Pacific Spirit Marine Institute
Saturday, February 16, 2008
So the U.S. military hopes to smash that spy satellite, plumeting towards earth, with a single missile. The missile will be fired from a Navy cruiser. The missile needs to hit the out of control satellite before it enters the earths atmosphere.
The Pentagon revealed the spy satellite is loaded with toxic fuel. The fuel, hydrazine is listed at the ATSDR, Agency For Toxic Substances and Disease Registryas colorless liquids that are used in rocket fuels. After a review of “hydrazine” it seems to be actually the very least of the threat this falling satellite the size of a school bus presents. On January 29th the AP reported Air Force Gen. Gene Renuart, who heads the U.S. Northern Command dismissed the likelyhood of a toxic threat posed by the satellite when he said, “they [small engines] are not large booster engines with substantial amounts of fuel.”
Was Renuart wrong, or was attempting to downplay the threat from the falling satellite?
As ‘luck’ would have it, U.S. defensive missiles and supporting radar were already being modified and tested to shoot down enemy warheads. Now these defensive missile’s software is being reprogrammed to home in on the signatures of a large satellite instead of ballistic missiles.
The U.S. opposes a treaty limiting antisatellite and other weapons in space. The U.S. says it will comply with other treaties that require notification to other nations before launching a missile aimmed at the out of control satellite. The United States criticized China last year when it tested an antisatellite system on an out of commission weather satellite. the Bush administration called the Chinese test “a destabilizing development.”
NASA administrator, Michael Griffin says, “We looked very carefully at increased risks to shuttle and [space] station, and broadly speaking, they are negligible.” Broadly speaking seems to be the best way to speak. Why get hung up in the details and facts of all the possiblities and ramifications of launching missiles into space to bring down a deadly spy satellite?
Broadly speaking this satellite has lost 50% of it’s weight also. U.S. officials were saying the weight of the satellite was 10,000 pounds, small by fallen skylab’s weight, now weight estimates are 5,000 pounds. Even Jenny Craig would envy that kind of weight loss in only one month.
This from the defenselink.mil: Hydrazine is similar to chlorine or ammonia in that it affects lung tissue. People inhaling it would feel a burning sensation. “If you stay close to it and inhale a lot of it, it could be deadly,” Cartwright said.
If the military did not shoot down the satellite, the hydrazine would disperse over an area roughly the size of two football fields, the general said. Those who breathed it would need medical attention.
“As we reviewed the data, if we fire at the satellite, the worst that could happen is that we miss,” Cartwright said. “Then we have a known situation, which is where we are today.”
General Cartwright serves as the eighth Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.
Photo: Michael Griffin (right), administrator of the National Areonautics and Space Administration, comments on a proposed attempt to destroy an unresponsive U.S. reconnaissance satelite just as it enters the Earth’s atmosphere, during a news briefing at the Pentagon, Feb. 14, 2008. Griffin, joined Marine Gen. James E. Cartwright (center), vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and Ambassador James F. Jeffrey, assistant to the president and deputy national security advisor, is discussing details of the planned operation. Photo by R. D. Ward
Labels: Satellite falling, U.S. Spy Satellite, US Navy
© 2009, Pacific Spirit Marine Institute.
U.S. Navy To shoot Down Malfunctioning Satellite. What could possibly go wrong?
Wednesday, January 30, 2008
On Monday I found a little story tucked away at cnn.com. I was initially insulted that the government felt I was on a ‘need to know basis’ when it comes to things blasting through the Earths atmosphere and possibly landing on my head.
As the story went on Monday, “Appropriate government agencies are monitoring the situation”. With more than 17,000 man made objects having fallen into the Earth’s atmosphere in the past 50 or so years, I am happy to know the ‘appropriate government agencies are monitoring’ something.
Seldom however does an object the size of a small bus come crashing to Earth. That is the reported size of this spy satellite. Apparently someone in the ‘know’ felt the rest of us should ‘know’ about the pending re-entry of this object and leaked the story.
This plummeting object the size of small bus could weigh as much as 10,000 pounds and it could contain hazardous materials. Maybe it’s just me, but I’m pretty sure someone knows there are or there are not hazardous materials on board this spy satellite and I’m certain they know exactly how much the thing weighs. Whether or not they know how much it will weigh after it re-enters the atmosphere and whether any hazardous materials would survive re-entry may be another story, but I think they should say. Pretending they don’t know is an least an insult to the public and at most tremendously incompetent.
Compared to the 78-ton Skylab that fell to Earth in 1979 this satellite is small. I remember when Skylab was falling. I didn’t panic. Where would I have gone when I didn’t know where to go? Lucky for all of us Skylab showered debris across a sparsely populated area of Australia and the Indian Ocean.
Fast forward from Monday to Wednesday. Now we know there is a likelihood this falling satellite will come to rest somewhere in North America. One Air Force General, Gene Renuart says, “As it looks like it might re-enter into the North American area,” the U.S. military along with Homeland Security and FEMA will have to deal with the impact or assist Canadian or Mexican authorities.
I know I’ll rest easier knowing FEMA will be on hand to help deal with the aftermath should there be a disaster following this satellite’s impact.
Heaping on the insult, Renuart said military agencies are doing an analysis to determine which pieces most likely would survive re-entry. Call me crazy, but shouldn’t analysis be done to determine which pieces most likely to survive re-entry have been done before they shot this thing into space? I’m pretty sure what goes up does come down eventually.
This satellite failed shortly after launch and there are a variety of theories floating about as to the reason why. But, more to the point, this thing was declared a total loss about a year ago. I guess that isn’t enough time to do a meaningful analysis.
The tone of Renuart seems to be one of more concern over what sensitive technologies falling into enemy hands rather than the safety of the ‘citizens of Earth’.
Initial estimates were that the satellite would take years to re-enter the atmosphere…so much for estimates.
The bad news is, it will be difficult to predict where the satellite will fall until it reaches about 59 miles above the Earth. The worst news is at that point it will reach the ground in about 30 minutes.
Go figure…and watch the sky over north America late this month or in early March.
Photo Thanks: NASA
An Earth observing satellite Not the spy satellite mentioned above.
Labels: Re-entry, Satellite falling, U.S. Spy Satellite
© 2009, Pacific Spirit Marine Institute.
U.S. Spy Satellite: Coming To A Neighborhood Near You!
