Satellite unlikely to fall on N.Z.

Press, 10 January 1983, Page 6

Satellite unlikely to fall on N.Z.

Only a remote possibility exists that the nuclearpowered Soviet satellite that has gone out of control and is due to fall back to Earth soon will come down over New Zealand. ?The satellite is in an orbit that takes it between 65 degrees north and 65 degrees south, crossing Africa, much of the Americas, and the Soviet Union as well as crossing New Zealand twice a day. . However, most of its path is over oceans and scientists say that there is a 70 per cent chance it will come down in the sea.

The United States Government has said that the satellite. known as Cosmos 1402. could spread radioactive debris over a large area and has put a special search team on alert in case it lands in the United States. The Australian Government has also begun top-level contingency planning to cope with the possibility of the satellite’s hitting Aus : traiia. In New Zealand, the Minis-

ter of Science and Technology. Dr Shearer, said that he did not expect any debris to crash here. The Government had no contingency plan. The nuclear sciences section of the D.S.I.R. would cope with any immediate threat from radioactive debris. The satellite is in a similar orbit to one that disintegrated 11 years ago. dropping six spherical objects on Canterbury farmland. That satellite. which scientists are virtually certain was Russian although the Russians have not admitted it. was hot nuclear-powered. The news that Cosmos 1402 was falling out of its orbit was released by the United States Defence Department last week. The next day a top Soviet scientist held a news conference to deny that the satellite was in trouble.

However, at the week-end the Russians admitted that the spacecraft was out of control. They said that the satellite ceased active existence on December 28 and was divided into separate

fragments by commands from Earth in order to isolate the nuclear power pack and ensure that it burned up completely when it reentered the Earth’s atmosphere. Officials in Washington said the Soviet Government had assured them there was no danger from the craft. Western experts remain doubtful about the Soviet view, and point to the case of Cosmos 954. a similar spy satellite that disintegrated over Canada five years ago and dropped radioactive debris.

While most of it burned up on re-entry, intense radiation was found near the eastern shore of Great Slave Lake, a sparsely populated area in Canada’s north. The Canadian Government said that the clean-up cost $6 million, half of which was paid by the Soviet Government under an international treaty covering such accidents. Cosmos 1402 was launched on. August 30 last year. It is believed to have been intended to spy on shipping.