Salyut 4 in good order

Press, Volume CXV, Issue 33933, 28 August 1975, Page 13

Salyut 4 in good order

(N.Z.P A -Reuter—Copyright) MOSCOW, August 27. Salyut 4, the 19-ton Russian space station recently visited by two cosmonauts for a record-breaking eight weeks, has completed its eighth month in space, and is reported to be in excellent order. The news agency Tass says that the laboratory, which is circling the Earth at a height of about 220 miles, has been working automatically since the last cosmonauts to visit it left it in July. By noon yesterday, the three-compartment craft had completed 3836 revolutions of the Earth, and ground stations are processing continuously information being streamed back by its instru-; ments.

Launched on December 26 last year, Salyut 4 was also home for two cosmonauts in February. It is widely rumoured in Moscow that a third crew will be sent for an attempt at a world’s longest space flight of around 100 days before the end of the year, although there has been no official word on such a plan. The world record for space flight, established by Americans, is 84 days.