Operation Morning Light
National Atomic Testing Museum
Operation Morning Light recovered the debris from the disintegration of a nuclear-powered Soviet satellite. The Las Vegas-based Nuclear Emergency Search Team played a major role in the joint Canada/United States search and recovery effort. The team used sophisticated aerial remote sensing and radiation detection systems to search for debris scattered within 15,000 square miles of tundra. The team spent three months on the ground in this frozen and snow-covered land recovering small pieces and flakes of radioactive debris. Temperatures of -40°F and wind chill factors of -100°F were not uncommon.
A Soviet nuclear-powered Cosmos 954 satellite was launched September 18, 1977. The Cosmos 954 was in a 150-mile high orbit conducting ocean surveillance from the Arctic to the Antarctic. In January 1978, the satellite fell to earth and scattered radioactive debris across the Northwest Territories near Yellowknife, northern Canada. The clean-up operation was a coordinated effort between the United States and Canada. Known as Operation Morning Light." the clean-up continued into October 1978.
As the Soviet satellite Cosmos 954 fell to Earth in northern Canada in 1978, Lab scientists joined a multinational team spending hours in the back of a Hercules aircraft to track the satellite's reentry path and locate radioactive debris.
Artifact Legend
1. "Operation Morning Light," Sentinel Magazine, 1978/2 Operation Morning Light was the code name used for the joint Canada and United States operation to locate and clean up radioactive debris associated with the re-entry and self-destruction of the Soviet nuclear-powered Cosmos 954 satellite in northern Canada in January 1978.
Donated by General Mahlon Gates, San Antonio, TX
2. "Operation Morning Light" photo albums
Donated by General Mahlon Gates, San Antonio, TX
3. "Operation Morning Light-Canadian Northwest Territories, 1978" DOE/NV-198 Report, September 1978 DOE/NV-198 Report, September 1978
Donated by General Mahlon Gates, San Antonio, TX
4. Deployment Data Communications System suitcase exercises used in emergency response
Donated by Roger Thompson, Las Vegas, NV
Operation Morning Light
National Atomic Testing Museum
Operation Morning Light recovered the debris from the disintegration of a nuclear-powered Soviet satellite. The Las Vegas-based Nuclear Emergency Search Team played a major role in the joint Canada/United States search and recovery effort. The team used sophisticated aerial remote sensing and radiation detection systems to search for debris scattered within 15,000 square miles of tundra. The team spent three months on the ground in this frozen and snow-covered land recovering small pieces and flakes of radioactive debris. Temperatures of -40°F and wind chill factors of -100°F were not uncommon.
A Soviet nuclear-powered Cosmos 954 satellite was launched September 18, 1977. The Cosmos 954 was in a 150-mile high orbit conducting ocean surveillance from the Arctic to the Antarctic. In January 1978, the satellite fell to earth and scattered radioactive debris across the Northwest Territories near Yellowknife, northern Canada. The clean-up operation was a coordinated effort between the United States and Canada. Known as Operation Morning Light." the clean-up continued into October 1978.
As the Soviet satellite Cosmos 954 fell to Earth in northern Canada in 1978, Lab scientists joined a multinational team spending hours in the back of a Hercules aircraft to track the satellite's reentry path and locate radioactive debris.
Artifact Legend
1. "Operation Morning Light," Sentinel Magazine, 1978/2 Operation Morning Light was the code name used for the joint Canada and United States operation to locate and clean up radioactive debris associated with the re-entry and self-destruction of the Soviet nuclear-powered Cosmos 954 satellite in northern Canada in January 1978.
Donated by General Mahlon Gates, San Antonio, TX
2. "Operation Morning Light" photo albums
Donated by General Mahlon Gates, San Antonio, TX
3. "Operation Morning Light-Canadian Northwest Territories, 1978" DOE/NV-198 Report, September 1978 DOE/NV-198 Report, September 1978
Donated by General Mahlon Gates, San Antonio, TX
4. Deployment Data Communications System suitcase exercises used in emergency response
Donated by Roger Thompson, Las Vegas, NV