spy satellite

[sn-e3]

It looks like the US Navy will get a chance to shoot down the spy satellite thats running out of juice. I hope it works the whole world will be watching. I got the story from yahoo news.

[82Rigger]

This sounds like a plan...IF they can blow it into small enough pieces that it all
burns up on the way in...including that fuel tank.

[revwardoc]

It'll make a hell of good meteor-like shower. Hope they do it at night.

[revwardoc]

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/23172469

Heading off a toxic iceberg from space
Concern about hydrazine fuel leads to Pentagon’s satellite intercept plan

HOUSTON - Less than a month ago, White House officials said a falling spy satellite would likely pose little threat to humans — but on Thursday, the Pentagon said President Bush himself approved an unorthodox plan to destroy the satellite with a missile strike.

What could warrant such a change of heart? It's the realization that the spacecraft could be bringing a toxic iceberg back down to Earth.

Aboard the 2.5-ton derelict satellite, designated "USA-193," is a fuel tank containing half a ton of hydrazine. Since the satellite went dead within hours after launch 14 months ago, the fuel has not been depleted by normal rocket maneuvers.

Hydrazine is a nasty chemical that could poison the area where it is released. Until recently, U.S. officials were saying that the tank would be crushed as the satellite fell through the atmosphere, sometime in early March. If that were the case, the toxic hydrazine would almost certainly be burned off and safely dispersed during the fiery fall.

NASA Administrator Michael Griffin sketched out a different scenario, however, during Thursday's news conference with Gen. James Cartwright, the vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Griffin said NASA experts calculated that the hydrazine was frozen solid due to the satellite’s yearlong drift through the cold of space. The tank, with its half-ton ice core of hydrazine, would thus become one of the most perfect re-entry vehicles ever to fall back to Earth.

Griffin explained that the contents of the tank could turn to slush during the fall, but would very likely survive and leak toxic gas over the crash site. Another expert told msnbc.com privately that the solid ice would provide structural support against the 20 to 25 G’s of deceleration experienced by the satellite during re-entry.

Safety first?
Pentagon officials said it was that safety concern, rather than the intention to test a potential anti-satellite weapon, which led them to develop the plan for a missile intercept. They hope the impact of the warhead on a modified Standard Missile-3, or SM-3, will shatter the satellite — and particularly the spherical hydrazine tank. The first shot could occur as early as next week, after the space shuttle Atlantis' return from its mission to the international space station.

Would a direct hit be required? Experts on space debris told msnbc.com that even a glancing blow would likely be enough. The force of a missile hitting an orbiting object is much more violent than the force of a bullet striking a target, or even an anti-aircraft missile hitting an airplane. In the space case, the tremendous speed of the impact carries so much kinetic energy that both vehicles literally explode due to the hypersonic shock waves sweeping through their structures.

If the missile strike leads to such a disintegration, sharp observers should be able to spot the ice fragments from the fuel tank. As the fragments evaporate in direct sunlight, they could create mini-comets visible from Earth’s surface, lasting for hours before dispersing.

Pentagon officials said the intercept would occur within range of military optical and radar sensors. Their goal would be to confirm the existence of dispersed hydrazine in the debris. If the sensors don't show the fuel dispersing, missile operators would target the fragment judged most likely to be the still-surviving fuel tank. A second shot could occur within a day or two of the first.

Giving the missiles a boost
Last week's orbital readings indicated that the satellite was circling Earth at an altitude between 160 and 168 miles (255 and 268 kilometers) and descending at an increasing rate, currently about six-tenths of a mile (1 kilometer) per day. Gen. Cartwright said the intercept would be attempted when the satellite descended to about 150 miles (240 kilometers).

The SM-3 has typically been used for testing the Pentagon's missile defense system, and reaches a nominal maximum altitude of just 100 miles (160 kilometers). For the satellite intercept, three missiles — one each on three different AEGIS-class Navy cruisers — will be modified to reach the higher altitude.

[David]

In this image provided by the US Navy a Standard Missile-3 (SM-3) is launched from Pearl Harbor-based guided-missile cruiser USS Lake Erie (CG 70) to intercept a threat representative target as part of a Missile Defense Agency test of the sea-based capability under development on Nov. 6, 2007. Taking a page from Hollywood science fiction, the Pentagon said Thursday Feb. 14, 2008 it will try to shoot down a dying, bus-size U.S. spy satellite loaded with toxic fuel on a collision course with the Earth using a SM-3 missile. The military hopes to smash the satellite as soon as next week — just before it enters Earth's atmosphere — with a single missile fired from a Navy cruiser in the northern Pacific Ocean. Software associated with the SM-3 has been modified to enhance the chances of the missile's sensors recognizing that the satellite is its target.

[DeadlyDaring]

Hydrazine would be the best and only real reason to shoot it down, is !!!!!!

From the Wikipedia Dictionary
“““Hydrazine was first used as a rocket fuel during World War II for the Messerschmitt Me 163B (the first rocket-powered fighter plane), under the name B-Stoff (hydrazinehydrate). If mixed with methanol (M-Stoff) and water it is called C-Stoff. Hydrazine is also used as a low-power monopropellant for the maneuvering thrusters of spacecraft, and the Space Shuttle's Auxiliary Power Units. In addition, monopropellant hydrazine-fueled rocket engines are often used in terminal descent of spacecraft. A collection of such engines was used in both Viking landers as well as the Phoenix lander launched in August 2007.”””

The safety issue…
Hydrazine is highly toxic and dangerously unstable, especially in the anhydrous form. Symptoms of acute exposure to high levels of hydrazine in humans may include irritation of the eyes, nose, and throat, dizziness, headache, nausea, pulmonary edema, seizures, coma, and it can also damage the liver, kidneys, and central nervous system. The liquid is corrosive and may produce dermatitis from skin contact in humans and animals. Effects to the lungs, liver, spleen, and thyroid have been reported in animals chronically exposed to hydrazine via inhalation. Increased incidences of lung, nasal cavity, and liver tumors have been observed in rodents exposed to hydrazine

Hydrazine really isn’t very stable… just heat it to see what happens.

Overheating the hydrazine tank will most likely cause thermal breakdown of some of the liquid into hydrogen and nitrogen gas, which will then rupture the tank. Any remaining liquid would rapidly re-act with the metals of the satellite and cause some intense burning, releasing more hydrogen and nitrogen gases. You will not get anything poisonous because the re-entry heat will break it down too fast. Propellants don’t reach the ground anyway

But… Onboard is the latest Top secret spying device equiptment… The Camera… has a VERY SPECIAL PHOTO LENS and the US does not want it getting into the wrong hands

In concluding…
THE SPY SATELITE IS TO BE SHOT DOWN OVER IRELAND
http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5h...VIW2gD8UR1JKG0

http://www.sciam.com/article.cfm?id=...pled-satellite


In the mean time, mind your heads