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Thread: U.S. Spy Satellite Is Said to Be Falling From Orbit

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    Default U.S. Spy Satellite Is Said to Be Falling From Orbit



    U.S. Spy Satellite Is Said to Be Falling From Orbit

    By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
    Published: January 26, 2008

    Filed at 9:55 p.m. ET


    WASHINGTON (AP) -- A large U.S. spy satellite has lost power and could hit the Earth in late February or early March, government officials said Saturday.

    The satellite, which no longer can be controlled, could contain hazardous materials, and it is unknown where on the planet it might come down, they said. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because the information is classified as secret. It was not clear how long ago the satellite lost power, or under what circumstances.

    ''Appropriate government agencies are monitoring the situation,'' said Gordon Johndroe, a spokesman for the National Security Council, when asked about the situation after it was disclosed by other officials. ''Numerous satellites over the years have come out of orbit and fallen harmlessly. We are looking at potential options to mitigate any possible damage this satellite may cause.''

    He would not comment on whether it is possible for the satellite to perhaps be shot down by a missile. He said it would be inappropriate to discuss any specifics at this time.

    A senior government official said that lawmakers and other nations are being kept apprised of the situation.

    The spacecraft contains hydrazine -- which is rocket fuel -- according to a government official who was not authorized to speak publicly but spoke on condition of anonymity. Hydrazine, a colorless liquid with an ammonia-like odor, is a toxic chemical and can cause harm to anyone who contacts it.

    Such an uncontrolled re-entry could risk exposure of U.S. secrets, said John Pike, a defense and intelligence expert. Spy satellites typically are disposed of through a controlled re-entry into the ocean so that no one else can access the spacecraft, he said.

    Pike also said it's not likely the threat from the satellite could be eliminated by shooting it down with a missile, because that would create debris that would then re-enter the atmosphere and burn up or hit the ground.

    Pike, director of the defense research group GlobalSecurity.org, estimated that the spacecraft weighs about 20,000 pounds and is the size of a small bus. He said the satellite would create 10 times less debris than the Columbia space shuttle crash in 2003. Satellites have natural decay periods, and it's possible this one died as long as a year ago and is just now getting ready to re-enter the atmosphere, he said.

    Jeffrey Richelson, a senior fellow with the National Security Archive, said the spacecraft likely is a photo reconnaissance satellite. Such eyes in the sky are used to gather visual information from space about adversarial governments and terror groups, including construction at suspected nuclear sites or militant training camps. The satellites also can be used to survey damage from hurricanes, fires and other natural disasters.

    The largest uncontrolled re-entry by a NASA spacecraft was Skylab, the 78-ton abandoned space station that fell from orbit in 1979. Its debris dropped harmlessly into the Indian Ocean and across a remote section of western Australia.

    In 2000, NASA engineers successfully directed a safe de-orbit of the 17-ton Compton Gamma Ray Observatory, using rockets aboard the satellite to bring it down in a remote part of the Pacific Ocean.

    In 2002, officials believe debris from a 7,000-pound science satellite smacked into the Earth's atmosphere and rained down over the Persian Gulf, a few thousand miles from where they first predicted it would plummet.

    ------

    Associated Press writers Pamela Hess and Deb Riechmann contributed to this report.



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    If it lands in my backyard I'm putting it on Ebay.

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    can you imagine the fight that would happen if it was going to fall in china / north korea or even syria would be a good reason for the yanks to start a new iraq
    dont say linux if i wanted it id install it

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    Maybe the Yanks could sub-contract to the Chinese to obliterate it out of its orbit. I understand that the Yanks "canned" the technology to shoot down satellites along with the Russians due to the non-proliferation of weapons in space treaty.

    Anyways if it lands near Kalgoorlie WA. we'll just put it with the other one we got.
    (skylab)

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    It would be interesting to see this thing although I don’t imagine there will be a lot to see after re entry.

    The first series of satellites actually used cameras with film that was returned to earth for analysis then digital imagery took over and back in the 1980’s some to these birds had 28 mega pixel image sensors which is pretty amazing for the time and relayed the product of their efforts via radio downlinks.

