Ned Potter is the science correspondent for ABC's "World News with Charles Gibson." He has reported on such topics as space exploration, the human genome and climate change.
RECENT POSTS
- Mars Rover: Stuck in the Mud
- Tranquility Base
- NASA's Ares 1-X Test: The View From Above
- The Yes Men
- The Missing Link -- Not
- Moon Crash Kicked Up Plume After All
- Moon Crash: Where's the Water?
- Green Apple: Firm is Latest to Leave U.S. Chamber of Commerce
- Recovery.gov: Your Tax Dollars at Work
- Climate: Power Companies Quit U.S Chamber of Commerce
MONTHLY ARCHIVES
« Previous | Main | Next »
Clean Kill
February 25, 2008 12:26 PM
The Defense Department this morning reports that not only did it hit that disabled spy satellite last week, it pulverized it, including its fuel tank.
The operations center at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California is reported to be tracking about 3,000 pieces of debris, none larger than a football. That debris would mostly be following the decaying orbit the satellite was following, which means that most of it should burn up in the atmosphere in a few weeks. What little danger there was to anyone on the ground is over.
Their statement is HERE; key paragraphs below:
"The Department of Defense announced today that based on debris analysis, officials are confident the missile intercept and destruction of a non-functioning National Reconnaissance Office satellite, achieved the objective of destroying the hydrazine tank and reducing, if not eliminating, the risk to people on Earth from the hazardous chemical.
"By all accounts this was a successful mission. From the debris analysis, we have a high degree of confidence the satellite's fuel tank was destroyed and the hydrazine has been dissipated," said Gen. James E. Cartwright, vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff....
"A single modified tactical Standard Missile-3 (SM-3), fired from the USS Lake Erie was used to engage the satellite. The remaining two modified missiles will be configured back to their original status as tactical missiles and the operational computer software programs aboard the Aegis ships will be re-installed.
"The Joint Functional Component Command for Space Joint Space Operations Center at Vandenberg Air Force Base, Calif., is tracking less than 3,000 pieces of debris, all smaller than a football. The vast majority of debris has already reentered or will shortly reenter the Earth's atmosphere in the coming days and weeks. To date, there have been no reports of debris landing on Earth and it is unlikely any will remain intact to impact the ground."
There's been little reaction since the successful hit last week. But on the way to looking for what there was, I tripped across this from the "People's Weekly World," which describes itself having a "special relationship" with the Communist Party in America:
"The interception of a 'disabled spy satellite' by a Pentagon missile is worrying some countries that see it as a poorly disguised attempt to test an anti-satellite weapons system. The Pentagon missile launch Thursday amounted to an unprecedented demonstration to the world that the U.S. can take out spacecrafts launched by other nations."
On the flip side, take a look at a column by Vincent Massaro in The Independent Florida Alligator. "We did it!" he writes. He continues, "the need to search and the need to destroy address the same issue: the need to retain superiority over other countries."
====================
UPDATE, Monday Evening:
One of you commented that we hadn't heard from the Union of Concerned Scientists...so I got curious and checked. Turns out they posted a statement on Feb. 20, before the satellite was taken out:
"'The potential political cost of shooting down this satellite is high,' said Laura Grego, an astrophysicist with UCS's Global Security Program. 'Whatever the motivation for it, demonstrating an anti-satellite weapon is counterproductive to U.S. long-term interests, given that the United States has the most to gain from an international space weapons ban. Instead, it should be taking the lead in negotiating a treaty.'"
Full text HERE.
February 25, 2008 | Permalink | Share | User Comments (22)
You can follow this conversation by subscribing to the comment feed for this post.
Hurray! for our side. The need to keep our superiority is there, valid and we should expend every effort to keep it so. We've deteriorated badly in the past decades, and we've got to get back to where we were. We know that we're not seeking world domination as certain other nations are, so we must keep up our strength. Teddy Roosevelt was right: "Talk softly, but carry a big stick."
