Skylab fears in Philippines

Press, 2 July 1979, Page 6

Skylab fears in Philippines

I NZPA-Reuter Manila President Marcos, last I evening made an emergency ' national television broadcast Ito allay his countrymen’s i fears that the United States Skylab will fall on the Phiipi pines in the next couple of ! weeks. The broadcast followed ai [wave of rumours about the! ipotential danger and many! I calls for the closing of schools and offices on the expected date of Skylab’s re-entry into I the Earth’s atmosphere. President Marcos said that the United States National Aeronautics and Space Agency had given assurances [ that Skylab — expected to | fall on July 13 — could be [manoeuvred aw’ay from populated areas, and that there was no danger to the PhilipI pines. He said that 24 hours be[fore the actual fall, N.A.S.A. [would be able to name those (regions that would not be [affected, and six hours from its final descent would bei I able to make even closer predictions.

The Australian Government has received no indication from the United States that space authorities might try to drop the crippled Sky lab on to Australia, Government sources said yesterday, according to an NZPA report from Canberra.

They were commenting on press reports that the United; States might be planning this so it would be ablfe to retrieve Skylab pieces w’hich survived re-entry. The sources said there had been no changes since the Australian Minister of Science (Senator WebsterJ said" last week that if 152 .Skylabs . re-enjtered . simultaneously. only one • injury would be expected anywhere in the world. They also said that far from proposing Australia as a likely Skylab landing ground, the United States space authorities had said they! would try to make the space; station land in United States! territory if there was any risk! of injury. I