    The new ones use laser communications and route there traffic via other satellites and then that data is down linked again via laser to various earth stations which is why a lot of ground station closed years ago like Nurrungar

    Other than it landing on my head the only thing that worries me about this is what type of power unit this thing has. It could be just batteries and solar cells but given its missions may task it out of the suns rays for extended times it may have a plutonium power pack. Hope that comes down in one bit and its containment is not breached.

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    It's not likely to have an RTG. They don't provide a lot of power and solar cells are cheaper and more reliable for the price. In any case, such and RTG is likely to burn up or hit the ground in once piece and it would be easily recovered.

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    A bit more info it now has a name and "might be a radar sat"


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    Bugger that.... I've got the Keps now !

    I'm riding this puppy to the ground !

    1 29651U 06057A 08032.26673860 .00108121 00000-0 19426-3 0 03
    2 29651 58.4892 115.4602 0006491 79.8395 280.3436 16.01043930 04

    It looks like she's bouncing off the atomosphere like a skimming stone.
    I've only been watching it for a couple of hours, but a quick guess it's coming down somewhere about 26 degrees north. The perigee is about 24 degrees.
    I wanna see this baby smack down in Lybia !

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    Us to shoot down Satellite.



    US President George W. Bush has directed the military to shoot down a malfunctioning spy satellite with a missile from a warship, a senior White House official said.

    "The president directed the Department of Defence to carry out the intercept," said Deputy National Security Adviser James Jeffries.

    Mr Jeffries said the decision was reached because of the risk to human life of of the satellite re-entering the atmosphere with 1000 pounds of a toxic propellant called hydrazine.
    "One viable option we have, we concluded, is to use a tactical missile from an Aegis ship to strike the satellite in order to reduce the overall risk," he said.

    "This missile is designed, of course, for other missions, but we concluded it could be reconfigured, both the missile and other systems related to it, on a one-time reversible basis to do the shot," he said.

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    THE space shuttle Atlantis headed for home today with NASA pushing to get it back to Earth before the US military tries to shoot a dead spy satellite out of the sky.The shuttle, which launched on February 7, was scheduled to return to Kennedy Space Centre in Florida at 9:07am EST today (0107 AEDT Thursday), but could go to Edwards Air Force Base in California if the weather turns bad.

    NASA usually prefers not to consider an Edwards landing on the first possible return day, but wants the shuttle back on land before the attempt is launched to shoot down the satellite.

    The military has said it will fire a ship-based missile at the satellite, which died shortly after a 2006 launch, because it is carrying toxic rocket fuel and is expected to fall to Earth in early March.

    The shot could come as early as tonight.

    The satellite is lower than the space station, which orbits 320km above Earth, and therefore said not to be a danger to it.
    NASA flight director Bryan Lunney yesterday told reporters the US space agency had received "no pressure'' from the military to get Atlantis down.

    "We're not going to alter any of our (safety) rules,'' he said.

    "If the weather is good on Wednesday, then we're going to land on Wednesday. If not, then I'll push it to Thursday.''

    Forecasters predicted good weather for Kennedy at the scheduled landing time, he said.

    The planned satellite shot took some of the limelight away from the shuttle's 13-day mission in which it finally ferried the European laboratory Columbus to the International Space Station.

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    Hi,

    This sounds like an episode of Stargate SG1, that I saw a couple of months ago.

    Cheers
    machine

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    A US Navy warship could try to destroy a defunct spy satellite with a missile late on Wednesday despite earlier concerns about conditions in the Pacific Ocean, officials said.

    A senior military official said early in the day the sea looked too choppy for a successful operation but several Pentagon officials later said the mission now seemed likely to go ahead.

    The Pentagon said last week President George W. Bush had decided the Navy should fire a missile from a warship at the satellite because its fuel tank could leak deadly toxic gas if it enters the atmosphere and reaches Earth intact.

