Skylab was an American space station, created by NASA, which Harvey once described as "part space station, part windmill". (PROSE: Bennelong Point [+]Keith Temple, Doctor Who Storybook 2010 (Doctor Who Storybook, 2009).)
History
In 1979, Skylab began its return to Earth on 11 July, several years ahead of schedule, (PROSE: The Time Traveller's Almanac [+]Steve Tribe, BBC Books (2008).) before re-entering Earth's atmosphere in the early hours of 12 July 1979. Scientists were unsure of where it would land on Earth, with some suggesting it would crash in India or the Indian Ocean, and others speculating that it would reach the ground somewhere in Canada. Eventually the space station broke up in Earth's atmosphere, with debris falling near the town of Esperance in Western Australia. (PROSE: Bennelong Point [+]Keith Temple, Doctor Who Storybook 2010 (Doctor Who Storybook, 2009).
One piece of Skylab debris nearly killed Paul Forbes, who was in the Gibson Desert, but he was saved when the Seventh Doctor advised him to take three steps to the left. (PROSE: Three Steps to the Left [+]Glenn Langford, Brief Encounter (1993).)
By this point, the long-abandoned Skylab was used by the Zalphons as their base, but an accident on board caused it to crash back to Earth, The Tenth Doctor, with the assistance of young, defeated the Zalphons. (PROSE: Bennelong Point [+]Keith Temple, Doctor Who Storybook 2010 (Doctor Who Storybook, 2009).) At some point prior to his travels with Rose Tyler, the Doctor helped bring Skylab to Earth. He nearly took off his thumb in doing so. (TV: Tooth and Claw [+]Russell T Davies, Doctor Who series 2 (BBC One, 2006).)