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SNAP-10A was an experimental nuclear reactor launched into space in 1965, and is the only small fission power system ever launched to space by the US. The reactor operated for just 43 days due to a (non-nuclear) electrical component failure.〔 The Systems Nuclear Auxiliary Power Program (SNAP) reactor was developed in the 1950s and early 1960s〔 under the SNAPSHOT program overseen by the U.S. Atomic Energy Commission. ==Spacecraft history== SNAP-10A was launched from Vandenberg AFB by an ATLAS Agena D rocket on April 3, 1965 into a polar low Earth orbit altitude of approx. 1,300 km. It is in a retrograde orbit- this ensured that the spent rocket stages landed in the ocean. Its nuclear electrical source, made up of thermoelectric elements, was intended to produce over 500 watts of electrical power for one year.〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=SNAP Overview )〕 After 43 days, an onboard voltage regulator within the spacecraft — unrelated to the SNAP reactor — failed, causing the reactor core to be shut down, after reaching a maximum output of 590 watts. After the 1965 system failure, the reactor was left in a Earth orbit for an expected duration of 4,000 years.〔 In November 1979 the vehicle began shedding, eventually losing 50 pieces of traceable debris. The reasons were unknown, but the cause could have been a collision. Although the main body remains in place, radioactive material may have been released.〔〔〔 , more than 30 small fission power system nuclear reactors have been sent into space in Soviet RORSAT satellites; also, over 40 radioisotope thermoelectric generators have been used globally (principally US and USSR) on space missions.〔 〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「SNAP-10A」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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