SNAP-10A was an experimental nuclear reactor launched into space in 1965
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Re: SNAP-10A was an experimental nuclear reactor launched into space in 1965
#2This should read: one of the dozens of...
Re: SNAP-10A was an experimental nuclear reactor launched into space in 1965
#3Several satellites with nuclear reactors have even crashed. Luckily, most appear to have ended up in the ocean, but here is a more scary example [1]. Here is a map of the area with potential debris that I found hidden away over at Wikimedia Commons [2].
[1]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kosmos_954
[2]: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/7c/Cosmos-9...
Re: SNAP-10A was an experimental nuclear reactor launched into space in 1965
#4Several satellites with nuclear reactors have even crashed. Luckily, most appear to have ended up in the ocean, but here is a more scary example [1]. Here is a map of the area with potential debris that I found hidden away over at Wikimedia Commons [2]. [1]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kosmos_954 [2]: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/7c/Cosmos-9...
Scary!
Re: SNAP-10A was an experimental nuclear reactor launched into space in 1965
#5What was the logic for putting these in space? I might have missed it in the article but since I'm ignorant to the details of the safety of these things it seems like a dumb idea to put a reactor into an uncontrollable orbit around the earth.
Re: SNAP-10A was an experimental nuclear reactor launched into space in 1965
#6Also, isn't this the plot from Golden Eye?
Re: SNAP-10A was an experimental nuclear reactor launched into space in 1965
#7What was the logic for putting these in space? I might have missed it in the article but since I'm ignorant to the details of the safety of these things it seems like a dumb idea to put a reactor into an uncontrollable orbit around the earth.
Power used to be a lot harder to come by, so there was a lot of experimentation with nuclear tech. Some of it more sensible than others. The US only experimented with one reactor before deciding it mostly wasn't worth it. The Soviets launched over thirty reactors, to power the orbital naval radar satellites they had (which effectively monitored every surface naval vessel in the world).
Re: SNAP-10A was an experimental nuclear reactor launched into space in 1965
#8What was the logic for putting these in space? I might have missed it in the article but since I'm ignorant to the details of the safety of these things it seems like a dumb idea to put a reactor into an uncontrollable orbit around the earth.
[deleted]
Re: SNAP-10A was an experimental nuclear reactor launched into space in 1965
#9What was the logic for putting these in space? I might have missed it in the article but since I'm ignorant to the details of the safety of these things it seems like a dumb idea to put a reactor into an uncontrollable orbit around the earth.
From an article - Because a return signal from an ordinary target illuminated by a radar transmitter diminishes as the inverse of the fourth power of the distance, for the surveillance radar to work effectively, these satellites had to be placed in low Earth orbit. Had they used large solar panels for power, the orbit would have rapidly decayed due to drag through the upper atmosphere. Further, the satellite would have been useless in the shadow of Earth.
Re: SNAP-10A was an experimental nuclear reactor launched into space in 1965
#10In other news, a massive fusion reactor has been found near the earth that periodically releases uncontrollable bursts of energy and radiation.