No SAM Capable of Hitting SHuttle

FAS Website ^ | 6-30-2000 | Federation of American Scientists

[Stefan Stackhouse]

At the moment of disintegration, the shuttle was flying considerably higher than any aircraft of any military on earth is capable of flying. It should be quite obvious that nobody would design an anti-air missile capable of hitting an object flying that high.

An ABM? Just possibly. But the US and Israel are probably the only nations with that capability, and obviously neither would have any motive in doing such a thing.

If anyone wants to look at any type of "terrorism" or "act of war" scenario, I suggest looking at sabotage, as that is the only thing that appears to be even remotely possible. It is also quite incredible, as it would require an agent not only infiltrating to the extent of being part of the ground crew, but also of causing damage to the exterior tiles of the shuttle just before launch -- unobserved, in the midst of lots of other ground crew, observation cameras, and very high security in place just to prevent such a thing. If such an action could be successfully be pulled off, it would far exceed James Bond's wildest dreams.

[GOP_1900AD]

Don't forget about the possibility of intereference with things such as the reentry burn, the positioning for reentry and the moves to slow down the craft out over the Pacific. The PRC have apparently been pursuing microsatellites, space mines (small and attachable) as well as other means of attacking Western space craft and satellites. None of them involve missiles in the traditional sense, from what I am led to believe.

[theFIRMbss]

>The PRC are apparently fascinated with such concepts.

Let's say this is true.
The Feds won't destabalize
global politics

by admitting it.
But they almost certainly
would retaliate.

What should we watch for?
What do you guys think is next?
What's next visibly?

[SSN558]

"Just a question....are one of these capable of hitting a target like the Shuttle upon re-entry ?"

Absolutely not. However there are anti-sat weapons launched from an F15 that could do the job. Testing was done on them in the early 90's, I don't know what the more recent status of them is.

Also, one of the shuttle flights way back when was damaged by space junk. It was some where around flight STS-29 or there abouts. It was determined that a fleck of paint left over from an Appolo mission had impacted the shuttle windshield at 18,000 mph and cracked it. The investigation concluded that thousands of similiar small objects left in space could cause a space shuttle mission failure.

[theFIRMbss]

>The PRC are apparently fascinated with such concepts.
>>What's next visibly?

The first visible
thing has been to attack France!
Can't be linked? Can it?

Pentagon adviser: France 'no longer ally'

[Dead Dog]

This, and a hypothetical ground based laser are about the only thing that could touch it; from:

http://www.wpafb.af.mil/museum/space_flight/sf14.htm

A unique USAF space vehicle is the ASAT (Air-Launched Anti-Satellite Missile). Unlike the other vehicles on display here, this device can be used to destroy orbiting satellites that threaten the U.S. The Vought ASAT was designed and developed in response to a 1977 Air Force requirement for a small air-launched missile that was capable of intercepting and destroying enemy satellites in low earth orbit. The missile consists of a modified Short Range Attack Missile (SRAM) first stage, a Thiokol Altair III second stage, and a Vought miniature homing vehicle (MHV). The ASAT is launched from an F-15 aircraft that is in a steep climb. At high altitudes, this gives the ASAT's rocket a useful initial velocity to allow it to reach its target in orbit. After the first stage separates, the second stage propels the MHV into space on a collision course with the target satellite. The MHV destroys the target by ramming it at high speed. Initial flight test began in 1983. The first successful test interception and destruction of a satellite in space occurred on September 13, 1985. The ASAT is 17 feet 9 1/2 inches long, 20 inches in diameter, and weighs about 2,600 lbs.

[Dinsdale]

It would have been easier to hit still in orbit (constant velocity).

[BlazingArizona]

I'm not saying that is what happened....but the press keeps repeating that NO SAM could have hit the shuttle.

Is that really the case ?

With present missile technology, yes. But could we be seeing the straw man argument here? I can envision three more plausible ways terrorists could have brought down Columbia. In order of likelihood:

1. A hack on the re-entry software. The entire series of re-entry movements is progammed. If the control software is hacked to roll a little too far during each S-turn, who's to know?
2. Sabotage of the tiles, thrusters or other critical re-entry hardware. Thousands of workers swarm over each Shuttle during the layover between flights. Bear in mind that the Apollo 13 accident was caused by a worker at Beech Aviation, a subcontractor, dropping an oxygen tank he was carrying and then not informing supervisors for fear of his job. This was purely an accident, but look at the possibilities for sabotage.
3. Interference with shuttle-ground commmunications, perhaps in conjunction with (1) or (2).

[Dead Dog]

#3 wouldn't have had this effect.

#2 Is what I thought at first, but I believe the shuttle software is tested before upload each mission, and run real-time during a mission in a simulator. This would have been picked up before it caused NASA to do an Arian 5 re-enactment.

I'm thinking it is #4 Enviroterrorists ban Freon causing NASA to use an foam insulation with inferior mechanical or adhesive properties.

[Dead Dog]

#2=#1