The sky really is falling...

[REWahoo]

Pentagon to shoot down broken spy satellite

 

[dmpi]

This is going to be real funny if the missiles miss the target. They must really want this thing destroyed & out of enemy hands.

 

[FinanceDude]

Time to show those new laser weapons, and broadcast it on the Internet...........

 

[Notmuchlonger]

Cool this is kinda like Armageddon but on a smaller scale!

 

[Marquette]

Didn't the Chinese already shoot down one of theirs? I would assume we just need to show that we can too.

edit: source: U.S. official: Chinese test missile obliterates satellite - CNN.com

 

[TromboneAl]

If the intercept and kill are successful and the satellite is destroyed, it appears most of the debris will become orbitting [sic] "space junk" and not reenter Earth's atmopshere.

Unless the blast or the mass of the missile pushes it away from earth, I'd expect all of the debris to continue on exactly the same path. Perhaps smaller pieces would burn up. Should be interesting.

 

[bbbamI]

I'm sure a piece of it will fall on my house. Guess I need to check my homeowner's policy for space junk.

 

[Nords]

This is going to be real funny if the missiles miss the target. They must really want this thing destroyed & out of enemy hands.

Every weapons officer on the Pearl Harbor waterfront is drooling, cackling, and rubbing their hands with glee right now ("Free targets!!") and the CO of every AEGIS ship is jumping up & down on their commodore's desk, begging for a chance at this [-]FITREP bullet[/-] crew training opportunity. Of course the commodore's over at PACFLT "just touching base" with the admiral to make sure some slimeball San Diego or Yoko command doesn't get the call, while all the submariners are quietly seething with envy.

The Pacific Missile Range Facility (on Barking Sands, Kauai) spends millions of taxpayer bucks each year shooting missiles up in the air just for these guys to knock 'em down. I can't remember the last time there was a freebie... maybe NASA & NRO could turn this into a great money-saving business.

 

[FinallyRetired]

So we finally get to use our trillion dollar missile defense system... to shoot down one of our own billion dollar+ satellites. Hope we don't miss.

 

[REWahoo]

Hope we don't miss.

Just saw an interview where the plans are to take a shot and if a miss, take a second shot on the next orbit and if a miss, take a third shot...

 

[unclemick]

Just saw an interview where the plans are to take a shot and if a miss, take a second shot on the next orbit and if a miss, take a third shot...

And then and then - an astronaut does an EVA from the Space Shuttle with a trusty Red Ryder BB saved from his youth and nails that sucker!

heh heh heh - then we hand out "Failure Is Not An Option" baseball caps all around.

 

[Notmuchlonger]

And then and then - an astronaut does an EVA from the Space Shuttle with a trusty Red Ryder BB saved from his youth and nails that sucker!

heh heh heh - then we hand out "Failure Is Not An Option baseball caps all around.

He should be careful. He could take his eye out...

 

[unclemick]

- BB!

Vacuum in orbit - the trick is how to propel the BB.

heh heh heh - I still enjoy sound in my ScFi movies.

 

[FinallyRetired]

Just saw an interview where the plans are to take a shot and if a miss, take a second shot on the next orbit and if a miss, take a third shot...

Great concept for a system intended for missile defense. I'm sure the bad guys will accomodate us if it doesn't work by shooting one missile at a time at us until we shoot them down.

By the way, I wonder if they've figured on the extra space junk that will be left up there? The chinese ASAT is supposed to have left thousands of pieces. Maybe we should put a really long string on the interceptor and fill it with epoxy, then we can stick to it and pull it down.

U.S. satellites dodge Chinese missile debris - - The Washington Times, America's Newspaper

 

[cantlogin]

...By the way, I wonder if they've figured on the extra space junk that will be left up there? ...

U.S. satellites dodge Chinese missile debris*-*-*The Washington Times, America's Newspaper

They say they have that aspect covered. They say.

 

[TromboneAl]

I wonder if it's smarter and cheaper to just let it fall. Less space junk. The chances of it hitting anything important are pretty small.

I wonder how the expected fallout compares with the amount of fallout from the space shuttle.

 

[unclemick]

Space junk is everywhere - it's everywhere! And not just Chinese - we beat beat 'those guys!' to the punch.

