Watch out for falling Spy satellites

[strong]

WASHINGTON - President Bush has ordered the Pentagon to use a Navy missile to attempt to destroy a broken U.S. spy satellite — and thereby minimize the risk to humans from its toxic fuel — by intercepting it just before it re-enters the atmosphere, officials said Thursday.

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The effort — the first of its kind — will be undertaken because of the potential that people in the area where the satellite would otherwise crash could be harmed, the officials said.

Deputy National Security Adviser James Jeffrey, briefing reporters at the Pentagon, did not say when the attempted intercept would be conducted, but the satellite is expected to hit Earth during the first week of March.

"This is all about trying to reduce the danger to human beings," Jeffrey said.

Gen. James Cartwright, vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said at the same briefing that the "window of opportunity" for such a shootdown, presumably to be launched from a Navy ship, will open in the next three or four days and last for seven or eight days. He did not say whether the Pentagon has decided on an exact launch date.

Cartwright said this will be an unprecedented effort; he would not say exactly what are the odds of success.

"This is the first time we've used a tactical missile to engage a spacecraft," Cartwright said.

After extensive study and analysis, U.S. officials came to the conclusion that, "we're better off taking the attempt than not," Cartwright said.

He said a Navy missile known as Standard Missile 3 would be fired in an attempt to intercept the satellite just prior to it re-entering Earth's atmosphere. It would be "next to impossible" to hit the satellite after that because of atmospheric disturbances, Cartwright said.

A second goal, he said, is to directly hit the fuel tank in order to minimize the amount of fuel that returns to Earth.

Software associated with the Standard Missile 3 has been modified to enhance the chances of the missile's sensors recognizing that the satellite is its target; he noted that the missile's designed mission is to shoot down ballistic missiles, not satellites. Other officials said the missile's maximum range, while a classified figure, is not great enough to hit a satellite operating in normal orbits.

"It's a one-time deal," Cartwright said when asked whether the modified Standard Missile 3 should be considered a new U.S. anti-satellite weapon technology.

Cartwright also said that if an initial shootdown attempt fails, a decision will be made whether to take a second shot.

Jeffrey said members of Congress were briefed on the plan earlier Thursday and that diplomatic notifications to other countries would be made before the end of the day.

Shooting down a satellite is particularly sensitive because of the controversy surrounding China's anti-satellite test last year, when Beijing shot down one of its defunct weather satellites, drawing immediate criticism from the U.S. and other countries.

A key concern at that time was the debris created by Chinese satellite's destruction — and that will also be a focus now, as the U.S. determines exactly when and under what circumstances to shoot down its errant satellite.

The military will have to choose a time and a location that will avoid to the greatest degree any damage to other satellites in the sky. Also, there is the possibility that large pieces could remain, and either stay in orbit where they can collide with other satellites or possibly fall to Earth.

It is not known where the satellite will hit. But officials familiar with the situation say about half of the 5,000-pound spacecraft is expected to survive its blazing descent through the atmosphere and will scatter debris — some of it potentially hazardous — over several hundred miles. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the matter.

The satellite is outfitted with thrusters — small engines used to position it in space. They contain the toxic rocket fuel hydrazine, which can cause harm to anyone who contacts it. Officials have said there is about 1,000 pounds of propellent on the satellite.

Known by its military designation US 193, the satellite was launched in December 2006. It lost power and its central computer failed almost immediately afterward, leaving it uncontrollable. It carried a sophisticated and secret imaging sensor.

(This version CORRECTS Recasts lead; corrects spelling of Jeffrey in grafs 2,3 and 13. SUBs 11th graf to clarify that the Standard Missile 3 is designed for use against ballistic missiles and that its range is insufficient to hit satellites operating in normal orbits.)

[pome902]

Wow thanks for that update I herd about it once last week and well havent herd too much about it

[pome902]

Oh yes and from what i herd their hoping this just hit water which is likey and their hoping that it dosent land in the hands of the wrong people cough cought russians .. cough

[strong]

Well as long as it stays away from Calgary or well Canada for that matter.

[pome902]

Hopfully india or china well lets just say a largly over populated area..... dont meen to sound meen or anything :dunno:
it could act as a popluation stabilizer haha i dont know,
some people say the sunami wasnt a natural desaster?

[Team_Mclaren]

Hmm, so its ok for US to shoot it down for "safety" but not China...


Originally posted by pome902
their hoping that it dosent land in the hands of the wrong people cough cought russians .. cough

As if the Russians would give a shit, they have a billion old ass spy satellites of their own.


