Cosmos 954
| Cosmos 954 | |
|---|---|
| Type: | Marine observation satellite |
| Country: |
 Soviet Union
|
| COSPAR-ID : | 1977-090A |
| Mission dates | |
| Dimensions: | 3800 kg |
| Begin: | September 18, 1977, 13:48 UTC |
| Starting place: | Baikonur 90/19 |
| Launcher: | Cyclone 2 |
| Landing: | January 24, 1978, 11:53 UTC |
| Landing place: | Northern Canada |
| Status: | crashed on January 24, 1978 |
| Orbit data | |
| Rotation time : | 89.7 min |
| Orbit inclination : | 65 ° |
| Apogee height : | 265 km |
| Perigee height : | 251 km |
Kosmos 954 was a Soviet marine observation satellite using a nuclear reactor as an energy source. Kosmos 954 belonged to the class of RORSAT satellites, which used active radar to observe military and commercial ships.
Accident
At the end of its life, the most radioactively contaminated reactor core should be separated from the satellite and accelerated into a higher, safer orbit . This mechanism failed due to a technical incident and the entire satellite entered the earth's atmosphere on January 24, 1978. The remains of the satellite fell on a 600 km long strip between the Great Slave Lake 61 ° 41 '6 "N, 113 ° 53' 20" W and the Baker Lake ( Northwest Territories , Canada ) 64 ° 9 '0' N, 95 ° 30 '0 "W from.
Search operation
The joint search operation of the USA and Canada called "Operation Morning Light", in which the Nuclear Emergency Support Team was involved, tried to recover as much material as possible on foot and from the air before the ice cover melted in spring and further work would be troublesome. In order to recover as much radioactive material as possible, a total of 124,000 km² of terrain was searched. In the end, twelve larger pieces of debris were recovered, the activity of which was believed to be about one hundredth of the total activity of the satellite.
Canada billed the Soviet Union for the search and any further operations in the amount of 6,041,174.70 Canadian dollars ; the USSR eventually paid damages under the Space Liability Convention in the amount of three million Canadian dollars.
The released activity of radioactive substances was 181 Tera Becquerel (TBq) from 131 I , 3 TBq 90 Sr , 3 TBq 137 Cs and smaller amounts from plutonium .
See also
literature
- Stephen Gorove: Cosmos 954: Issues of law and policy , in: Journal of Space Law 1978, pp. 137 ff.
- PW Krey et al .: Atmospheric Burnup of the Cosmos-954 Reactor. Science, August 10, 1979, Vol. 205. no. 4406, pp. 583-585, abstract
Web links
- Settlement of Claim between Canada and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics for Damage Caused by "Cosmos 954" (English, Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency Library)
- Prince of Wales Northern Heritage Center: 1978 Cosmos 954 and Operation Morning Light ( Memento from July 19, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) (English)
- Cosmos 954: An Ugly Death February 6, 1978, Time
Individual evidence
- ^ RORSAT in the Encyclopedia Astronautica , accessed on August 17, 2012 (English).
- ^ Space travel: Radiant flotsam, Der Spiegel , January 30, 1978
- ↑ Alexander F. Cohen: Cosmos 954 and the International Law of Satellite Accidents Yale Journal of International Law 1984, p. 78 ff., 80 (English)
- ↑ Lisa Parks: When Satellites fall: On the trails of Cosmos 954 and USA 193 June 12, 2009 (English)
- ↑ Jerzy W. Mietelski: Antropogenic Radioactivity. in: David A. Atwood: Radionuclides in the environment. Wiley, Chichester 2010, ISBN 978-0-470-71434-8 , p. 26, "The satellite had a small nuclear reactor on board and the accident introduced 181 TBq of I-131, 3 TBq of Sr-90, 3 TBq of Cs-137, and some plutonium as well. "
Map with all coordinates: