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Military going to shoot down broken space probe

  • Thread starter Thread starter Deleted member 4644
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Deleted member 4644

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/23166344

I think this is a fooking stupid idea. They obviously just want to play with their new toys and show the Chinese that we can shoot down spaceships too. But in the mean time they are going to further ruin low-earth orbit with debris.

Dumb, in my opinion.
 
A lot of that debris is going to burn up in the atmosphere, as I understand it the plan is to intercept during re-entry. That should cause the sattlite to fracture into millions of pieces, allowing a much greater percentage to burn up.

At any rate, it's better than a 5 to n sattelite landing on my house.

Random Factoid: Over 17000 objects have crashed to earth since we started exploring space.
 
Smaller pieces burn up better than one large piece.

Also, it allows a missile test. Ground to Space
 
We can no longer tolerate Chinese dominance of the Space Junk Race. We must, for the sake of the children, blow this satellite into 10,000 glorious pieces.
 
At least one article I read says that they will hit it in an orbit where it WILL leave space debris.
 
I'm going to go out on a limb here and say that the decision to shoot it down is heavily influenced by the fact that it is a spy satellite.
 
so options are:
1. to leave it and have it sprew toxic fuel over several hundred miles of earth
2. shoot it down and spread debris over space?

worst case scenarios:
1. toxic fuel rains down on a major city- hundreds to thousands affected.
2. space debris damages space launches killing several dozen astronauts.

Someone has to make the tough decisions. I say option 2.
 
Originally posted by: Vic
I'm going to go out on a limb here and say that the decision to shoot it down is heavily influenced by the fact that it is a spy satellite.
Click to expand...

Not even remotely accurate. It carries a dangerous quantity of hydrazine fuel which could harm people on the ground if it lands in their yard. It's purely a safety issue. I heard it on the radio too.
 
I like how the dude says they don't want to see pieces of a hundred million dollar spy probe for sell on ebay... and the Chinese government buying it. Heh.

In any case, space debris in low earth orbit eventually falls out.
 
Im going with Vic here, its a spy satellite it probably has pictures of Putin's bathroom and such. They let space junk fall to earth all the time, why does this one have to be blown up? The fuel thing is just a cover.
 
Originally posted by: Moonbeam
Originally posted by: Vic
I'm going to go out on a limb here and say that the decision to shoot it down is heavily influenced by the fact that it is a spy satellite.
Click to expand...

Not even remotely accurate. It carries a dangerous quantity of hydrazine fuel which could harm people on the ground if it lands in their yard. It's purely a safety issue. I heard it on the radio too.
Click to expand...

That's definitely the deciding factor, but given that the satellite is unresponsive, they probably can't erase any data that it might be carrying. Not to mention the classified tech on the satellite itself. From what I've heard, half of the satellite would survive. We're not talking small metal fragments.

The toxic fuel is a convenient coincidence. If the fuel were perfectly safe, they'd still shoot it down IMO.
 
Originally posted by: Robor
Is it not possible to go up and either repair or retrieve it with the Shuttle?
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Probably not cost effective. A missile is cheaper.

What I want to know is: What if the missile misses the target?? :evil:
 
This poses effectively no risk to people. Space junk hitting the earth comes close to hitting a person once every 50 years. Moreover, the fuel they're worried about is dangerous only if you hang around it for a fairly long period, and it would evaporate anyway. This is a high tech spy satellite and that is unequivocally the reason it's being shot down. Funny that the US whined about China doing something similar a year ago.
 
Originally posted by: Skoorb
This poses effectively no risk to people. Space junk hitting the earth comes close to hitting a person once every 50 years. Moreover, the fuel they're worried about is dangerous only if you hang around it for a fairly long period, and it would evaporate anyway. This is a high tech spy satellite and that is unequivocally the reason it's being shot down. Funny that the US whined about China doing something similar a year ago.
Click to expand...

the satellite China shot down was 537 miles above the Earth, well into the orbits of weather, GPS, communications and other satellites. While the satellite the US is shooting down will be at a specific time and position equivalent to the height of an incoming ballistic missile. Big difference.
 