Originally posted by pome902
Hopfully india or china well lets just say a largly over populated area..... dont meen to sound meen or anything :dunno:
it could act as a popluation stabilizer haha i dont know,



ya and so was the holocaust:rolleyes: are you fucking retarded

[eb0i]

Originally posted by Team_Mclaren

ya and so was the holocaust:rolleyes: are you fucking retarded

No he's not retarded because he has pictures of a BMW in his avatar/sig.

[adam c]

Originally posted by pome902
Oh yes and from what i herd their hoping this just hit water which is likey and their hoping that it dosent land in the hands of the wrong people cough cought russians .. cough

im russian thanks.. i took offense to that

i vote for ban


Originally posted by pome902
Hopfully india or china well lets just say a largly over populated area..... dont meen to sound meen or anything :dunno:
it could act as a popluation stabilizer haha i dont know,
some people say the sunami wasnt a natural desaster?

again, i state my point, you need a midget to help you with spelling..

[Euro_Trash]

Originally posted by pome902
Hopfully india or china well lets just say a largly over populated area..... dont meen to sound meen or anything :dunno:
it could act as a popluation stabilizer haha i dont know,
some people say the sunami wasnt a natural desaster?

wow...

[Toma]

Why is this "the first of it's kind..."????.... the Chinese already did this last year.... at 4 times the range....

Judging from it's "Star Wars" efforst, If the US wants to hit it and not embarrass itself, maybe they should contract out to the Chinese ;)

[strong]

Let the Chinese do it then if they mess up it could be an act of terrorism and bush can try and make a move

[Dj_Stylz]

Originally posted by pome902
Hopfully india or china well lets just say a largly over populated area..... dont meen to sound meen or anything :dunno:
it could act as a popluation stabilizer haha i dont know,
some people say the sunami wasnt a natural desaster?

wat

Also it is called a tsunami not a sunami

[97'Scort]

Bullshit this is about not hurting people. The US just doesn't want to to splash down somewhere and have somebody scoop it up to learn from it.

[Pihsiak]

http://www.space.com/news/spacehistory/dangerous_reentries_000602.html


Cosmos 954: nuclear fallout

To this day, the most frightening satellite reentry remains that of Cosmos 954, a secret Soviet-navy satellite launched on September 18, 1977.

Designated the US-A, (US is a Russian abbreviation for Controlled Satellite), Cosmos 954 was anything but controlled. As it spiraled down, the satellite moved dangerously close to the dense atmosphere. There, atmospheric friction would inevitably slow it enough to cause it to drop out of orbit. To make matters worse, the Soviet government was tight-lipped about the status of the military spacecraft.

When it became clear in the West that there would be no boosting of the disabled satellite's nuclear core into safe orbit, the U.S. government started secret but frantic preparation for the worst. A specially equipped search and cleanup team geared up, ready to fly anywhere in the world if the debris were to reach dry land.

Landing on Canadian soil

On January 24, 1978, Cosmos 954 reentered over Canada, with debris hitting the ground in frozen and scarcely populated areas in Canadian Arctic. The U.S. team, which many now believe was associated with the CIA, arrived in Canada to assist in the search. The day after the crash, they started overflights of the area trying to detect the radiation from the spacecraft's remnants.

In the following days other pieces were found, scattered along frozen desert; one emitted 200 roentgens of radiation per hour -- the level which is enough kill a human after a two-hour exposure. A special container was hastily prepared to remove the object. For several months afterwards cleanup teams continued their efforts.

In the aftermath of the accident, Canada sent the U.S.S.R. a bill for $6,041,174.70 USD, half of which the Soviet government paid after three years of negotiations.

[01RedDX]

.

[zipdoa]

Originally posted by pome902
some people say the sunami wasnt a natural desaster?

You certainly were.

[Canmorite]

Originally posted by 97'Scort
Bullshit this is about not hurting people. The US just doesn't want to to splash down somewhere and have somebody scoop it up to learn from it.

My moneys on this.

[97'Scort]

Originally posted by Pihsiak


There have been others, too. Most of them just burn up on re-entry, but the fact remains that plutonium is the easiest and most cost effective way to heat satellite internals long-term. It doesn't burn up, either, it disperses. The US and the Soviets are equally guilty for this.

As the near-orbit space gets more and more crowded, this is going to be more frequent. Old units will be dropped out to free up space (pun intended...:D).

[TVG]

Originally posted by Team_Mclaren
As if the Russians would give a shit, they have a billion old ass spy satellites of their own.
[/B]

It went up in 2006. Could possibly have some of the most advanced technology anywhere.

[dennisaur]

Originally posted by pome902
Hopfully india or china well lets just say a largly over populated area..... dont meen to sound meen or anything :dunno:
it could act as a popluation stabilizer haha i dont know,
some people say the sunami wasnt a natural desaster?

hahaha this guy HAS to be retarded. all his posts are fucking painful to read. ridiculars!

