Re: US: Broken satellite will be shot down

Harry Andreas wrote:
In article <fp2392$ru3$1@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>, news <news@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:

By LOLITA C. BALDOR, Associated Press Writer 1 hour, 5 minutes ago

WASHINGTON - The Pentagon is planning to shoot down a broken spy satellite expected to hit the Earth in early March, The Associated Press has learned.

U.S. officials said Thursday that the option preferred by the Bush administration will be to fire a missile from a U.S. Navy cruiser, and shoot down the satellite before it enters Earth's atmosphere.

The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because the options will not be publicly discussed until a later Pentagon briefing.

The disabled satellite is expected to hit the Earth the first week of March. Officials said the Navy would likely shoot it down before then, using a special missile modified for the task.

Other details about the missile and the targeting were not immediately available. But the decision involves several U.S. agencies, including the National Security Agency, the Department of Homeland Defense and the State Department.

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.

'Ol Lolita apparently doesn't know much about satellites and didn't bother
to learn.
1] You can't "shoot down" a satellite. You can shoot it and destroy it,
but there's no "down" involved. The pieces stay in orbit until they
decelerate enough to re-enter on their own

2] You would think she would correlate the "shoot down" since she
explicitly discusses the China test and all the debris that's STILL in
orbit

3]You would think she would discuss the impact (no pun intended)
of exactly when to shoot the missile, since the satellite is decelerating and descending on it's own, and shooting it after it's started re-entry will ensure that the debris will re-enter immediately as well

4] You would think she would discuss the good thing about destroying the
satellite is that breaking it up into smaller pieces will reduce the possibility
of pieces surviving and hitting the ground

5] The chances of hydrazine surviving the "blazing descent through the atmosphere" are slim at best

I guess that's the problem with journalism degrees.

I remember combining hydrazine and nitromethane for dragster fuel many years ago. It made many new record runs. Only problem aside from hand grenading engines was that once the stuff stopped or neared completion of its chemical combining it became a class a explosive, when vapors an fizzing stopped from the tank vent. The stuff was nasty but I don't remember it being a real big deal by itself for toxicity. You would want to wash in it or drink a glass of the stuff for sure though.
.

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