    Officials had said they would start looking for opportunities to shoot down the satellite after the space shuttle Atlantis ended its latest mission.

    The shuttle touched down in Florida today.

    One Pentagon official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the most likely time for the strike was 10.30pm EST (2.30pm today).

    Another official, speaking on the same condition, also said the operation looked set to go ahead.

    The satellite is a National Reconnaissance Office spacecraft launched in December 2006 that stopped communicating within a few hours of reaching orbit, the Pentagon has said.

    Russia and China have both expressed concern about the operation. The Russian Defence Ministry said it could be used as a cover to test a new space weapon.

    Washington has insisted the operation is intended only to prevent people from being harmed by the satellite's fuel tank, which contains the chemical hydrazine, if it falls to Earth intact.

    "We've been very clear about why the president made this decision," said Pentagon spokesman Bryan Whitman. "This is about reducing risk to human life on Earth."

    The United States strongly criticised China for firing a ground-based missile into an obsolete Chinese weather satellite in January 2007.

    Neither Washington nor Moscow has conducted an anti-satellite operation since the 1980s.

    Earlier, a senior U.S. military official said the window for a strike would last until around the end of this month, when the satellite enters the Earth's atmosphere.

    "We'll make decisions each day as to whether we're going to proceed or not," said the official, briefing reporters at the Pentagon on condition of anonymity.

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    Done!!



    A MISSILE fired from a US Navy warship has hit a defunct spy satellite in space to try to prevent its toxic fuel tank from crashing to Earth, the Pentagon says.

    The SM-3 missile was fired from the USS Lake Erie in the Pacific at about 10.26 EST (2.26pm AEDT) and hit the bus-sized satellite about 133 nautical miles (247km) above the ocean, the Pentagon said.

    "A network of land, air, sea and space-based sensors confirms that the US military intercepted a nonfunctioning National Reconnaissance Office satellite which was in its final orbits before entering the earth's atmosphere," it said.

    "Confirmation that the fuel tank has been fragmented should be available within 24 hours," it said.

    "Due to the relatively low altitude of the satellite at the time of the engagement, debris will begin to re-enter the earth's atmosphere immediately," it said.

    "Nearly all of the debris will burn up on re-entry within 24-48 hours and the remaining debris should re-enter within 40 days."

    A defence official told the Associated Press that an initial view of the missile strike indicated it probably hit the fuel tank.

    The Pentagon said last week that President George W. Bush had decided the navy should try to shoot down the satellite because its tank of hazardous hydrazine could leak if it enters the atmosphere and reaches Earth.

    Russia and China have expressed concern about the operation. The Russian Defence Ministry said it could be used as cover to test a new space weapon.

    Washington has insisted the operation is purely to prevent people being harmed by the satellite's fuel load

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    Quote Originally Posted by BillyGoat View Post
    .

    The Pentagon said last week that I had decided the navy should try to shoot down the satellite because its tank of hazardous hydrazine could leak if it enters the atmosphere and reaches Earth.
    Yeah right I trust President George W. Bush
    When you do things right, people won't be sure that you have done anything at all

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    Smells strongly of a set up.
    Creates a strong impression of superiority doesn't it?
    More likely it went up for that purpose.
    They don't spend that sort of money to have it fall out of orbit and it had plenty of fuel to drive it out ,maybe too much if you read the blurb

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    Quote Originally Posted by tytower View Post
    Smells strongly of a set up.
    Creates a strong impression of superiority doesn't it?
    More likely it went up for that purpose.
    They don't spend that sort of money to have it fall out of orbit and it had plenty of fuel to drive it out ,maybe too much if you read the blurb
    Hold that thought next time you’re sitting in a car with a full tank of fuel but with a totally flat battery.

    The problem with that satellite was it lost power which resulted in no command and control. It would be a pretty expensive way to demonstrate an anti missile system to blow up a ridiculously expensive reconnaissance satellite.

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    Propaganda is THE most effective method of defence , Look at the impression they have created with EVERYONE in the world .

    Pretty effective advertising !

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