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SPACE
Soviet nuclear satellite
reported tumbling
out of control
WASHINGTON, Thursday
(AAP-AP). — The US Defence
Department said yesterday that it
was "monitoring carefully" a
nuclear-powered Soviet spy satellite
which was expected to plunge back
to earth late this month.
The radioactive debris could .prove
dangerous if it fell into a populated
area.
The official Pentagon statement did
not describe the satellite's trouble. It
did not know where it would land, or
precisely when to expect re-entry.
Earlier, US intelligence sources said
the Cosmos 1402 ocean-survcillance
satellite was tumbling out of control in
a low orbit. It might be impossible to
tell when and where the device would
comc down until perhaps a dozen hours
before it happened.
The Defence Department in Canberra
was keeping a watchful eye on the
satellite, a spokesman said yesterday.
At this stage the department could
only co-ordinate the activities of emergency
services in the States and develop
some form of contingency plan to
operate in the unlikely event of the
satellite landing in Australia.
The spokesman believed that the satellite
passed over all the major land
masses three times each day.
Australia was relying on the US to
track the damaged satellite.
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