Posted by: Andy | Feb 25, 2008 12:45:45 PM
Was there any Plutonium on this one?
Posted by: Jem Blackflag | Feb 25, 2008 12:49:15 PM
Go Bless America. Go Navy!
Posted by: dave | Feb 25, 2008 1:21:28 PM
America RULES
Posted by: Steve | Feb 25, 2008 1:32:29 PM
I don't think there would have been the need to have plutonium on board this bird, since it was in relatively low earth orbit. Normally, plutonium would only be used for long-distance probes that would move very far from sunlight.
Posted by: Andy | Feb 25, 2008 1:32:43 PM
HEy i would like to say hi to morgan
Posted by: Emilio delgadillo | Feb 25, 2008 1:41:30 PM
Direct hit!!!Good Job Navy!! Go Navy!! I heard that the Chinese registered a strong protest over us shooting down the satellite.
Posted by: Mike | Feb 25, 2008 2:33:20 PM
This is a milestone either way you look at it. We have the ability to protect ourselves against incoming junk that has been adding up in Earth's orbit, and we now can use this system as a superb tactical or stratigic weapon against our enemys. I am not a "Conquer the world" fan but we need to be able to get done what needs to get done for our security. I like the Teddy Rosevelt quote from Andy " Speak softly and carry a big stick"/missile!
Posted by: justin evans | Feb 25, 2008 3:34:45 PM
I'm happy to see that the mission was a success, and I hope that the remnants of the satellite do indeed incinerate in the atmosphere. Nevertheless, I'm a little disconcerted at the seemingly jingoistic interpretations of this event, essentially a mission to destroy a malfunctioning satellite. Folks, if our technology was so good to begin with, we wouldn't have had to "clean up" this mess, would we?
Posted by: chuck | Feb 25, 2008 3:44:18 PM
Great! Weve finally located and destroyed the Weapons of Mass Destruction.
Posted by: Mickey | Feb 25, 2008 3:53:22 PM
Good job Navy! Near perfection, as usual.
Posted by: jijalagi | Feb 25, 2008 4:04:11 PM
I still believe the less expensive alternative would have been just as effective - Cheny and his shotgun ($5.00 for buckshot)
Posted by: thelastword | Feb 25, 2008 5:15:16 PM
I think that the Pentagon missed an excellent money-making opportunity here - they should have filmed the shootdown and aired it on pay-per-view. I totally would have watched it.
Posted by: Haard Lobbon | Feb 25, 2008 5:22:18 PM
Just like we knew, our military can do the things we charge them to do. The satellite broke. It was a piece of electronic equipment, just like the one you type on, they fail, sometimes soon than later, in this case it never worked. Too bad but that's space biz.
Posted by: vizorsdn | Feb 25, 2008 5:23:56 PM
Hmmm, deafening silence from the Union of Concerned Scientists...
Posted by: Tony Burzio | Feb 25, 2008 6:04:46 PM
HA, take that China, we can do it too!
Posted by: Tom G | Feb 25, 2008 6:19:32 PM
I hope those in power in Iran & N.Korea, understand this while they attempt to develope missiles and shoot off their big mouths...
Posted by: pathlo | Feb 25, 2008 6:37:20 PM
God bless the United States Navy, second to none!!!
Posted by: Captain Kid | Feb 25, 2008 7:10:33 PM
Anyone who believes this nonsense from the military knows nothing of simple physical reactions in the vacuum of space. The photo of the collision is fake! A single momentum device striking a bus size object in space at 20Kmph would slice through it like a 22 bullet going through a pop can. A buckshot type kinetic device would leave a flag like debris cloud. This picture is clearly an internal explosion under atmospheric pressures.
Posted by: buck rogers | Feb 25, 2008 7:19:56 PM
We shotdown a satellite in the '80s; the chinese did it last year. So, I have no reason to believe that all this was just a hoax.
Posted by: Ano Nymous | Feb 25, 2008 7:50:51 PM
Post a comment