Back in the 80's, getting ready for Space Station , they had an early rail gun down the hall from my lab to simulate micrometeor and space debris.

A young Phd was having all kinds of fun blowing 'really big holes' in test panels with BB size metal projectiles.

And to think in ER I have to go across county lines every 4th to buy my own fireworks to get my 'boom and thunder quotient' for the year.

heh heh heh - some kids never grow up - back then 'beat the Ruskies.' Now 'beat those Chinese or at least don't let them catch up too fast.'

 

[HFWR]

Blow'd up real good...

 

[cantlogin]

I wonder if it's smarter and cheaper to just let it fall. Less space junk. The chances of it hitting anything important are pretty small.

I wonder how the expected fallout compares with the amount of fallout from the space shuttle.

This was an executive decision from our wonderful leader.

"Specifically, there was enough of a risk for the president to be quite concerned about human life."

 

[Nords]

USS LAKE ERIE

It's been the main ship for anti-missile testing for several years, but it also has a local reputation for a twitchy trigger finger. It's been nearly 14 years since the ship inadvertently subdued Aiea with two rounds from a PHALANX gun during "maintenance", but they're still trying to live it down.

 

[unclemick]

Blow'd up real good...

Just love the overalls on the left - relaxed fit and the dog hair doesn't show as bad on the lighter shades.

Can't wait for the Salvation Army sidewalk sales.

heh heh heh - And to think we actually got paid by the taxpayer for some of that fun stuff - of course we we were steely eyed serious rocketmen at the time!

 

[FinallyRetired]

I wonder if it's smarter and cheaper to just let it fall. Less space junk. The chances of it hitting anything important are pretty small.

I wonder how the expected fallout compares with the amount of fallout from the space shuttle.

What are you some kind of pinko? Our stuff doesn't just fall, we have to shoot it down.

About space junk, I don't really know how you shoot down something on orbit to bring it down. It's not like an airplane -- stuff that's in orbit stays in orbit, something about Keplerian laws, unless you give it enough delta v to change its orbit and bring it down into the atmosphere to increase its drag.

So if you blow it up. some of the chunks will get the right delta v, some will not, and others may go into higher orbit. That's what happened with the Chinese shot. I have a sneaking suspicion that this has more to do with (1) showing'em we can shoot at something too and (2) making sure whatever comes down is so messed up it can't be reverse engineered by the bad guys.

 

[TeeRuh]

I wonder if it's smarter and cheaper to just let it fall. Less space junk. The chances of it hitting anything important are pretty small.

I'm sure a piece of it will fall on my house. Guess I need to check my homeowner's policy for space junk.

T-Al that's just plain mean ...

t.r.

 

[free4now]

About space junk, I don't really know how you shoot down something on orbit to bring it down. It's not like an airplane -- stuff that's in orbit stays in orbit, something about Keplerian laws, unless you give it enough delta v to change its orbit and bring it down into the atmosphere to increase its drag.

So if you blow it up. some of the chunks will get the right delta v, some will not, and others may go into higher orbit. That's what happened with the Chinese shot.

It seems sketchy to me too. They are saying the danger is that the 1000 pounds of hydrazine fuel could cause problems if it makes it back to earth and the tank is ruptured. How is this different from all the other toxic waste we have sitting around already scattered on the surface of the earth, ready to cause environmental disasters if the containers rupture? Well, I know the answer: this is more publicly visible.

When I was little I used to think the solution to our toxic waste problem was to fly it up into space and blow it up. Maybe this will be the start of GWB's new plan to solve our environmental issues.

 

[laurence]

Hydrazine is really, really nasty stuff, emergency responders are told not to give mouth to mouth resuscitation to people suspected of inhaling it. The orbit is decaying rapidly, and most of the debris should continue heading down. The SM-3 won't have an explosive warhead, rather, the kinetic energy of the strike will be enough to pulverize the satellite.

The chance of the bird hitting anything politically important is small (75% of the surface is water, after all) but I don't think any country is going to appreciate us dropping a thousand pounds of mega-toxic slush anywhere in their country, no matter how remote. Since the heating systems - along with everything else - failed on the thing the hydrazine is a solid block of ice, which will keep the metal tank around it cool for the makings of a perfect re-entry vehicle.

I do suspect the chance for target practice was a factor.