Jan 28 1978
From The Space Library
A Canadian Air Force transport searching for radioactive contamination from a Soviet satellite that disintegrated over northwest Canada had reported a "highly probable" radiation contact, the W. Star reported, first to be discovered since Jan. 24 when the crippled Cosmos 954 satellite powered by a nuclear reactor containing 1001b of highly radioactive uranium 235 had reentered earth's atmosphere. The occurrence had sparked controversy over hazards of radioactive space debris; the U.S. space program had used radioisotope power systems, but had launched only one fission reactor, that on the SNAP I OA test vehicle. Fission reactors such as that on Cosmos 954 would create strontium, cesium, and cerium byproducts potentially lethal if radiation dosages were high or prolonged.
The USSR had launched at least 10 reactors on spacecraft like Cosmos 954, 16 with the same operating parameters having flown since Dec. 27, 1967; it had put all the reactor craft except Cosmos 954 in safe high orbit. The Soviet and U.S. governments had kept close contact during the incident. National Security Affairs Assistant Zbigniew Brzezinski, quoted by TASS, said, "I would like to point out two things: first that this incident which, to my mind, is nothing out of the ordinary in the space age, is fully controlled so we believe there is no danger.... Second, that the governments of the U.S., the Soviet Union, and other governments concerned cooperated intensively concerning this matter." (FBIS, Tass in English, Jan 25/78, Jan 28/78; W Star, Jan 26/78, A-1; Av Wk, Jan 30/78, 33; Economist, Jan 28/78, 75)
NASA announced that it had appointed Dr. John McCarthy director of LeRC, effective Oct. 1, 1978. Currently director of Massachusetts Institute of Technology's Center for Space Research and a professor of aeronautics and astronautics, Dr. McCarthy had been widely recognized as an expert in systems engineering and vehicle design. He had served as a member of the Air Force Scientific Advisory Board and chairman of the Aeronautical Systems Division Advisory Group, Air Force Systems Command, and had been a member of the Joint Strategic Target Planning Staff Scientific Advisory Group for the Joint Chiefs of Staff. (NASA Release 78-16)
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