The US is waiting until the satellite will be within 2-weeks of a reentry anyway. The Debris will be in a extremely low orbit and will fall out of orbit within week. The Chinese blew up a satellite at such a high orbit that the debris will circle for decades. This to me is a good idea because there is really no down side to trying this. They get to test the ABM system and remove the potential of a 5-ton satellite crashing down someplace where it shouldn't and killing somebody. Of course whether the intercept is successful will not satisfy the ABM critics.
 
With Bush's current record, he'll probably shoot down the International Space Station instead of the actual satellite that's the problem...kind of like attacking Iraq in retaliation for 9-11...
 
Originally posted by: StepUp
What happens if someone intercepts that missile?
Click to expand...
who/what/why/how... wtf?! 😕

Originally posted by: BoomerD
With Bush's current record, he'll probably shoot down the International Space Station instead of the actual satellite that's the problem...kind of like attacking Iraq in retaliation for 9-11...
Click to expand...
It was only a matter of time before some douchebag came in and tried to tie this issue to Bush, 9/11, and Iraq... and CHA-CHING! BoomerD nails all three in a single ridiculous post!

GG.

I digress...

Regarding the satellite, the intercept is going to occur at a vey low altitude, thus resulting in the majority of the debris burning up in the atmosphere. This is NOT similar to the Chinese event several months ago that occurred at roughly 537 miles altitude, and resulted in decades of debris interfering with the orbit of hundreds of other satellites.

That said, this will be an excellent test for our Navy ABM personnel and equipment, AND it will prevent toxic fuel or 5 tons of metal from injuring innocents, AND it will prevent classified equipment from falling into the wrong hands.

It's a win-win from every angle... good stuff!
 
Originally posted by: palehorse74
Originally posted by: StepUp
What happens if someone intercepts that missile?
Click to expand...
who/what/why/how... wtf?! 😕

Originally posted by: BoomerD
With Bush's current record, he'll probably shoot down the International Space Station instead of the actual satellite that's the problem...kind of like attacking Iraq in retaliation for 9-11...
Click to expand...
It was only a matter of time before some douchebag came in and tried to tie this issue to Bush, 9/11, and Iraq... and CHA-CHING! BoomerD nails all three in a single ridiculous post!

GG.

I digress...

Regarding the satellite, the intercept is going to occur at a vey low altitude, thus resulting in the majority of the debris burning up in the atmosphere. This is NOT similar to the Chinese event several months ago that occurred at roughly 537 miles altitude, and resulted in decades of debris interfering with the orbit of hundreds of other satellites.

That said, this will be an excellent test for our Navy ABM personnel and equipment, AND it will prevent toxic fuel or 5 tons of metal from injuring innocents, AND it will prevent classified equipment from falling into the wrong hands.

It's a win-win from every angle... good stuff!
Click to expand...

except if they miss - then it's egg on the face :Q

and BoomerD was being sarcastic - check your meter sometimes.


 
Originally posted by: GroundedSailor
except if they miss - then it's egg on the face :Q
Click to expand...
Yeah, that would be bad for the Navy, and the Chinese might get a boost of confidence out of it... for sure.

and BoomerD was being sarcastic - check your meter sometimes.
Click to expand...
Actually, based on his post history here, I don't think he was being sracastic... but maybe my meter is broken... meh.

 
Originally posted by: irishScott
Originally posted by: StepUp
What happens if someone intercepts that missile?
Click to expand...

Don't most long range missiles launch decoys to counter stuff like that? Or is that exclusive to ICBMs?
Click to expand...

Advanced MIRV'd ICBMs can use decoys.

I highly doubt anyone could intercept a SM-3 that they have no idea of where or when its going to launch from. I don't think anyone owns a weapon system that could actually accomplish it anyway.
 
First if they shoot it or not it is still likely to cause debris to fall.

Second, by shooting it down, they may be able to pick the location of its destruction so the least amount of debris falls over populated areas.

Third most of it will just burn up in the atmosphere.

It does not cause so-called earth junk because the obit of matter decays causing it to burn up in the atmosphere or fall to earth. The larger the pieces the more likely debris will fall, so by blowing it up it just minimizes the problem. Where did you go to school anyway?

There may be better ways to handle this, but I dont know what that would be.

Where was the debris from when the chinese shot their satelite?
 
Sounds like some fun target practice to me, I hope they film it somehow so we "peasants" can watch our tax dollars at work.
 
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