U.S. tells China concerned by satellite-killer test

Reuters via Yahooooo ^ | 1/18/07 | Jim Wolf (Reuters)

[Abathar]

Lets just add a few thousand more high speed pieces of crap to avoid up there you nitwits.

[I see my hands]

Deny space to all other nations. Now!

[BeHoldAPaleHorse]

Problem is, denying space to all other nations would have the effect of denying it to our own as well, once the junk from those ASAT kills started taking out our own birds.

[AntiKev]

Oh be serious. What we do need to do is repeal OST so that we can weaponize space.

[HarmlessLovableFuzzball]

"The U.S. believes China's development and testing of such weapons is inconsistent with the spirit of cooperation that both countries aspire to in the civil space area"

Waah waah waah. Wusses.

[BeHoldAPaleHorse]

Back in the 1980s, Space Command was really unhappy about the Vought ASAT, because it would kill everyone's space assets, including ours. Basically, a full test series would produce a lot of orbiting shrapnel traveling in random directions; this shrapnel would eventually kill OTHER satellites, which in turn would generate more shrapnel; eventually, there would be so much crap flying around that it would kill any booster trying to deliver a payload to orbit.

[BeHoldAPaleHorse]

Weaponizing space isn't illegal under the OST, unless you're insisting on launching nukes into space.

[IamConservative]

I would have to think we could shoot down any sattelite we want at anytime we choose. Perhaps I am wrong, but I bet the Chicoms weren't the first to think of this.

[I see my hands]

"Problem"

Find a solution, problem solved.

[C210N]

Basically, China wants to be involved in Space Terrorism. A satellite-killing device is just a space based IED.

[ContemptofCourt]

So you are saying that the US has never developed the capability, or tested it, when figuring out how to kill soviet satellites? C'mon now...we're just pissed that they figured out how to do it.

[Charles Martel]

C'mon now...we're just pissed that they figured out how to do it.

Pissed, but certainly not surprised. Heck, the kinetic kill vehicle probably had "Guidance by Loral" stenciled on it in Chinese.

[Westlander]

What would a 10 megaton cause in space? Wondering.

[Abathar]

Its not that we are pissed that they can do it, its that they just put thousands of shards of high speed headache into the path of other satellites that we have to track and avoid now.

[Moonman62]

Our Space Shuttle was designed to nab low orbit Soviet satellites and return them to earth in one orbit.

[Abathar]

One hell of an EMP that would fry a huge amount of electronics wherever it went off. We did it once and learned the hard way to not do it again, kind of like a kid with matches.

[airborne]

"The U.S. believes China's development and testing of such weapons is inconsistent with the spirit of cooperation that both countries aspire to in the civil space area,"

It's apparently not a "civil" space program.

I hope we're at least even with them technologically in this area.

[Westlander]

Kinda like checking your septic system with a Zippo?.

[snowsislander]

On the day of the test, a U.S. defense official said the United States was unable to communicate with an experimental spy satellite launched last year by the Pentagon's National Reconnaissance Office. But there was no immediate indication that this was a result of the Chinese test.

Interesting coincidence.

[Plains Drifter]

Like the Red Chinese government really cares what we say or think as a government. They're the big old yellow barn cat and we're a mouse they amuse themselves with by watching

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waiting

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someday.