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

DATE: SATURDAY, October 9, 1993                   TAG: 9310090135
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL                    PAGE: A-3   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: WASHINGTON                                LENGTH: Short

LANDSAT 6 SATELLITE IS DECLARED MISSING

Another American spacecraft has disappeared.

A $228 million Landsat 6 satellite, launched Tuesday, has been declared missing after a succession of mistaken reports that it was in the wrong orbit, or in the right orbit but not communicating. The object being tracked turned out to be a piece of space junk, officials said.

The Earth observation satellite was last seen heading into a West Coast sky atop a converted Air Force ICBM rocket. It apparently separated successfully but has not been heard from since.

by CNB