3 ms·

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kosmos_954 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kosmos_954 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SNAP-10A http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SNAP-10A I

• macrael 12y ago
  Both of those are pre-Challenger and the first paragraph of Kosmos article reads: "Kosmos 954 (Russian: Космос 954) was a reconnaissance satellite launched by the Soviet Union in 1977. A malfunction prevented safe separation of its onboard nuclear reactor; when the satellite reentered the Earth's atmosphere the following year it scattered radioactive debris over northern Canada, prompting an extensive cleanup operation." so caution seems reasonable.
  • jsmthrowaway 12y ago
    Challenger was not the first explosion of a spacecraft in flight. Far from it. Apollo 13 taught NASA far more about safekeeping of radioisotope generators than any explosion on the way to orbit.