[TeamBestBud]

Originally posted by pome902
Hopfully india or china well lets just say a largly over populated area..... dont meen to sound meen or anything :dunno:
it could act as a popluation stabilizer haha i dont know,
some people say the sunami wasnt a natural desaster?


I hope it falls on your moms house, its her fault this thing got pulled out of its orbit in the first place.

[DayGlow]

Originally posted by Team_Mclaren
Hmm, so its ok for US to shoot it down for "safety" but not China...


The difference from my understanding speaking to some people that work in the aerospace industry is that the US will hit it when it's at a sub orbit where the debris will fall into the atmosphere and burn up while China hit their target while in a busy orbit path used by many nations for communication satellites and left a ton of debris that has real potential to damage other satellites.

[01RedDX]

.

[adam c]

so i got my autorenewal the other day in the mail and i was reading it to see what kind of protection i am covered against.

one of the things said .. falling aircraft .. now i wonder if this would work in the same sense?

[strong]

Update:

During the next week, a wayward U.S. spy satellite will make passes across North America and western Europe soon after sunset and should be easily visible to the unaided eye.

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That's if it doesn't get shot down first.


The falling satellite is named USA 193. It was launched Dec. 14, 2006. It has been described as being similar in size to a school bus and might weigh as much as 10,000 pounds. It carries a sophisticated and secret imaging sensor but the satellite's central computer failed shortly after launch, never reaching its final orbit, and the Pentagon declared it a total loss in early 2007.


Since then, the satellite's orbit has been decaying — slowly at first. But in recent weeks USA 193's nearly circular orbit has been rapidly lowering. Currently, its altitude is approximately 160 miles (260 km) above the Earth.


Unless a proposed plan by the Pentagon is enacted to shoot down USA 193 during the next week, the satellite could conceivably re-enter the Earth's atmosphere and burn up sometime in mid-March.


Viewing opportunity


Today through Feb. 22, USA 193 will make a number of evening passes over North America and western Europe. It's orbit is inclined 58.5-degrees to the equator, a setup that makes it readily observable from most of the Northern Hemisphere.


During this period, USA 193 will move along a general southwest-to-northeast trajectory and pass over a number of cities in the United States, southern Canada and western Europe.


To spot a specific satellite, you need to know when and where to look.


Predictions for the times and locations of USA 193 are available at the Heavens Above website (www.heavens-above.com). Based on this website's sighting information, USA 193 will be very favorably placed for observation over a number of large cities, assuming it is still in orbit around the Earth and weather conditions permit.


What to look for


To find satellites, it's also helpful to know how to roughly measure the sky. Your clenched fist held at arm's length measures roughly 10-degrees of the sky. (From the horizon to the top of the sky (the zenith) measures 90-degrees.)


From Chicago, as an example, the spy satellite is predicted to reach as high as 38-degrees above the horizon (nearly four fists) on Feb. 17. That same date, as seen from Orlando, Florida, an evening pass as high as 65-degrees is predicted.


From Boston and Seattle, nearly overhead passes are forecast for (respectively) Feb.18 and Feb. 22. And on the latter date, London, England should have a fine pass, with USA 193 arcing as high as 77-degrees above the horizon.


It should be stressed that because of the rapidly changing nature of its orbit, sighting information from Heavens-Above should be checked frequently.


Those who have seen the International Space Station (ISS) flying across their local skies should be aware that USA 193 will appear noticeably fainter, since it's quite a bit smaller than the ISS. Yet, at its brightest, the spy satellite still should rank as bright as the brightest stars, at roughly first magnitude in astronomers parlance.


Also, since the spy satellite is in a lower orbit than the ISS, expect USA 193 to move much more rapidly across your line of sight.

[Aleks]

The shootdown attempt worked
souce BBC

[KuruptEX]

Originally posted by Aleks
The shootdown attempt worked
souce BBC

false

[strong]

Possibly propaganda:

WASHINGTON - A missile launched from a Navy cruiser soared 130 miles above the Pacific and smashed a dying and potentially deadly U.S. spy satellite Wednesday, the Pentagon said. Two defense officials said it apparently achieved the main aim of destroying an onboard tank of toxic fuel.

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Officials had expressed cautious optimism that the missile would hit the satellite, which was the size of a school bus. But they were less certain of hitting the smaller, more worrisome fuel tank, whose contents posed what Bush administration officials deemed a potential health hazard to humans if it landed intact.

