Space junk falls into Tasman

3:09PM Tuesday Nov 04, 2008

CAPE CANAVERAL, Florida – A refrigerator-sized piece of space junk has fallen into the Tasman Sea between Australia and New Zealand.

The junk was a tank full of ammonia coolant on the international space station that was no longer needed.

Astronaut Clayton Anderson threw it overboard during a spacewalk in July 2007.

Nasa space station programme manager Mike Suffredini said the debris splashed harmlessly down somewhere between Australia and New Zealand on Sunday night.

The tank had served as a reserve supply of spare coolant at the space station since 2001.

- AP