NASA owes the small Western Australian town of Esperance $400. The debt arose when Skylab, a US space station, came crashing to the ground of the costal town in 1979. The station was launched into space by NASA in 1973, but was abandoned in 1974. It was remained orbiting the earth for a few years until NASA realised the 100 tonne empty can was going to crash back down to earth. Unfortunately the team of space experts were unable to predict where the station was going to land, but they had vague hopes it would crash into the Atlantic Ocean. At 12.30am on July 12, 1979, station plummeted towards the earth, burning and breaking up as it crashed through the atmosphere. Pieces of the station landed around the town, which became a global sensation. 17-year-old Stan Thorton pocketed $10,000 for presenting his found piece of the station to the San Francisco Examiner, while Esperance council sent NASA $400 fine for littering space junk, which was reportedly never paid.
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