Cleaning up Cosmos: Satellite Debris, Radioactive Risk, and the Politics of Knowledge in Operation Morning Light

Abstract

In the early morning of January 24, 1978, the nuclear-powered Soviet satellite Cosmos 954 crashed on the barrens of the Northwest Territories, Canada.The crash dispersed radioactive debris across the region, including over multiple communities.A close reading of the archival record of the military-led clean up operation that followed, known as Operation Morning Light, shows how the debris recovery effort was shaped by government understandings of the northern environment as mediated through authoritative science and technology. This authority was to be challenged from the very beginning of Operation Morning Light. Constant technological failures under northern environmental conditions only increased the uncertainty already inherent in determining radioactive risk. Communication of this risk to concerned northerners was further complicated by language barriers in the predominantly Indigenous communities affected. For many northern residents, the uncertainties surrounding radiation detection and mistrust of government communication efforts fueled concerns about contamination and the effectiveness of debris recovery. Though an obscure episode for many Canadians today, the Cosmos crash and recovery intersects with important themes in northern history, including the politics of knowledge and authority in the Cold War North.