Posted on 02/13/2008 4:59:37 AM PST by maquiladora
U.S. officials are studying the possibility of shooting down the errant Lockheed Martin intelligence satellite that was launched into space for the National Reconnaissance Office (NRO).
The concern is that the spacecraft carries a full tank of hydrazine - a toxic propellant - that would have been used to reposition the satellite in orbit. Government analysts say the odds are that the tank will crack open during re-entry or than it will land in the ocean, which makes up 70% of the area where the breaking up satellite might land. There also is concern in some quarters that debris could reveal U.S. national security secrets if recovered by other nations. It is expected to re-enter the atmosphere late this month or in early March.
Analysts at the Missile Defense Agency and NRO have put hundreds of hours into analysis and have studied closely the accuracy of surveillance capabilities of U.S. radars in Japan, Alaska and possibly elsewhere to give more targeting options to those assessing the danger of the satellite falling to Earth.
A senior official with insight into the planning says that a rumor that the satellite carried a small, nuclear generator is "absolutely and totally incorrect." However, government agencies including MDA and NRO "are studying options that include" hitting the satellite with a weapon so that it breaks up in space - and ruptures the hydrazine tank -- before beginning its descent.
If the hydrazine tank did hit a populated area intact, and depending on winds and the dynamics of "plumeology," the impact could affect humans - perhaps kill some - out to a distance of "20-30 yards," the official says.
Aerospace Corp., a California-based research organization that regularly advises the Defense Department, has assembled some basic data about falling satellites and what can be done about them. "For an orbiting object, shooting it down actually breaks the object into many pieces, some of which could be hazardous to other satellites," says the Aerospace Corp. "Many of the fragments will survive re-entry, but be spread over a much larger area. The pros and cons for a specific case would need to be examined."
Re-entering objects, including major items such as satellites, platforms and rocket bodies have dropped 5,400 metric tons of material on the Earth in the past 40 years, the research group says.
However, "if a satellite or rocket body has propulsive capability, it can use rocket motor burns to target the re-entry into a desired area. The technique was recently used by NASA to ensure debris from the 14,000 kg. Compton Gamma-Ray Observatory landed in the ocean," it says.
As to the threat, "One person was brushed on the shoulder by a piece of debris in 1997. She was not injured. Large, hazardous fragments can survive, but in most cases, debris from re-entered objects is never found or reported," Aerospace said.
Somethin is fishy here. Hydrazine is Alar, you know the stuff they spray on apples and fruit. It’s used in boiler water treatment and in rocket fuels. It’s not like it’s some rare compound we’re not exposed to already.
I suspect they’re more concerned about some secret spy tech stuff surviving.
Hydrazine will kill you. It is very reactive and dangerous.
It will corrode your skin or lungs until you die a painful death.
Translation: peel us off $10 million & we'll do a quickie 'study' for ya with a really nifty Power Point presentation.
We have a winner! Quite a lot survived the Columbia crash. That is on their minds. Bad guys may precisely track reentry and dig up what they can.
I guess it depends on the quantity or concentration. Just like the way there is radioactive material in some smoke alarms, but not enough for a dirty bomb :-)
Not likely that there is anything left that has not already been sold or given away by "persons of non-interest".
It is nasty but the amount on board the satellite pales in comparison to what’s on the Shuttle. We’ve had two of those burn up and not one spotted owl or snail darter was injured.
Why does NASA not prepare and send a shuttle to retrieve the thing? isn’t that what the shuttle’s inception was all about?
.S. officials are studying the possibility of shooting down the errant Lockheed Martin intelligence satellite that was launched into space for the National Reconnaissance Office (NRO).
Set all Beebers to 'stun'.
Considering the fact that so much of our stuff is made in China its hard to say what is and isn’t secret anymore.
Maybe they will dust off the ASAT program for a one-shot.
Yes, I remember the Clinton years...but it sure as heck wasn't just one, and the shoulder was just the start!
/hijack
The last that I heard we no longer had the weapon systems to do this.
You mean like anhydrous amonia? Chlorine gas? Nitric acid?
Hydrazine is not Alar. A derivative of hydrazine is used to make Alar. Apples and oranges (so to speak).
Interesting point, although the satellite orbit might be considerable higher, oops, what orbit, that’s why it is falling. We need a space garbage truck. You know it is a full time job just tracking the garbage much less the active stuff.
As we say in the industry, dilution is the solution to pollution.
EXCUSE ME....if the tank is full....fire it and put it back into orbit!!!!!
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