Skylab's Remains: NASA Space Station Debris in Australia (Photos)

Esperance Municipal Museum

Ben Cooper/LaunchPhotography.com

The small Esperance Municipal Museum is located near the waterfront of the port town of about 10,000. A large model of Skylab stands on a pedestal at the museum’s entrance. The museum houses a collection of debris from NASA's Skylab Space Station, which fell from orbit in July 1979 and rained debris over parts of Australia.

Take a tour of the Skylab debris in these photos by veteran space photographer Ben Cooper of LaunchPhotography.com. [Read the full story]

Oxygen Tank From Skylab

Ben Cooper/LaunchPhotography.com

An oxygen tank from the Skylab Space Station, the largest of several pieces that were recovered from America’s first space station following its re-entry in 1979, and now on display at the Esperance Municipal Museum in Western Australia. [Read the full story]

Skylab Plaque at Esperance Museum

Ben Cooper/LaunchPhotography.com

A plaque located under the model of Skylab explains to visitors what the space station was and when it came crashing back to Earth in this remote part of Australia. [Read the full story]

Esperance Municipal Museum Entrance

Ben Cooper/LaunchPhotography.com

The small Esperance Municipal Museum is located near the waterfront of the port town of about 10,000. A large model of Skylab stands on a pedestal at the museum’s entrance. [Read the full story]

Wreckage of Skylab

Ben Cooper/LaunchPhotography.com

The display case containing the wreckage of Skylab sits in the center of the museum, which was formed in 1976 from a railroad supply shed. Other exhibits are devoted to the area’s train history. [Read the full story]

Oversized Check

Ben Cooper/LaunchPhotography.com

The oversized check by the Nevada & California-based radio station The Highway, used to finally pay a $400 litter fine after 30 years, is on display above the case. [Read the full story]

Portion of Wreckage From Skylab

Ben Cooper/LaunchPhotography.com

A portion of wreckage identified as belonging to the hatch which Skylab astronauts used to access the space station after docking. [Read the full story]

Skylab Storage Freezer

Ben Cooper/LaunchPhotography.com

The storage freezer which resident crews used for food and other items that needed to be kept frozen is one of the largest recovered pieces of the space station. [Read the full story]

Australian Flag on Sklylab

Ben Cooper/LaunchPhotography.com

An Australian flag flown aboard Skylab 2, the first of the three manned crews to live aboard the station, which was presented to the Shire of Esperance by NASA. [Read the full story]

Australian Flag Flown on Sklylab

Ben Cooper/LaunchPhotography.com

An Australian flag flown aboard Skylab 2, the first of the three manned crews to live aboard the station, which was presented to the Shire of Esperance by NASA. [Read the full story]

One of Skylabs Tanks

Ben Cooper/LaunchPhotography.com

One of Skylab’s 22 spherical titanium tanks which held nitrogen, used for the station’s attitude control system. [Read the full story]

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Ben Cooper
Contributing writer and photographer

Ben Cooper is an award-winning photographer based in Cape Canaveral, Florida, where he has photographed over 400 launches to date. As an official photographer for some of the biggest launch providers, as well as for NASA and several media outlets over the past 20+ years, he has captured many of the most well-known and iconic space mission photos taken in the last two decades. Ben is the author of the 2019 book Launch Photography and was the 2019 winner of the Kolcum Award "for excellence in telling the space story along Florida’s Space Coast and throughout the world."