
SNAP-10A was an experimental nuclear reactor launched into space in 1965 - nstj
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SNAP-10A
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ninjin
Several 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](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kosmos_954)

[2]:
[https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/7c/Cosmos-9...](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/7c/Cosmos-954_Map.png)

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nstj
Scary!

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rubyfan
What 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.

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rahuldeshpande
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.

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rwmj
In other news, a massive fusion reactor has been found near the earth that
periodically releases uncontrollable bursts of energy and radiation.

[http://pwg.gsfc.nasa.gov/istp/nicky/cme-
chase.html](http://pwg.gsfc.nasa.gov/istp/nicky/cme-chase.html)

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DanielBMarkham
Not sure if I believe this. It's never visible in the night sky.

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InclinedPlane
This should read: one of the dozens of...

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rubyfan
Also, isn't this the plot from Golden Eye?

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acidburnNSA
No, but Project Excalibur was verry similar to the Golden Eye plot. Only
difference is that it used nuclear explosions to pump x-ray lasers that would
shoot down enemy ballistic missiles rather than directed EMPs.

[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Project_Excalibur](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Project_Excalibur)

Fun fact though, detonating nuclear weapons in outer space causes very wide-
spread EMPs. It's a very good thing that the Starfish Prime test was done out
in the Pacific instead of at the Nevada test site.

[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Starfish_Prime](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Starfish_Prime)

