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.
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How to Down a Wayward Satellite
February 15, 2008 1:40 PM
ABC's Luis Martinez reports the following new details on how the Navy would try to intercept USA-193, the disabled reconnaissance satellite the Pentagon announced yesterday it would try to destroy before it re-enters the atmosphere:
-- The total cost of the operation to hit the satellite is $74 million. Three SM-3 missiles have been modified for this mission at a cost of $10 million each. For comparison, the first test of an SM-3 fired from a destroyer last June cost $50 million.
-- The first missile will be fired from the cruiser USS Lake Erie. Two destroyers will also be a part of the mission and each will be equipped with back-up missiles.
-- The ships will be operating in waters west of the Hawaiian island of Kauai, mainly because that is where the Navy's missile tests take place Therefore, all the clearances, procedures and authorizations are already in place.
-- The seven or eight day window for launching the missile at the satellite begins Sunday, Feb. 17. However, the Navy will not fire the missile until after the shuttle Atlantis returns to earth on Feb. 20.
One extra point: there have been a lot of posts, some joking and others not, about where the remains of the satellite might land. The government's problem is that it doesn't know. The density of the upper atmosphere varies constantly because of temperature, solar wind, and other factors. NOAA actually runs a Space Weather Prediction Center; find more HERE.
==============
UPDATE, Friday evening:
ABC's Gina Sunseri, covering the current shuttle mission from Houston, reports that in order to get Atlantis on the ground and out of the Defense Department's way, it will activate the landing strips at both the Kennedy Space Center and Edwards Air Force Base in California on Wednesday, when the shuttle is scheduled to land.
This is not standard procedure. To save expense and trouble, NASA usually only brings up KSC on the first landing day, and if the weather interferes, they wait. It's actually cheaper to let the astronauts orbit for an extra day than it is to have landing crews at the ready at Edwards, and then ship a shuttle all the way across the country to Florida.
Atlantis, orbiting somewhat higher and in a very different orbit from USA 193, is not actually "in the way" of potential debris if the Navy's missile works, but shuttles have been dinged by small pieces of space junk before, and, well, things have gotten complicated enough.
(Above: ABC News graphic, based on drawing from GlobalSecurity.org.)
February 15, 2008 | Permalink | Share | User Comments (78)
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This all seems a little Armagedon to me. So let's say they spend $70 mil, they miss the satellite all three times. Then what? Oh, that's right, we're out 70 million dollars and the satellite still makes it to Earth.
Posted by: Michelle | Feb 15, 2008 3:21:28 PM
It's great real practice for us. The Chineese have proven they can hit a satellite, we haven't. WW3 will happen quickly and one of the first targets will be military satellites, we need to be sure we can get theirs before they get ours. Nothing is better than the real deal for practice, we would be foolish to not take advantage of the opportunity. If we miss then it will be an eye opener than the Chineese are ahead of us in this area.
Posted by: Matt | Feb 15, 2008 3:52:16 PM
crow, I think JWB means that the fuel tanks are not designed to survive re-entry WITH the fuel intact. This is what they are trying to tell us is the main danger - fuel. Can you imagine fuel surviving the intense heat of re-entry? Look at the photos you linked to. Does anyone think the fuel within could have made it to Earth?
Posted by: RCT | Feb 15, 2008 3:56:00 PM
Lock and Load!!!
Posted by: Mike | Feb 15, 2008 3:57:23 PM
It's obviously Karl Rove's weather machine and they are removing it before the Dems get into office so they can't use it to fight against Global Warming. Bwahahahaha!!!1
Posted by: Ben | Feb 15, 2008 4:02:44 PM
Good thoughts! Maybe that's the reason for using Hawaii. If we miss, they plan to have it land in China, North Korea, or Iran. Or, maybe they aren't really using missiles to "miss" with. They are just launching a new spy satelite under the pretense of destroying the first one.
Posted by: RCT | Feb 15, 2008 4:03:19 PM
We should just let it come down and take our chances. Use the $74 Million to improve technology education in the US so the next generation of engineers will be smart enough to design satellites which do not endanger us.
Posted by: MB | Feb 15, 2008 4:07:32 PM
Last I heard the Chinese didn't so much 'shoot down' their sattelite as turn it in to so much ortibal, shuttle-shredding debris. Pretty soon we'll be isolated on earth as anything we put up there will get swiss-cheesed.
Posted by: Pip | Feb 15, 2008 4:11:49 PM
why doesn't a satellite that has such sensitive and dangerous material on board have a self destruct mechanism that can be activated from here?
Posted by: ejp | Feb 15, 2008 4:13:49 PM
Hey- the shuttle is up there- why don't they just grab this thing as it goes by!?
Posted by: ejp | Feb 15, 2008 4:15:34 PM
ejp: because if they had a mechanisim like that, they couldnt spend 74 million dollars of money we dont have to shoot down a missle they may or may not succeed in shooting down! lol
Posted by: Michelle | Feb 15, 2008 4:28:33 PM
You all make it sound like they the to go
and get this $74M from the bank. All the equipment and manpower is already in place.
Its like going to the frig. and getting a glass of milk from the bottle, not like going out to the store and 1 glass at a time when you need it. Oh by the way they are doing the right thing.
Posted by: Terry Cronin | Feb 15, 2008 4:32:11 PM
More misleading statistics from the news media.
Posted by: Neo Politicus | Feb 15, 2008 4:40:40 PM
If the missles cost 10 mil apiece and we already own the military and the people that plot the missile course, why is it a projected 44 million management overhead to shoot those missiles?
I mean we aren't hiring haliburton to do this right?
Posted by: Alvincool | Feb 15, 2008 4:50:31 PM
This is just to show the Chinese that we too can shot down satellites. The Chinese think they have some upper hand due to the fact that they can shot down a satellite and they need to be put in their place.
Posted by: BillyL | Feb 15, 2008 5:14:09 PM
To Crow
You should eat crow because the fuel that they are saying is the problem would not be contained in those tanks you sent via links. If a tank has a hole in it there is no way the fuel can stay in there. Wake up and stop beliving everything our WONDERFULL?? goverment tries to tell us.
HJJ
Posted by: HJJ | Feb 15, 2008 5:16:53 PM
I thought we were told that all equipment being sent into space had self destruct built into them in case they had to be destroyed during lift off. This included all rockets and payloads. Guess they forgot about this one.
Posted by: HJJ | Feb 15, 2008 5:25:23 PM
For everyone saying for the shuttle to go get it, not possible.
First, the shuttle is more then likely in a higher or lower altitude orbit then the satellite. Before the shuttle even goes up, the amount of fuel put in the shuttle is determined for the orbit. As it is right now, the amount of fuel in the shuttle is really only enough for small maneuvers and getting back to earth.
Then even if they were to get it, they would never be able to bring it back as the increased weight would prevent it from landing from the increased momentum that isn't even calculated for.
Posted by: KAR | Feb 15, 2008 5:29:52 PM
bruce willis is the captain of the ship so fear not we will destroy the object before it get iran. lol
Posted by: gerald curry | Feb 15, 2008 5:42:51 PM
The shuttle cannot reach the stricken satellite because it is not in the same orbit and the shuttle does not carry nowhere near the amount of fuel to make the necessary orbit changes once it is in orbit. Also the satellite does not have any attachment points where the robotic arm can grab onto the satellite. Finally the shuttle does not have the proper latches in the cargo bay to secure the satellite.
Posted by: someone | Feb 15, 2008 5:45:24 PM
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