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[i]SKYLAB, LAUNCH DEBRIS, VISIBLE FROM EARTH The Skylab Orbital Workshop is clearly visible to the great bulk of the earth's population as it orbits the globe at an altitude of 270 miles between 50 degrees north and south latitudes. Depending upon sighting angles and other factors, the orbital workshop launched from KSC on May 14 can appear as brilliant as a first magnitude star or as dim as a star just within the threshold of human vision. Skylab should be an object of interest in the heavens for years to come. According to computations made at the Marshall Space Flight Center, its orbital decay and fiery reentry will not occur until 1981. A number of bright objects can still be seen at times with the naked eye, preceding or trailing Skylab in its orbit. Six pieces of Skylab 1 are clearly visible. These include the Skylab 1 second stage, due to reenter in June, 1975, and a Solar Array Wing, scheduled to reenter in January, 1977. Four payload shroud panels jettisoned after orbital insertion of Skylab 1 are among the visible objects. These have reentry dates of September, 1975; March, 1975; August, 1975, and December, 1975. Skylab 1 debris still in orbit but not visible to the naked eye includes two retro rocket covers, one piece of the Skylab micrometeoroid shield, a sample array extension boom and six miscellaneous fragments. Skylab 1 objects with orbits that have already decayed include two retrorocket covers, an Orbital Workshop radiator cover, three miscellaneous fragments and a piece of the Skylab micrometeoroid shield. Because of differing altitudes and rates of orbital precession, their orbits are intersecting in such a fashion that some objects may be seen going northwest to southeast while others go southwest to northeast at the same time. [/i]
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