Today, 47 years ago, on January 30, 1978, a Soviet spy satellite crashed into Canada. On January 30, 1978, the Canadian government announced that a Soviet nuclear-powered spy satellite crashed in northern Canada. The Canadian government announced last week that searchers had discovered most of the remains of the satellite. Government officials said that the Space 954 satellite's orbit landing had been monitored for days, after the crash caused a 9-foot-diameter hole. The Soviet Union confirmed that the launch of the satellite was used to track the U.S. Navy, carrying a nuclear reactor containing 100 pounds of radioactive material, crashing across northern Canada, leaving a radioactive zone.