Bees

Sometime on Wednesday, February 20, the US Navy will try to shoot down a US spy satellite. The malfunctioning satellite is in a failing orbit. The fuel tank of the satellite carries toxic hydrazine that would be dangerous to people if the satellite crashes in a populated area.

The satellite is traveling at a speed of over 17,000 miles per hour (27,353 kph).

The satellite is the size of a bus but to be successful the missile actually has to strike the small fuel tank of the satellite.

The missile has three stages but only the small tip of the missile, called the kill package, will strike the satellite and it has no explosives. The kinetic energy of the impact will be relied upon to destroy the fuel tank.

What do you think of this attempt to shoot down a satellite in low earth orbit?
What are the chances of success?
Let's see if it works.

Sorry; I wasn't finished posting this new thread and I hit submit instead of Preview.

I meant to include this url to an article in today's Washington Post , "Effort to Shoot Down Satellite Could Inform Military Strategy".
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn...021902510.html

Also do you think this action "will help the military advance its anti-missile and anti-satellite planning and technology" as the article suggests?

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Plan9

If it works... it only proves how scary our technology actually is...

Shooting an inert projectile off the surface of the planet to hit a target the size of a schoolbus doing 17k mile an hour?

That's almost as good as putting a smart bomb through the window of Omar Kadafi's mansion.

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Baraka_Guru

They'd better do it. If China can do it, they'd better damn well be able to do it. How embarrassing would that be?

But the U.S. has done something like this before, as has the former Soviet Union.

Nevertheless, they'd better not mess this up, or they'll look bad.

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Humankind cannot bear very much reality.
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Bees

I agree with Baraka. This would be very bad timing for yet another chink in the armor.

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Willravel

This'll be good practice for when the aliens finally invade.

Bees

Nah. Space Invaders is better practice.

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Willravel

I said GOOD practice, not GREAT practice. Space invaders is GREAT practice.

Tully Mars

Yeah but this time we don't have a guy, boots on the ground, lighten' it up with a laser.

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Plan9

True, but our computers aren't the size of a stack of bibles anymore.

Guidance technology will help compensate for the lack of a lit target.

*PEW BANG PEW PEW PEW BANG PEW PEW BANG*

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Whatever you can carry.

"You should not drink... and bake."

Atreides88

We've had anti-satellite technology for years. Also, I have no doubt it'll work. The technology being used has come a long way from where it started in 1980.

As for whether it will destroy the target upon collision, all I have to say is yes.

K=(0.5)mv(v)
Not knowing the exact masses of the two objects, I can't give you an exact answer, but suffice it to say, an object traveling at 17,000 mph has enough kinetic energy to destroy just about anything upon impact.

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Bees

So do you folks think this is a purely altruistic effort on the part of the U.S. Gov't to prevent some unsuspecting bumpkins from being poisoned by hydazine?

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The sands of time past keep shifting according to how we remember or forget or refashion it in hindsight, which is no sight at all.
Kajal Basu

Plan9

That and we like to blow shit up.

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Whatever you can carry.

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biznatch

Um no, the satellite could have classified information. It's for Home Defense purposes.

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Tully Mars

Umm, no.


I suspect it has more to do with testing the missile. Something we chided China for not long ago. These things are built, supposedly to burn up any classified material upon re-entry. There was a spy bird that came down in South America years ago and some farmers found it, still had the tape in it with big letters "TOP SECRET" on it. Since then they build them to burn, least that's the official word. Then again it's spy shit so what we're told and what's real could be vastly different things.

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Craven Morehead

success!

Charlatan

This is the funniest, unintentional (and racist) pun of the week...

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Bees

Thanks to Charlatan for pointing out that pun. The unintentional ones are sometimes the funniest too.

Anyway the anti-satellite operation was a great success to the consternation of the commies and former commies everywhere.

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bubbaspike

one shot,one kill
Way to go Navy!

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ottopilot

Apparently the level of difficulty on this low orbit target was exponentially more difficult than the earlier Chinese high orbit target. Today's event has been compared to intercepting a ballistic missile on it's reentry target trajectory. Essentially a speeding bullet hitting another speeding bullet.

This Naval based platform is not technically part of the so-called missile defense shield. So I'm guessing we just demonstrated to the world that we can knock down ICBM's with our second-string (no dis to the navy). With all the recent saber rattling from the Russians, Chinese, and assorted potentates, I doubt they're feeling so cocky now. Welcome to the new arm's race.

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Baraka_Guru

Provoking the Russian Bear (Video)

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Knowing that death is certain and that the time of death is uncertain, what's the most important thing?
—Bhikkhuni Pema Chödrön

Humankind cannot bear very much reality.
—From "Burnt Norton," Four Quartets (1936), T. S. Eliot

Tully Mars

Took me a second look to notice the transcript of the video is posted to the left. Which was good, I couldn't see the video at all basically.

Interesting stuff. As pointed out last night at the Ohio Dem debate. Putin's putting in a puppet to replace him. Could get very interesting, very fast.

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Vice President Starkizzer Fan Club

Amaras

While I'm sure the US didn't want to rain dangerous chemicals down upon unsuspecting folks, I believe that this is a saber rattling exercise.
Look, no one has large scale military might and technology like the US,
which explains why no one fights them in open warfare.
When you are the biggest buffalo, the wolves try to hamstring you.
Kudos on hitting your own satellite, now I'd like to see you guys develop
intelligence about your enemies without the use of technology.

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