Posted on 01/26/2008 1:03:46 PM PST by HAL9000
WASHINGTON (AP) — A large U.S. spy satellite has lost power and propulsion and could hit the Earth in late February or March, government officials said Saturday.The satellite, which no longer be controlled, could contain hazardous materials, and it is unknown where on the planet it might come down, they said. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because the information is classified as secret.
(Excerpt) Read more at ap.google.com ...
A KH-11?
Somebody refresh my memory about what the word "secret" means...
“The satellite, which no longer be controlled, could contain hazardous materials, and it is unknown where on the planet it might come down, they said. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because the information is classified as secret.”
Secret eh, so why in hades are they talking about it.
Thanks AP. Loose lips and all. .. . . .
I used to mean that if you talked about it you would go to jail. I distinctly remember signing statements that I understood the possible repercussions of unauthorized disclosure.
Guess now it means leak it to the press if it will make the US look bad.
Isn't that multicultural - AP writes in Ebonics...
low level employees who are privy to this stuff like to play james bond and have secret meetings with reporters. the only way to stop it is to surveil everyone. but the ACLU might have a problem with that.
Yep jail time for the numb nut who released the info.
In this case, the secret classification has been superseded by reality since it is probably plain to anybody that cares that the satellite is defunct and falling from orbit. Further, the "secret" will really be out of the bag when it comes flaming across the sky into, hopefully, some out of the way place in the middle of nowhere.
Because by international treaties signed by the US, the country that launches it’s space hardware must take responsibility for that hardware until it is de-orbited. Because the spacecraft is out of control the US must acknowledge this fact. But I will tell you that they can predict relatively certainly where, when and how it will come down.
You just haven't been paying enough attention.
The official definition of SECRET means that you have to have a security clearance to read SECRET documents but you are allowed to print them if you have a New York Times employee badge.
Wow! One of these would make a great addition to my curios shelf.
It means "For immediate release to The New York Times".
Jack Anderson, a reporter for the Washington Post used to release all levels of classified data for defunct and on-going projects.
Seems like these things should be required to have a “I’m dying!” signal and then a guidance system to at least make sure it crashes in the ocean....
I wont tell a soul
“The satellite will probably crash in Iran and they’ll have some enriched plutonium to add to their stockpiles.”
I’m betting they don’t have a problem with their supply of bomb making materials. The hazerdous materials are probably the solar panels.
I thought the Air Force had the capability to send up a satellite to match orbits, dock and control a satellite. I thought there were some actual flight tests of this capability of the last 10 years.
I bet the Chinese shot it down with their new ground based laser.../sarc
shhhh big secret
Oh no! Not again!
“Seems like these things should be required to have a “I’m dying!” signal and then a guidance system to at least make sure it crashes in the ocean”
From what I understand they do assuming that function still works. The recent chinese anti-sat tests have left a lot of junk in orbit. I wonder if we have lost any satellites due to this stuff.
Why did Bush neglect this satellite to the point it is crashing?
“low level employees who are privy to this stuff like to play james bond and have secret meetings with reporters. the only way to stop it is to surveil everyone.”
Look at the numbers of PhD’s awarded in physics and math, then look at where the students are from. Large percentages are from overseas and end up working in universities and defense contractors. We have a couple thousand chinese working in our high level programs.
IMO this information is sought out and released to make the US look bad. Oh and I am all for surveiling people with access to classified national defense information.
It’s not that easy.
This is caused by Global Warming. The planet has a fever, and it’s just too hot to orbit!
There was one just recently (Orbital Express), but the issue is that there is currently no “operationally responsive spacelift” capability. This is in the pipe from the likes of SpaceX, Orbital Sciences Corp. and ATK. But it IS rocket science after all.
You can’t just dock to a satellite with no docking mechanism either.
“Why can’t they just send up Bruce Willis and drill a hole in it and then blow it up?”
Environmentalists have managed to prevent any drilling in the pristine wilderness of lower earth orbit.
Is it too much to ask that it land on Ahmadinejad?
It's no big surprise, except as practice for all the up & coming space powers to detect, track, and learn.
Only after the final phase of descent starts. It's like a roulette wheel. For example. you are driving a car on a hilly, uneven terrain. The engine suddenly stalls. Can you predict where the car stops?
The answer is "No" because it depends on your initial speed and on the incline of the road (all the way to the stopping position) and on the wind, and on the type of pavement (concrete vs. sand) and on many other factors.
In case of a satellite it all depends on the early atmospheric drag on the descending shape. Initially this drag is miniscule, but it depends on which way the satellite is oriented (not known) and how high the upper atmosphere reaches right now (not known). But this microscopic difference early in the descent can make the satellite fall in South Africa or in North America. Only when the satellite is on its last spiral around the globe, when it is already burning like a meteorite, then it is reasonably clear what will happen because there aren't that many options left.
Controlled landings are far more exact, but only because the spacecraft is precisely controlled during the descent, and the descent path itself is designed to dive deep into the atmosphere.
Well, HOW certainly, and WHEN to maybe within a few days, which is more or less implied by "late February or March" ( if we assume "early March",) but to know WHERE you have to know WHEN to within a minute or less, since it's moving at about five miles per second. There is enough variability in the density of the upper atmosphere to make it impossible to predict the moment of final descent with this kind of precision. It's like predicting when a picture will fall off the wall.
That’s comforting. The fact they are talking about it at all, and talking about “mitigating damage” as to where it will come down, makes me think that it might come down in a crowded place.
The shuttle, for instance, only slows down a couple or three hundred mph from its orbital speed to begin its descent. That's what, 1 or 2 percent of its velocity?
Every nation that launches its own spacecraft must know where all the objects are in orbit, regardless of their origin, or else you might accidentally launch into the orbit that is occupied by some junk (or, even worse, not junk.)
I rather doubt that.
Can you explain that to an English speaking semiintelligent but uninformed guy?
It’s a decoy, completely under control, designed to mimic an out-of-control spy satellite, in order to flush out hostile interdiction and recovery capabilities
What the NSA/Pentagon uses, I don't know.
The Russians have used Strontium-90 for RTGs, even for remote Earth locations that are frequently the target of vandals...
If it lands in my back yard....can I keep it?
I’d like to add that as an Intel bird, it is probably in a polar orbit.
That means we can’t even confine our guesses to the lower latitudes.
And why won’t this thing burn up when it re-enters?
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