---

                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: FRIDAY, February 5, 1993                   TAG: 9302050066
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL                    PAGE: A-6   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: Los Angeles Times
DATELINE: MOSCOW                                LENGTH: Short

---

SPACE-MIRROR SPOTLIGHT TEST CALLED SUCCESS

Russian scientists proclaimed success Thursday in an experiment straight out of science fiction: the unfurling of a large mirror in space meant to demonstrate that northern cities can some day be lit by sunlight reflected from the daytime side of the planet.

Officials at the Flight Control Center near Moscow said the shiny disc, nearly 25 yards across and covered in a super-thin layer of aluminum, opened like an umbrella. Cosmonauts floating nearby in the space station Mir could see the shaft of light that it sent to Earth, the official said.

In Toulouse, France, residents reported that they saw two bright spots pass through the sky in the early morning. Reports of flashes of light also came from Belarus.

---