Re: OT: Target: Spy Satellite

Maybe wrote:
On Feb 20, 3:04�pm, Maybe <Maybeso...@xxxxxxx> wrote:
It might not be tonight. �They may decide the weather is too bad for
them to do it. �They say choppy seas don't make for an ideal way to
shoot down a satellite. �It was going to be tonight because NASA asked
them to wait for the shuttle Atlantis to return to earth so it
wouldn't get hit by flying toxic satellite debris. �The shuttle landed
this morning safe and sound. �So you might not hear any crashes in
your backyard tonight.

Maybe...but tomorrow is another story

It actually could happen tonight. Here's an article about the whole
thing.

<Military Hopes to Bring Down Satellite
Feb 20, 7:09 PM (ET)

By ROBERT BURNS

(AP)

WASHINGTON (AP) - The Pentagon counted down Wednesday toward an
unprecedented effort to shoot down a dying and potentially deadly U.S.
spy satellite, using a souped-up missile fired from a ship in the
Pacific.
<snip>
The aim is not just to hit the bus-sized satellite - which would burn
up upon re-entering the atmosphere anyway - but to obliterate a tank
onboard that is carrying 1,000 pounds of hydrazine, a toxic fuel. The
fuel, unused because the satellite died shortly after reaching orbit
in December 2006 - could be hazardous if it landed in a populated
area.

<snip>
from tonight's News Hour with Jim Lehrer:
http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/military/jan-june08/satelliteshoot_02-20.html

"Questions about hydrazine

MARGARET WARNER: Now, Professor Postol, I gather you don't think this is a good idea.

THEODORE POSTOL, Massachusetts Institute of Technology: Well, I don't think the idea has any technical merit. What you have is a vehicle that's in space. It's built as light as it possibly can be, because it's a satellite designed to just be in space.

When this thing hits the upper atmosphere, large pieces of it are going to burn up. Now, there will be big pieces that survive to the ground, but the idea that this hydrazine tank will survive to the ground really makes no sense.

Let me just give you an example. This hydrazine tank is going to decelerate at a rate of -- let me just use the numbers -- 50 Gs. I just did the calculations before the program.

What that means is I take this spherical hydrazine tank and I accelerate it from rest to 1,000 miles per hour in one second. Now, this gossamer tank, this spherical tank is going to squash up and break open.

And it's going to be -- the hydrazine is going to behave like a snowball fired out of a cannon. It's just going to spray all over the place, stop in the upper atmosphere probably at an altitude of 60 or 70 miles, and it's never going to reach the ground.

There will be pieces of the satellite that reach the ground, but the hydrazine is never going to come close to the ground."
.

Relevant Pages

  • Re: WHATS NEW Robert L. Park Friday, 15 Feb 08, Washington, DC
    ... Thane Heins of Almonte, Ontario, who fits the mold perfectly. ... INVENTION OF THE HYDRAZINE BOMB. ... Perhaps the most serious consequence of shooting the satellite down is the ... When China used an interceptor to shoot ...
    (sci.physics)
  • Re: US: Broken satellite will be shot down
    ... WASHINGTON - The Pentagon is planning to shoot down a broken spy ... satellite expected to hit the Earth in early March, ... They contain the toxic rocket fuel hydrazine, ... However it is toxic and tends to absorb through skin. ...
    (rec.aviation.military)
  • Experts Scoff at Satellite Shoot-Down Rationale
    ... once the tank or pipes are breached. ... a master's in satellite comms and satellite operation experience - who ... hydrazine tank. ... My first thought is that MDA [Missile Defense Agency] is always ...
    (sci.military.naval)
  • Re: WHATS NEW Robert L. Park Friday, 15 Feb 08, Washington, DC
    ... Thane Heins of Almonte, Ontario, who fits the mold perfectly. ... INVENTION OF THE HYDRAZINE BOMB. ... Perhaps the most serious consequence of shooting the satellite down is the ... When China used an interceptor to shoot ...
    (sci.physics)
  • Re: US: Broken satellite will be shot down
    ... satellite expected to hit the Earth in early March, ... I remember combining hydrazine and nitromethane for dragster fuel many ... "UDMH is often used in hypergolic ... However it is toxic and tends to absorb through skin. ...
    (rec.aviation.military)
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