Due to higher-than-normal solar flare activity agitating and expanding Earth’s atmosphere, the fate of the Skylab space station is sealed: the space shuttle will not be ready in time to boost the station into a higher orbit to extend its operational life, despite significant research and development of a remote-controlled teleoperator retrieval system to help accomplish this task. All work toward salvaging the station is officially terminated by NASA. Skylab is predicted to re-enter the atmosphere at some point beginning in early 1979, with some worryingly heavy components likely to at least partially survive the heating of re-entry and reach the ground at high speed. Very briefly considered is a plan to fire missiles at the station, reducing it to smaller pieces more likely to burn up in the atmosphere, though this idea is swiftly rejected due to the likely of an uncontrolled area of debris that would create at least a limited instance of the Kessler Syndrome, posing a hazard to future space flights. Instead, flight controllers begin working on ways to achieve some control over where the 76,000+ kilogram station will impact Earth’s surface, hoping to steer clear of populated areas.
