North Korean satellite 'tumbling out of control,' US officials say

Originally posted by Phage

The only safe method is a controlled reentry. If the satellite is out of control that is not a possibility.

Incorrect.

A "safe" method is destroying it via laser guided missile over an ocean. Well, I guess I am incorrect too..

1. Some aquatic life may be harmed in this.
2. NK will retaliate.

Any one suspect the X-37B shot this thing down???????

Satellite is going just between Sankt-Petersburg and Moskva very soon.. Now I wonder what the russians has to say about that..

Originally posted by RubberDuckGB


Any one suspect the X-37B shot this thing down???????

Nope, if the U.S. intelligence community had any belief that North Korea was launching a weapon it would have never made it into orbit.

This was symbolic only, in that North Korea having the ability to put anything into orbit successfully means that they now have the ability to deliver nuclear warheads over great distances, even as far as the west coast USA.

They may be able to do it, and if they were stupid enough to try, our defenses would detect the launch and there would be very little threat to the USA.

The USA should be more worried about these rogue nations supplying nukes, chemical and biological weapons to terrorists that would not hesitate to use them in suicide attacks than they are about their ballistic missile capabilities.

Their test was a success because it made it into orbit thru the most expensive missile defense system on Earth.....somehow done by a nation of starving 10 million rice growers.

It's dropped 30 KM's in the past hour or so.. It's almost at 499KM

reply to post by CALGARIAN

A "safe" method is destroying it via laser guided missile over an ocean. Well, I guess I am incorrect too..

That does not cause a satellite to reenter. It just creates a bunch of little satellites still in orbit, also known as space junk.

Originally posted by Phage
reply to post by CALGARIAN

 

A "safe" method is destroying it via laser guided missile over an ocean. Well, I guess I am incorrect too..

That does not cause a satellite to reenter. It just creates a bunch of little satellites still in orbit, also known as space junk.

Ahh gotcha! You're right man!

My apologies!

Newton is rolling in his grave.

reply to post by Pervius

You make it sound like we were trying to shoot it down.
We weren't.

That explains the airforce X plane mission-

ZAP----Its toast

reply to post by RubberDuckGB


The X-37 is nowhere near it, and can't get anywhere near it.

reply to post by kingears


We are talking North Korea here, they have government induced famine from a dictator who hoards the food.

Lets be realistic.

Originally posted by Pervius
Their test was a success because it made it into orbit thru the most expensive missile defense system on Earth.....somehow done by a nation of starving 10 million rice growers.

Yeah, I'm sure Japan would love for the US to shoot missiles over their nation.

What's all the talk about shooting down satellites?

1. It's orbital microgravity and shooting it would not make it go 'down'.
2. As Phage mentioned, it'd just create lots of smaller pieces like a shotgun blast of debris pellets that would serve as further hazard to other orbiting platforms where atm, it's just one easily trackable bullet.
3. Sorting it would involve forcing it to deorbit, or parking it in a safe orbit posing no hazard to other platforms.

tinfoil hat: sorting it Machiavellian style could involve intercept, subtle guidance, possible armament with something nasty, and aiming it at a target of opportunity ... like Mecca, where big disaster could then be soundly blamed on N. Korea.

Temple at Mecca destroyed?
Muslims unhappy?
Holy war imminent?

Yep. It was N. Korea.

crackpot Dictator vs Religious Fanatics
who would win?

Certainly there's lots of targets of opportunity that could spark off conflict with N. Korea and nation X. What targets would be most profitable to aim a purpose armed rogue satellite from N. Korea where N. Korea takes the blame and gets embroiled in conflict possibly ending the regime?

'Merika could aim satellite at itself for such justification, but, it'd be cheaper to have someone else like an enemy state, Muslim fanatics do all the fighting for you no?

That's all tin-foil hatishness though.

Satellite will orbit, decay, and likely splash somewhere harmless.

Why doesn't the USA leave North Korea alone ?

Why does the USA think they are the only ones allowed to have intercontinental missiles & nuclear weapons ?

None of the US presidents are anymore trustworthy than President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad or Kim Jong-un in fact leaders like this are probably more honest because they don't pretend to be something they are not, i think the USA just doesn't like being stood up to & when people/countries do the USA looses it's temper, the USA is just like the big school bully & ultimately the bully always gets beaten in the end, the bigger they are the harder they fall.

reply to post by DanaKatherineScully


Because North Korea is in a state of war with one of our allies?

But what has the US done to North Korea in regards to this satellite? Nothing. Why is it that if something fails it 's automatically the US doing something? Flying in space is hard. If it wasn't, we'd have space tourism as a huge industry, bases on Mars, and would be heading for the outer solar system by now. It's a simple satellite failure, it happens to everyone that flies them. Why is that so hard to grasp? Oh wait, because it's easier to blame the US.

reply to post by CALGARIAN

Too funny.... I love these .com sites for things like extra-terristerial phenomena.... Like they have the scoop. Well, maybe they have the p___oop.... .. but Not the scoop. The same goes for that site that supposedly 'knows' HAARP activity..... funny.

F.Y.I.: .gov might be a little better of a source for these types of things....

Here's another funny.... from the satellite-tracking site:

NORAD ID: 39026
Int'l Code: 2012-072A
Perigee: 505.6 km
Apogee: 588.8 km
Inclination: 97.4 °
Period: 95.4 minutes
Semi major axis: 6918 km
Launch date: December 12, 2012
Source: North Korea (NKOR)
Comments: KWANGMYONGSONG 3 is a North Korean Earth observation satellite, which according to the DPRK is designed for weather forecast purposes, and whose launch is widely portrayed in the West to be a veiled ballistic missile test.

... for weather forecast purposes....

Originally posted by DanaKatherineScully
Why doesn't the USA leave North Korea alone ?

Why does the USA think they are the only ones allowed to have intercontinental missiles & nuclear weapons ?

None of the US presidents are anymore trustworthy than President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad or Kim Jong-un in fact leaders like this are probably more honest because they don't pretend to be something they are not, i think the USA just doesn't like being stood up to & when people/countries do the USA looses it's temper, the USA is just like the big school bully & ultimately the bully always gets beaten in the end, the bigger they are the harder they fall.

It's typically not the practice of USA to punish people for not mourning hard enough when a president dies, nor the practice of executing people for screwing up by using them for target practice on a mortar range.

Give entirely unstable whack job tin pot dictatorial nations access to abilities that allow them to be able to threaten your home, and there goes the neighborhood.
It's a matter of security.

I have never tracked a satellite before, so I'm wondering... Is it odd that it lost altitude and is now gaining altitude while only 300-ish miles above Earth? That seems odd.

Originally posted by Druscilla

tinfoil hat: sorting it Machiavellian style could involve intercept, subtle guidance, possible armament with something nasty, and aiming it at a target of opportunity ... like Mecca, where big disaster could then be soundly blamed on N. Korea.

I like the cut of your jib. Ever consider employment with DIA or the State Dept?