In a statement announcing that the attack on the satellite, the Pentagon said, "Confirmation that the fuel tank has been fragmented should be available within 24 hours." It made no mention of early indications, but two defense officials close to the situation said later that it appeared the fuel tank was hit. One said observers saw what appeared to be an explosion, indicating that the tank was hit.

Because the satellite was orbiting at a relatively low altitude at the time it was hit by the missile, debris will begin to re-enter the Earth's atmosphere immediately, the Pentagon statement said.

"Nearly all of the debris will burn up on re-entry within 24-48 hours and the remaining debris should re-enter within 40 days," it said.

The USS Lake Erie, armed with an SM-3 missile designed to knock down incoming missiles — not orbiting satellites — launched the attack at 10:26 p.m. EST, according to the Pentagon. It hit the satellite about three minutes later as the spacecraft traveled in polar orbit at more than 17,000 mph.

The Lake Erie and two other Navy warships, as well as the SM-3 missile and other components, were modified in a hurry-up project headed by the Navy in January. The missile alone cost nearly $10 million, and officials estimated that the total cost of the project was at least $30 million.

The launch of the Navy missile amounted to an unprecedented use of components of the Pentagon's missile defense system, designed to shoot down hostile ballistic missiles in flight — not kill satellites.

The operation was so extraordinary, with such intense international publicity and political ramifications, that Defense Secretary Robert Gates — not a military commander — made the decision to pull the trigger.

Gates had arrived in Hawaii a few hours before the missile was launched. He was there to begin a round-the-world trip, not to monitor the missile operation. His press secretary, Geoff Morrell, told reporters traveling with Gates that the defense chief gave the go-ahead at 1:40 p.m. EST while en route from Washington.

Morrell said Gates had a conference call during the flight with Air Force Gen. Kevin Chilton, head of Strategic Command, and Marine Gen. James Cartwright, vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. They told him that "the conditions were ripe for an attempt, and that is when the secretary gave the go-ahead to take the shot, and wished them good luck," Morrell said.

At 10:35 p.m. EST, Gates spoke to both generals again and "was informed that the mission was a success, that the missile had intercepted the decaying satellite, and the secretary was obviously very pleased to learn that," said Morrell.

The government organized hazardous materials teams, under the code name "Burnt Frost," to be flown to the site of any dangerous or otherwise sensitive debris that might land in the United States or elsewhere.

Also, six federal response groups that are positioned across the country by the Federal Emergency Management Agency were alerted but had not been activated Wednesday, FEMA spokesman James McIntyre said before the missile launch. "These are purely precautionary and preparedness actions only," he said.

President Bush gave his approval last week to attempt the satellite shootdown on grounds that it was worth trying to destroy the toxic fuel on board the satellite before it could possibly land in a populated area.

The three-stage Navy missile, designated the SM-3, has chalked up a high rate of success in a series of tests since 2002, in each case targeting a short- or medium-range ballistic missile, never a satellite. A hurry-up program to adapt the missile for this anti-satellite mission was completed in a matter of weeks; Navy officials said the changes would be reversed once this satellite was down.

The government issued notices to aviators and mariners to remain clear of a section of the Pacific Ocean beginning at 10:30 p.m. EST Wednesday, indicating the first window of opportunity to launch the missile.

Having lost power shortly after it reached orbit in late 2006, the satellite was out of control and well below the altitude of a normal satellite. The Pentagon determined it should hit it with an SM-3 missile just before it re-entered Earth's atmosphere, in that way minimizing the amount of debris that would remain in space.

Left alone, the satellite would have been expected to hit Earth during the first week of March. About half of the 5,000-pound spacecraft would have been expected to survive its blazing descent through the atmosphere and would have scattered debris over several hundred miles.

[Kloubek]

Uh.. no. True. BBC and CCN both say it worked. Do you perhaps have insider information the biggest broadcasters in the world do not?


Originally posted by KuruptEX


false

[01RedDX]

.

[rc2002]

Originally posted by 01RedDX
nice shot

Would've been $10 million of fail if they missed.

[adam c]

they hit the satellite but they are tracking the debris and say that a lot of it can and probably will hit ground but nothing bigger then a football

[CivicDXR]

Confirmation? or a really good propoganda job with Flash as video evidence? :D

http://www.engadget.com/2008/02/21/video-proof-of-the-renegade-satellites-destruction/

[Canmorite]

Killing spree.

[DTTB_36]

http://www.canada.com/calgaryherald/news/story.html?id=5446926a-fafa-46de-8f45-cbe9ea095d7f&k=49088

[KuruptEX]

Originally posted by Kloubek
Uh.. no. True. BBC and CCN both say it worked. Do you perhaps have insider information the biggest broadcasters in the world do not?



lol my bad i was reading the wrong news a week ago where
they were still saying they are still planning so my bad lol