Why does NASA not prepare and send a shuttle to retrieve the thing? isn’t that what the shuttle’s inception was all about?
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.
Recon sats are in polar orbit, launched from Vandenberg in California.
You can't launch the shuttle in a polar orbit from Florida. There was a shuttle launch facility prepared at great expense at Vandenberg in the early 80s, but abandoned and never used.
Sorry, didn’t see your post, but we’re on the same page here.