The sky really is falling...

[Notmuchlonger]

Hey China is asking we share the data...

 

[FinallyRetired]

My questions:

1. I figured that the smaller pieces (football and smaller) would burn up as they reentered, but from your post, Soon, it sound like that's not true. What burns and what just gets hot?

No, Al, that's not what I meant. You are right, all pieces will eventually reenter, and when they reenter they all get heated to several thousand degrees from atomospheric drag. Most pieces burn up completely during the 10-15 minutes of reentry at these temperatures. But if a piece is large enough, at least a part of it may survive to the ground. This has to do with its coefficient of drag, the material, its shape and orientation, etc.

What I was referring to is that some pieces may get "blown up" into a higher altitude, with less atmospheric drag. They will also eventually reenter and burn up, but it may take a year or more, instead of the hours or days it takes for those at lower altitude to reenter.

Fixing the satellite in a space shuttle mission was never an option for many reasons. Different orbits, no docking apparatus, etc.

As far as 2, if I knew, and if I told you I would then have to kill you

 

[tryan]

Here's the video ... impresive!

Breitbart.tv » Direct Hit! Raw Video Shows Navy Missile Destroying Doomed Satellite

 

[Nords]

Good shot Navy, but how about shooting at sea targets now?

Sorry, the submarine force had to sit this one out.

Hey China is asking we share the data...

Breitbart.tv » Direct Hit! Raw Video Shows Navy Missile Destroying Doomed Satellite

Sure, why not? We invited PRC leadership to ride the U.S. carriers during a three-CVN exercise off Guam last year, and made sure that they got plenty of exposure to long-term high-tempo flight ops as well as night traps.

In other words we did our best to scare the crap out of them. Hopefully the missile video has been carefully edited (if that was even necessary) to produce the same effect. They'd hire George Lucas to do the editing & special effects if they thought it would help.

When spouse was guiding foreign VIPs during her COBRA GOLD Reserve duty, the PRC "officers" were always trying to surreptitiously snap cell-phone photos of command centers and computer displays. She duly reported that up the chain of command and the response was "Great, thanks,give 'em the best shots you can find, and tell them plenty of scary sea stories!" She didn't have to pay for a frosty beverage for the rest of the trip.

Somewhere a group of PRC intel analysts are trying to figure out why she and her submarine spouse are responsible for so many amazing achievements...