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Russian
space
riddle
BERLIN, Sunday
(AAP). - Scientists at a
space tracking observa
tory in West Berlin said
tonight they had picked
up signals from a new
Soviet satellite early to
day and triggered off a
wave of speculation that
Russia may have
launched a new manned
spacecraft.
The scientists, at the
Wilhelm - Foerster Ob
servatory, said they had
received an exchange of
messages between the
ship and a Russian ground
station. One of the voices
from the ground station
was a woman's.
Later in Moscow, Tass,
the official newsagency,
said the Soviet Union had
launched a sputnik carry
ing scientific equipment
early today.
The new satellite was
called Cosmos 212 and
was described as another
in a series of spacecraft
launched under a pro
gramme which began on
March 16, 1962.
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