On November 30, 1960, a Thor DM-21 rocket launched from Cape Canaveral with the mission of placing the navigation satellite Transit 3A into orbit. The rocket's engine suffered a premature cutoff, and officials ordered its self-destruction. What those officials never imagined is that they would be on the brink of an international incident, as the rocket's debris ended up falling over Cuba, killing a cow named Rufina...
Polar orbit missions from Cape Canaveral are not that common, to say the least. In fact, when SpaceX launched the SAOCOM 1B, GNOMES-1, and Tyvak 0172 satellites in August 2020 (that event also marked the 100th launch of the company), specialized sites explained that the last polar mission from the Cape had been ESSA-9, a weather satellite launched on February 26, 1969.
Polar orbits are very useful for climate research and the development of other projects related to agriculture. Generally, these missions depart from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California, taking advantage of safety benefits. If there is a failure, the debris falls over the Pacific Ocean, minimizing the risk to the population. In contrast, a polar launch from Cape Canaveral demands more attention, since it 'touches' part of Florida and passes over Cuban territory. And speaking of Cuba...
The 'God of Thunder' and the Cow Rufina
In early 1961, relations between Cuba and the United States were falling apart. Washington interrupted its diplomatic contacts in January, and "Bay of Pigs" happened three months later. However, this story forces us to go back a bit further... November 1960, to be precise. On the 30th, a "Thor DM-21 Ablestar" rocket was launched from Cape Canaveral loaded with Transit 3A, one of the satellites belonging to the GPS predecessor network. The second package on the rocket was SOLRAD 2, a hybrid between a solar X-ray observation satellite and a surveillance satellite, which, honestly, deserves its own article.
The original plan indicated that the Thor would function for 163 seconds before its main cutoff, but the engine suffered a problem and shut down prematurely. The two stages separated and 'Ablestar' tried to continue the flight, but the speed and trajectory were incorrect. Officials at the Cape ordered the destruction of the rocket... and its debris rained down on Cuban territory. As if that were not enough, a piece of the fuselage fell in the south of the country and struck a cow named Rufina, causing her death.
The Cuban response was in line with the political tension of the time. Castro called the incident "a cruel attack, and a violation of Cuban airspace". Some 250 protesters approached the US embassy in Havana to protest, and half a dozen cows carried signs with "anti-imperialist expressions", including one that accused President Eisenhower of "murdering one of its sisters".
The story ended with a compensation of two million dollars, turning Rufina into the most expensive cow in the world at that time, but other sources suggest that Castro obtained additional funds by selling the remains of the Thor to the Russians, and the vector control to the Chinese. There you have it: the death of Rufina and the risk of later accidents caused Cape Canaveral to be an unusual option for polar missions. And as a final fun fact, a very famous Argentine band wrote a song inspired by that Cuban cow...
Source: Digital Journal
