US missile hits spy Satellite

[kitty1]

Source: Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) — A missile launched from a Navy ship struck a dying U.S. spy satellite passing 130 miles over the Pacific on Wednesday, the Pentagon said. It was not clear whether the operation succeeded in its main goal of destroying a tank aboard the satellite that carried a toxic fuel that U.S. officials said could pose a hazard to humans if it landed in a populated area.

http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5h7aoM2ii3QVBCAV8m2HtJSuPxPNwD8UUFS4G2


Read more: http://ap.google.com/article/ALeq

[Trajan]

1. There goes Bush and Cheney again ! ...

SAVING THE WORLD ! ! ! ! !

[Vincardog]

2. See star wars works when the target is not a missle.

[proud2bamerican2]

3. re: target not a missile

I believe the satellite was traveling at about the same speed as an ICBM would travel.

[CRF450]

5. Do you mean the missile by "ICBM"?

The satallite was going around 17,000mph. The missile would be traveling around 5,000mph. They had to time the launch just right (10 second margin by what they say) to make a direct hit.

[Vincardog]

11. The satellite was in a known predictable orbit. An ICBM not so much. They could not

shoot down their own drone when they knew the Time Altitude and Trajectory. Those Star Wars Trillion were well invested (in the Military Industrial Donors).

[proud2bamerican2]

14. re: trajectory

ICBMs, according to Wikipedia, spend approx. 25 minutes in sub-orbital spaceflight in an elliptical orbit. Anti-missile tests in Hawaii have shown success.

[nebula]

15. MIRV

Real ICBMs carry multiple warheads, known as MIRV, which launch all at once, designed to overwhelm any possible missile defense system. A MIRV can contain up to 10 warheads, maybe more. It's hard enough to hit just one of these incoming warheads, let alone all of them. The odds of shooting down all of them, or even two of them, are astronomically high.

[nebula]

16. In other words,

modern ICBM/MIRV systems, as well as SLBMs (submarine launched ballistic missiles, which Russia and China both possess), make Star Wars totally obsolete.

[proud2bamerican2]

13. re: ICBM

I meant an intercontinental ballistic missile -- which travels at about the same speed as the satellite.

[Jack_DeLeon]

4. Good Job...

I'm glad we have this technology.

Hopefully someday further advancements in this technology will help us protect earth from space based threats such as meteors and/or aliens.

[Fedja]

8. Sigh.

You truly think an alien race advanced enough to master interplanetary/interstellar/intergallactic travel is going to be phased by our missiles much?

[Larry Ogg]

9. Do you think it farfetched to consider that

future sheepeople will be easily programmed that space aliens hate us for our freedom, and that the psychopath neo-cons will be the ones most capable of defending the earth from them?

The difference between reality and science-fiction - with in the minds of the masses - is nothing more than swallowing the elusion, hook line and sinker…

[FogerRox]

12. Since the sat, US 93 had a functioning Radio, this is no big deal

Enemy missiles would not be so kind.

[freedomnorth]

6. duplicate

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=102&topic_id=3190978&mesg_id=3190978

[SoCalDem]

7. sure it did.. Spielberg pulled out of the China olympics just in time

can;t wait for the video :)

[CGowen]

10. China suspicious of US strike on satellite

By China correspondent Stephen McDonell

Posted 15 minutes ago

China has called on the United States to provide information about its succesful operation to shoot down a rogue satellite.

A United States navy cruiser destroyed a satellite today using a single missile strike, but the Chinese administration is concerned the US may have been testing a new space weapon.

US officials say the satellite was blasted to pieces to prevent it crashing to earth with its toxic fuel on board.

But the Chinese Government has already criticised the move and called on the US military to brief other countries.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2008/02/21/2169336.htm?section=justin





AP Top News at 7:03 a.m. EST
13 minutes ago

HONOLULU (AP) — A U.S. Navy cruiser blasted a disabled spy satellite with a pinpoint missile strike that achieved the main mission of exploding a tank of toxic fuel 130 miles above the Pacific Ocean, defense officials said. Destroying the satellite's onboard tank of about 1,000 pounds of hydrazine fuel was the primary goal, and a senior defense official close to the mission said Thursday that it appears the tank was destroyed, and the strike with a specially designed missile was a complete success.

http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5g8-DEMtAE9q4i4ySQ0eV_qZefmRQD8UUMJS00