Cosmos 954
Encyclopedia
Kosmos 954 was a Soviet
Radar Ocean Reconnaissance Satellite (RORSAT
) with an onboard nuclear reactor. The satellite was launched on September 18, 1977 and was designed to track nuclear submarines. The satellite
's reactor core
failed to separate and boost into a nuclear-safe orbit
, and instead remained on board in an orbit that decayed until the satellite reentered
Earth
's atmosphere (the USSR informing the US in secret meetings) on January 24, 1978 at 11:53 AM GMT. Debris from the satellite was deposited on Canadian
territory, including portions of the Northwest Territories
(some of which is now Nunavut
), Alberta
and Saskatchewan
, on a 600 kilometres (372.8 mi) path from Great Slave Lake
to Baker Lake. In an attempt to recover radioactive
material, a search was conducted covering a total of 124000 square kilometres (47,876.7 sq mi).
The USSR claimed that the satellite had been completely destroyed during re-entry. Subsequent recovery efforts, named Operation Morning Light, by a joint Canadian-American
team swept the area by foot and air in Phase I from January 24, 1978 to April 20, 1978 and Phase II from April 21, 1978 to October 15, 1978. They were ultimately able to recover 12 larger pieces of the satellite. All but two fragments recovered were radioactive. These pieces displayed radioactivity of up to 1.1 sievert
s per hour, yet they only comprised an estimated 1% of the fuel. "One fragment had the (lethal) radiation of 500 R/h, which is 100 times higher than the maximum annual [per-person] radiation level of 5 rem." For these recovery efforts, the Canadian government billed the Soviet Union $6,041,174.70 for actual expenses and additional compensation for future unpredicted expenses; the U.S.S.R. eventually paid the sum of three million Canadian dollars.
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
Radar Ocean Reconnaissance Satellite (RORSAT
RORSAT
Radar Ocean Reconnaissance SATellite or RORSAT is the western name given to the Soviet Upravlyaemyj Sputnik Aktivnyj satellites. These satellites were launched between 1967 and 1988 to monitor NATO and merchant vessels using active radar...
) with an onboard nuclear reactor. The satellite was launched on September 18, 1977 and was designed to track nuclear submarines. The satellite
Satellite
In the context of spaceflight, a satellite is an object which has been placed into orbit by human endeavour. Such objects are sometimes called artificial satellites to distinguish them from natural satellites such as the Moon....
's reactor core
Nuclear reactor core
A nuclear reactor core is the portion of a nuclear reactor containing the nuclear fuel components where the nuclear reactions take place.- Description :...
failed to separate and boost into a nuclear-safe orbit
Orbit
In physics, an orbit is the gravitationally curved path of an object around a point in space, for example the orbit of a planet around the center of a star system, such as the Solar System...
, and instead remained on board in an orbit that decayed until the satellite reentered
Atmospheric reentry
Atmospheric entry is the movement of human-made or natural objects as they enter the atmosphere of a celestial body from outer space—in the case of Earth from an altitude above the Kármán Line,...
Earth
Earth
Earth is the third planet from the Sun, and the densest and fifth-largest of the eight planets in the Solar System. It is also the largest of the Solar System's four terrestrial planets...
's atmosphere (the USSR informing the US in secret meetings) on January 24, 1978 at 11:53 AM GMT. Debris from the satellite was deposited on Canadian
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
territory, including portions of the Northwest Territories
Northwest Territories
The Northwest Territories is a federal territory of Canada.Located in northern Canada, the territory borders Canada's two other territories, Yukon to the west and Nunavut to the east, and three provinces: British Columbia to the southwest, and Alberta and Saskatchewan to the south...
(some of which is now Nunavut
Nunavut
Nunavut is the largest and newest federal territory of Canada; it was separated officially from the Northwest Territories on April 1, 1999, via the Nunavut Act and the Nunavut Land Claims Agreement Act, though the actual boundaries had been established in 1993...
), Alberta
Alberta
Alberta is a province of Canada. It had an estimated population of 3.7 million in 2010 making it the most populous of Canada's three prairie provinces...
and Saskatchewan
Saskatchewan
Saskatchewan is a prairie province in Canada, which has an area of . Saskatchewan is bordered on the west by Alberta, on the north by the Northwest Territories, on the east by Manitoba, and on the south by the U.S. states of Montana and North Dakota....
, on a 600 kilometres (372.8 mi) path from Great Slave Lake
Great Slave Lake
Great Slave Lake is the second-largest lake in the Northwest Territories of Canada , the deepest lake in North America at , and the ninth-largest lake in the world. It is long and wide. It covers an area of in the southern part of the territory. Its given volume ranges from to and up to ...
to Baker Lake. In an attempt to recover radioactive
Radioactive decay
Radioactive decay is the process by which an atomic nucleus of an unstable atom loses energy by emitting ionizing particles . The emission is spontaneous, in that the atom decays without any physical interaction with another particle from outside the atom...
material, a search was conducted covering a total of 124000 square kilometres (47,876.7 sq mi).
The USSR claimed that the satellite had been completely destroyed during re-entry. Subsequent recovery efforts, named Operation Morning Light, by a joint Canadian-American
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
team swept the area by foot and air in Phase I from January 24, 1978 to April 20, 1978 and Phase II from April 21, 1978 to October 15, 1978. They were ultimately able to recover 12 larger pieces of the satellite. All but two fragments recovered were radioactive. These pieces displayed radioactivity of up to 1.1 sievert
Sievert
The sievert is the International System of Units SI derived unit of dose equivalent radiation. It attempts to quantitatively evaluate the biological effects of ionizing radiation as opposed to just the absorbed dose of radiation energy, which is measured in gray...
s per hour, yet they only comprised an estimated 1% of the fuel. "One fragment had the (lethal) radiation of 500 R/h, which is 100 times higher than the maximum annual [per-person] radiation level of 5 rem." For these recovery efforts, the Canadian government billed the Soviet Union $6,041,174.70 for actual expenses and additional compensation for future unpredicted expenses; the U.S.S.R. eventually paid the sum of three million Canadian dollars.
See also
- Liability ConventionLiability ConventionThe Convention on International Liability for Damage Caused by Space Objects, also known as the Space Liability Convention, is a treaty that expands on the liability rules created in the Outer Space Treaty of 1967. Because relatively few accidents have occurred resulting from space objects, the...
, regarding the effects of satellite re-entry - Kosmos satellite program
External links
- Radiation Geophysics - Operation Morning Light - A personal account A detailed first-hand account of recovering pieces of Kosmos 954; includes pictures.
- Note verbale dated 19 December 1978 from the Permanent Mission of Canada to the United Nations Description and location of recovered pieces.
- 1978 Cosmos 954 and Operation Morning Light