Transit 5BN-3

Thor Able Star with the satellite after launch

Transit 5BN-3 , also VBN-3 , was a satellite for the former satellite navigation system transit the United States . The Navy Navigation Satellite System was used militarily and later also civilly.

The launcher was a Thor-Able Star . After the launch on April 21, 1964 at 18:50 UTC , the satellite did not reach its orbit . After a re-entry, Transit 5BN-3 burned up over Madagascar at an altitude of approx. 50 km.

A radionuclide battery (type SNAP-9A) with about 1 kg of plutonium-238 served as the energy supply. The contained plutonium was released into the earth's atmosphere (about 6 · 10 ¹⁴ Bq ²³⁸ Pu), about a quarter of it in the northern hemisphere.

Others

In addition to Transit 5BN-3, Transit 5E-2 was also on board the launcher. Unlike the Transit 5BN-3, the Transit 5E-2 should use solar cells to generate energy. It also burned out.

See also

• Cosmos 954
• Radioactive fallout

Web links

• Steve Aftergood: Background on Space Nuclear Power (PDF; 1.6 MB) princeton.edu, accessed April 15, 2011

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Jerzy W. Mietelski: Antropogenic Radioactivity. in: David A. Atwood: Radionuclides in the environment. Wiley, Chichester 2010, ISBN 978-0-470-71434-8 , p. 26, "This happened over Madagascar at an altidude of about 50km above ground."
2. ↑ Radiation protection considerations with regard to the crash of nuclear-powered satellites. Opinion of the radiation protection commission. Bonn December 6, 1989 ( Memento from September 27, 2007 in the Internet Archive ) (PDF; 34 kB)
3. ↑ http://www.viewzone.com/cassini.html
4. ↑ Radioactivity in the marine environment. National Research Council, Panel on Radioactivity in the Marine Environment 1971 @ google books, accessed April 15, 2011
5. ↑ Transit-5E 2 at Gunter's Space Page (English)