbury society and astronomers throughout New Zealand will keep a close watch on the reentry, the timing of which, said Mr Smith, could well be influenced by any course corrections or tumbling actions which might be activated by N.A.S.A.

Latest predictions by American space experts put the Indian Ocean, parts of Australia, and New Guinea in Skylab’s possible line of fire when the satellite plunges to earth tomorrow, says an NZPA-

Reuter message from Colorado Springs.

But space officials, watching the deteriorating orbit of the 77.5-tonne unmanned space station, said they could not be confident Skylab would fall according to their predictions. It might, in fact, bounce about the atmosphere for several thousand kilometres before breaking apart and showering debris along a vast stretch of sky. Nevertheless, the space experts held to a previous prediction that few people, if any, would be endangered by the impending plunge of Skylab debris, expected to occur at some point during a 20-hour period today. If the latest predictions are correct, debris from the spacecraft will scatter along a 6400 km path starting in the southern Indian Ocean and ending in the northern Pacific, south of Alaska. Two bodies of land, Australia and New Guinea, lie in the path

Scientists at Britain’s Farnborough Air Research Station say it is still too early to know where Skylab will land, but they believe the landing will be about 11 p.m. today (New Zealand time) plus or minus nine hours.

This prediction was made by Mr Desmond King-Hele, head of the orbital dynamics section at Farnborough, who has been observing and assessing satellites since Sputnik 1 in 1957. He was also involved in the early design stages of the British Skylark rocket which was tested at Woomera in South Australia.

Skylab was sent aloft six years ago to serve as a space platform for three teams of American astronauts conducting space experiments.

Unmanned since 1974, it was supposed to continue orbiting the Earth until the mid-1980s when the

planned space shuttle flights were to have given it a boost for continued flight. Intense sunspot activity, however, hastened its premature death. . • , Once grabbed by the force of gravity. Skylab is expected to begin breaking apart, sending pieces weighing as much as 2270 kg soaring towards Earth at speeds of up to 420 km an hour.

The Space Agency predicts that no more than three pieces will fall in a 160 sq. km area and says the chances of injury are remote.

Skylab’s re-entry has sparked the American imagination more than any other space project since the first Moon landing, according to N.A.S.A.

“We even had one man call and tell us he was afraid that there are Martians hiding but on Skylab who have been there since the Apollo astronauts left,” said a N.A.S.A. spokesman, Mr Dan Mushalko. “The man was afraid that when it crashed to Earth, the

Martians would take over.” A radio station in Arizona recommends those looking for the ultimate safety spot to escape a hunk of Skylab to try the London Bridge. The station plans a “Chicken Little Day” with all activities, including a bikini contest, taking place under the bridge, whicn was moved to the arid resort of Lake Havalsu from London in 1971.

“The London Bridge has withstood the test of time, including heavy bombings and strafings during World War II,” said the station manager. “We don’t have the foggiest idea how safe we will be, .but we are going to have a super party.” Nat Verrid, of Charleston, West Virginia, says he has been jinxed by bad luck all his life and does not want to be remembered as a Skylab target. To prevent that, he plans to run three blocks from his house to the Governor’s mansion because “there, ain’t no way it’s going to hit a Rockefeller,'’