Live Pentagon News Conference Now re; Shooting down spy satellite

Live Pentagon News Conference Now re; Shooting down spy satellite

www.wesh.com

Live conference now.

(visit the link for the full news article)

Live conference now

www.wesh.com
(visit the link for the full news article)

reply to post by Bayman


Live News Conference

CNN now saying it will be the first test of the U.S defense system to hit satellite

I'm wondering what kind of light show this might produce. This is somewhat akin to the a-bombs in WWII - letting the world know what we're capable of, for better or for worse.

reply to post by Bayman


Update the U.S. will take one shot next week to knowck down the satellite.

A few questions come into my mind.

1. Was this satelite "rigged" for failure on purpose to test the US's ability to develope an antisatelite weopon?

2. Is the "?Hyzene?" gas they are referencing an excuse to shoot it down.

3. Is the real reason why they want to shoot it down just to protect the information stored on the satelite from ever being recoverd?

Heh, i was thinking about making a thread on this - thank you for enabling me to comment on the matter instead of bringing the matter up myself.

My thoughts are that this is probably a result of China's adventurous use of missiles in recent years - perhaps this is some sort of military posturing between the two nation-states?

p.s; Anyone considered the flight-path of the satelliete?

I wouldn't be surprised if they 'missed' the satelliete and the missile landed on some hapless political demonstrator's house after orbiting the earth a few times.

The cover story would probably have something to do with faulty instruments.

[edit on 14-2-2008 by Throbber]

www.msnbc.msn.com...

Live Video of proposed shoot down of satellite on MSNBC.com

So the idiots are going to shoot it while in orbit... "military intelligence" must have a hand in this. LOL. Not that I truly believe the "public" version or anything spouted as "truth" by any US official. If I was Putin I'd plug it the orbit before... just to PO the Yanks.

Vic

[edit on 14-2-2008 by V Kaminski]

Hi everyone,

Im not claiming to be an expert on this by any means, and I know that wikipedia references arent always 100% true, but is this any different from the F-15 launched ASAT missile, referenced on wiki here, about half way down the page.

Wikipedia Reference

Or, is this a completely different type of 'satellite killer' missile system?

Originally posted by Amaxium
A few questions come into my mind.

1. Was this satelite "rigged" for failure on purpose to test the US's ability to develope an antisatelite weopon?

No

2. Is the "?Hyzene?" gas they are referencing an excuse to shoot it down.

The maneuvering thrusters on satellite US 193 are powered by hydrazine, which is a hazardous rocket fuel. This is the public reason given.

The satellite also carries a very sensitive imaging sensor. The technology is classified. This is probably a good reason to shoot it down as well.

3. Is the real reason why they want to shoot it down just to protect the information stored on the satelite from ever being recoverd?

Quite possibly. Any information from the imaging sensor has already been transmitted and it's highly doubtful that data could be recovered from the satellite itself.

However, the sensor technology could possibly survive a crash. An enemy government might not be able to get anything useful, but it could be used to estimate our capabilities and is therefore better destroyed.

Also, this is a very tense time politically on the international stage. A successful shoot-down of a satellite 'might' cause other countries to re-think their posturing.

There is no reason NOT to try and shoot it down and much to be gained by actually shooting it down, IE public safety, protection of secrets, testing anti-missile and anti-spacecraft technology.

Originally posted by ukmicky1980
Hi everyone,

Im not claiming to be an expert on this by any means, and I know that wikipedia references arent always 100% true, but is this any different from the F-15 launched ASAT missile....

Or, is this a completely different type of 'satellite killer' missile system?

It is a different technology.

This shootdown will be done by the Navy using a standard missile system to intercept the satellite prior to atmospheric interface.

This is an interesting fact, because we have been able to shoot down intra-atmospheric ballistic targets before, but this will be an attempt at an 'extra-atmospheric' (spacecraft) object.

Think of the potential uses - Intercepting ICBM's before reentry. Destroying unfriendly targets that are in orbit. (Note last weeks china/russia sudden 'no weapons in space' plea).

Or... maybe it could shoot, well, 'other' stuff... ;-)

The weapon we will be using to shoot down the satellite is a variant of the Navy's Standard Missile.

Variants of this system are designed for extra-atmospheric targets.

Here is a reference describing the general characteristics of the missile system:

FAS Site

Forgive my ignorance but what is the difference in this and China shooting down the weather satellite?

Originally posted by stellawayten
Forgive my ignorance but what is the difference in this and China shooting down the weather satellite?

There isn't really any difference.

It might be a political statement to say, "Hey we can do that too!"

Of course if we miss it will be very embarrassing.

reply to post by Amaxium



The "Bunk-O-Meter" has just "pegged".


The military is going to take the "extrordinary" measure to shoot down an errant satellite; despite the the international concerns that this might pose even greater risk to current and future space missions, and futher inflame the debate over anti-satellite weapons development.


Because they are worried that a 40 inch , that's right, a 40 inch, diameter spherical tank of hydrazine might survive an un-controlled, un-sheilded, searing re-entry through the Earth's atmosphere and a subsequent impact at terminal velocity. They are concerned that any hydrazine remaining in the tank might pose a health risk to anyone coming into contact with the gas.

Dang, who built that tank..Volvo?




I'd think it more likely that the tank would explode during re-entry as the heat of re-entry caused the contained gas to expand.

Negating the military's stated concern.


Furthermore, it was stated that the satellite failed (to respond) on launch. If that is the case, it is likely that the tank in question would still be relatively full; the satellite would have never responded to commands to use the thrusters fueled by the tank in question.

A full tank is more likely to explode, I would think.



What bothers me is that the military was not terribly circumspect when it came to revealing how long it took to develop and operationalize this plan.

One officer present went so far as to say it took "three weeks" to develop the software for this plaaned action; and responded to a question about the cost of the contingency plan by explaininfg that they were using a missile that "was already in place".


That is to say, that the Navy, at least, already had, in place what amounts to the hardware portion of an anti-satellite weapons system.

It just took three weeks to develop the software needed to convert what appears to be a dual-purpose missile into a functioning A-Sat!


Three weeks, and a good excuse.



Is that the sound of a treaty I hear breaking?

reply to post by Bhadhidar


I think the hydrazine is the public excuse.

I think it is a good experiment to see if this is viable technology, not to mention that there is a good deal of classified technology on board this satellite.

When Columbia broke up there was a lot of concern over Hydrazine as well. Even a little bit on a nozzle or fragment could be poisonous.

I say what the heck, fire away!

Just an update all news media are now carrying news regarding the upcoming shooting down of the failed spy satellite.

This thread already exists and can be found here:

www.abovetopsecret.com...

Please post your thoughts and comments into the existing thread

Thanks