Behind the Discovery of Skylab
A recent opportunity arose to speak with one of the men who found the largest piece of Skylab Debris, and hear a first-person account of the crash landing in outback Western Australia. Laurie Hotstone, the Rawlinna station master at the time of the Skylab fall, has shared his story in an interview where we look back as he remembers his time in 1979.
Watch the interview below to hear Laurie Hotstone’s full account of his involvement in Skylab history.
Skylab was a 77,000kg space station that scattered debris across a sparsely populated region of Western Australia in 1979. During conversation, Hotstone recalls NASA came to speak with him, Peter Ralphs and Bill Norton after finding the piece. NASA taught them about what Skylab was but also mentioned how they didn’t realise it would land near a township.
“They did not know that Rawlinna existed because when they looked at a map of Australia, they didn’t see the railway line.”
Features, Laurie Hotstone
Hotstone holding a plaque that he, Peter Ralphs and Bill Norton each received from NASA as a thank you.
Hostone also recalls the night Skylab’s flightpath was supposedly heading over Rawlinna. He with his wife and another family, stayed up past midnight to try and catch a glimpse of the falling station, but never did. They were surprised to find the piece the next morning considering they never heard it fly over the night before.
“We actually never saw it. Never heard it.”
Features, Laurie Hostone
Hotstone standing next to just one end of the cylindrical Skylab debris he, Peter Ralphs and Bill Norton found south of Rawlinna.
Unique stories such that Hotstone has shared, fills the gaps in our understanding of space history so we may learn from the past with newly found consideration and technological choices. Memories of stories are incredibly important to advancing the space sector as without understanding the past, the industry wouldn’t develop as rapidly as it does today.