This will be an interesting exercise, but how come we never did this (or never announced it) with one of the dozens of satellites that has fallen from space over the last few decades?
US: Broken satellite will be shot down - Yahoo! News:
"President Bush decided to make a first-of-its-kind attempt to use a missile to bring down a broken U.S. spy satellite because of the potential danger to people from its rocket fuel, officials said Thursday.
. . .
Gen. James Cartwright, vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said at the same briefing that the 'window of opportunity' for such a shootdown, presumably to be launched from a Navy ship, will open in the next three or four days and last for seven or eight days.
. . .
'This is the first time we've used a tactical missile to engage a spacecraft,' Cartwright said.
He said a Navy missile known as Standard Missile 3 would be fired in an attempt to intercept the satellite just prior to it re-entering Earth's atmosphere. It would be "next to impossible" to hit the satellite after that because of atmospheric disturbances, Cartwright said.
A second goal, he said, is to directly hit the fuel tank in order to minimize the amount of fuel that returns to Earth."
So we've never done it before, but we think we can hit this one in a specific spot (the fuel tank) - 'nuff said.
4 comments:
Direct hit first try! Our satellite won't be increasing the debris field in low earth orbit for years to come like the Chinese have done: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080221/ap_on_go_ca_st_pe/dead_satellite
Here's a video of the hit - looks like they got the fuel tank!
FYI - A non-explosive (kinetic) warhead was used.
http://www.breitbart.tv/html/50894.html
BTW - the US first shot down a satellite in 1985: http://www.livescience.com/technology/080220-satellite-shoot-down.html
"Maj. Pearson's mission Sept. 1985 mission represented the culmination of a six-year development and test program for the ASAT missile. The mission called for Maj. Pearson, the director of the U.S. Air Force's ASAT Combined Test Force, to fly a highly accurate flight profile so his aircraft would arrive at a precise firing point over the Pacific Ocean at a precise time.
Flying at just above Mach 1.2, Maj. Pearson pulled up into a 3.8g, 65-degree climb that reduced the speed of his aircraft to Mach 0.934, just below the speed of sound. At 38,100 feet, the ASAT missile launched automatically, accelerating up to escape velocity as it streaked towards its target.
The infra-red sensor of the ASAT's miniature homing vehicle (MHV) -- the 30-pound third stage of the 2,700-pound, three-stage missile -- detected and tracked the intended target, the obsolete, 2,000-pound Solwind P78-1 solar laboratory launched in 1979 and orbiting at an altitude of 345 miles."
One final note - the fuel in our satellite would never have survived re-entry. It would have burned in the upper atmosphere like any other space debris.
When the opportunity came, we did this deliberately - presumably to make a point to China and other nations beginning their space programs.
We (& the Russians) have been in space a long time - we've also had nuclear weapons a long time. Nations new to these technologies may be in awe of their capabilities - they shouldn't forget that the old dogs learned these tricks long ago - they should wonder what the old dogs are learning now.
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