Posted on 01/26/2008 5:30:14 PM PST by NormsRevenge
WASHINGTON - A large U.S. spy satellite has lost power and could hit the Earth in late February or March, government officials said Saturday.
The satellite, which no longer can 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.
"Appropriate government agencies are monitoring the situation," said Gordon Johndroe, a spokesman for the National Security Council, when asked about the situation after it was disclosed by other officials. "Numerous satellites over the years have come out of orbit and fallen harmlessly. We are looking at potential options to mitigate any possible damage this satellite may cause."
He would not comment on whether it is possible for the satellite to be perhaps shot down by a missile. He said it would be inappropriate to discuss any specifics at this time.
A senior government official said that lawmakers and other nations are being kept apprised of the situation.
Such an uncontrolled re-entry could risk exposure of U.S. secrets, said John Pike, a defense and intelligence expert. Spy satellites typically are disposed of through a controlled re-entry into the ocean so that no one else can access the spacecraft, he said.
Pike also said it's not likely the threat from the satellite could be eliminated by shooting it down with a missile, because that would create debris that would then re-enter the atmosphere and burn up or hit the ground.
Pike, director of the defense research group GlobalSecurity.org, estimated that the spacecraft weighs about 20,000 pounds and is the size of a small bus. He said the satellite would create 10 times less debris than the Columbia space shuttle crash in 2003.
As for possible hazardous material in the spacecraft, Pike said it might contain beryllium, a light metal with a high melting point that is used in the defense and aerospace industries. Breathing beryllium can lead to chronic, incurable respiratory problems.
Jeffrey Richelson, a senior fellow with the National Security Archive, said the spacecraft likely is a photo reconnaissance satellite. Such eyes in the sky are used to gather visual information from space about adversarial governments and terror groups, including construction at suspected nuclear sites or militant training camps. The satellites also can be used to survey damage from hurricanes, fires and other natural disasters.
The largest uncontrolled re-entry by a NASA spacecraft was Skylab, the 78-ton abandoned space station that fell from orbit in 1979. Its debris dropped harmlessly into the Indian Ocean and across a remote section of western Australia.
In 2000, NASA engineers successfully directed a safe de-orbit of the 17-ton Compton Gamma Ray Observatory, using rockets aboard the satellite to bring it down in a remote part of the Pacific Ocean.
In 2002, officials believe debris from a 7,000-pound science satellite smacked into the Earth's atmosphere and rained down over the Persian Gulf, a few thousand miles from where they first predicted it would plummet.
Shall I assume it goes over Florida?
Orbits degrade?
Plutonium ?
I would prefer that it crashes right on top of the Borg Cube in the middle of Mecca.
“He said the satellite would create 10 times less debris than the Columbia space shuttle crash in 2003”
One time less is zero. I think what he meant to say is “one tenth the debris”. As it is, it makes absolutely no sense. I suspect the journalist is the one who screwed that up.
“Sue the bastard!!”
+++++++++++++++
Yeah! Let’s get a restraining order!! That’ll stop it!
Maybe. Maybe Lacrosse?
1) if this is true, why would you expect to get the answer to your question...its a secret
2) why do you presume because its in print that its true?
The second question applies to a whole range of issues in our daily lives today.
Same thing happened in the early 80’s with Skylab. I think it ended up crashing down in the ocean.
Those are about the right size.
RTG’s (Radioisotope Thermal Generators) aka space nuclear power systems, are only used for deep space mission by the US, like Jupitor probes etc where the solar energy is insufficient to power solar cells.
That’s a relief...
Actually, I was wondering if it were this Titan IV failure from 1998 (A-20). http://www.fas.org/spp/military/program/launch/titan_iv-20_sum.htm
Nevermind, A-20 was destroyed 40 seconds after liftoff. There was an upper stage failure in 1999 on a Milstar mission. That’s probably it. http://www.spaceflightnow.com/titan/b26/051016history.html
Valid points both.
Didn’t the Chinese destroy a satellite just to show the world that they could do it?
Do you think our government is going to let that go unanswered?
We just want to look good doing it, IMO.
The sky really is falling!
Where it lands will be difficult to predict until the satellite falls to about 59 miles above the Earth and enters the atmosphere. It will then begin to burn up, with flares visible from the ground, said Ted Molczan, a Canadian satellite tracker. From that point on, he said, it will take about 30 minutes to fall.
This was from the latest article at Drudge. If its at 173 miles and falling at 1640 feet per day and it will enter the atmosphere at 59 miles unless I did the math wrong it wont reach that point for about a year? It moving down at about a mile every 3 days and needs to go 114 miles to reach the atmosphere? Does anyone have any info to share on this?
Patrick McGoohan in ICE STATION ZEBRA!!!
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