 Strange as it might sound, there is a connection between NASA's Skylab space station and Miss Universe. I'm Amy Shearer, and this is a Vintage Space video. Skylab was a repurposed S4B upper stage of a Saturn V rocket, and it was NASA's first space station, launched into orbit on May 14, 1973. It only ever hosted three crews, the last of which left on February 8, 1974. In the years that followed, Skylab fell into disrepair. There wasn't enough money to maintain the station, and its orbit was slowly decaying. NASA had hoped the space shuttle might be able to boost it into a higher orbit so they could salvage it, but the space shuttle's debut kept getting pushed back. Finally, on July 11, 1979, Skylab re-entered the Earth's orbit, but it did so a few minutes before NASA had planned, meaning that instead of falling safely over the Indian Ocean, it fell and some debris landed inland in Australia. Debris from Skylab rained down on the residents in the community of Belladonia on the Nullabar Plain and in the port town of Esperance. The biggest surviving piece of Skylab made a special appearance at the Miss Universe pageant nine days later, which by coincidence was held in Perth, Australia. Sharing a space with International Beauty Queens was one of Skylab's cylindrical oxygen tanks and its associated insulation, mangled from the harsh atmospheric re-entry. For more on the intersection between Skylab and Miss Universe, check out the article linked below.