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

DATE: FRIDAY, March 2, 1990                   TAG: 9003022930
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL                    PAGE: A-5   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: By Associated Press
DATELINE: CAPE CANAVERAL, FLA.                                 LENGTH: Short

NASA SOURCES: ATLANTIS EJECTS SPY SATELLITE

A $500 million spy satellite glided from the space shuttle on Thursday and Atlantis' astronauts streaked toward a Sunday landing, National Aeronautics and Space Administration sources said.

The sources said the 37,300-pound satellite was ejected from the shuttle's cargo bay early Thursday.

The satellite carried by Atlantis is a powerful space snoop capable of taking high-resolution photographs from orbit and eavesdropping on electronic communications around the world, the sources said.

The satellite, the sources said, was placed into a high inclination orbit that will fly over much of the Soviet Union, including portions in the north not previously observed by a shuttle-launched satellite.

The shuttle was launched in darkness early Wednesday, and progress of the mission has been cloaked under a Pentagon-imposed news blackout.

by CNB