MEDIA RELEASE COSMOS SATELLITE RE-ENTRY \ e >

The main p a rt o f th e S o v ie t n u c le a r powered s a t e l l i t e ,  Cosmos 1402

had re -e n te re d  th e e a r t h ’ s atmosphere a t 9 .2 1  am AEDST, Monday 24 January and

any debris th a t survived would have f a lle n  In to  the Indian Ocean, the

M in is te r fo r  Science and Technology, Mr David Thomson said to d ay.

Mr Thomson said the co -o rd in a te d  e f f o r t  by the N a tu ral D isasters

O rganisation and the S tates to m onitor the s a t e l l i t e  and assemble

search and recovery teams m erited the h ig h e s t p ra is e .

"With minimum fuss and maximum e f fic ie n c y  a f u l l  s ca le n a tio n a l

emergency search team was assembled In c lu d in g  members o f the Department

o f Defence, the Bureau o f M ineral Resources, the A u s tra lia n  Atomic Energy

Commission and th e A u s tra lia n  R a d ia tio n  L a b o ra to rie s  to  c a rry  out systemÂ­

a t ic  and d e ta ile d  lo c a tio n , m o nito ring and recovery o f any s a t e l l i t e

d e b ris . The S ta te  and T e r r it o r ie s  emergency services were s im ila r ly

m obilised and had an emergency eventuated t h e i r  assistance would have

been a b s o lu te ly  v i t a l " .

" F o rtu n a te ly , on th is  occasion the teams were not needed, but

a great deal o f v a lu a b le  experience was gained by th e NDO and the S tate

teams in c a rry in g  out the e x e rc is e " .

Mr Thomson said th e Federal and S ta te  o rg a n is a tio n s  would Ã¢ÂÂ¢ . Â· . v " '

re tu rn  to  a s ta te  o f readiness on about th e 5th o f February to  prepare

fo r  the r e -e n tr y  o f the rem aining p iece o f Cosmos on or about the

10th o f February. This f in a l  piece is  the re a c to r core and according

to the S o viet Union 1 t w i l l  burn-up com pletely on re -e n try ;. Â·

D espite the S o vie t assurances Mr Thomson said th a t A u s tra lia

would again take no chances on p o s s ib le  hazards caused by d eb ris th a t might

f a l l  on A u s tr a lia .

For fu r th e r  In fo rm a tio n :

E ric  Hunter _. _

24 January 1983

PARTMENT OF SCIENCE ÃÂ ÃÂ ÃÂ ÃÂ  T C n U M D I  ÃÂ  ÃÂ 2 V

D ire c to r o  Phone P u b lic  R e la tio n s   64 4146 ‘ ‘

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