Pentagon declares success in satellite intercept
Posted: Tue, Feb 26, 2008, 5:16 AM ET (1016 GMT)
Defense Department officials said Monday that the missile that intercepted a defunct spy satellite last week completely broke apart the spacecraft's hydrazine fuel tank, eliminating any threat the satellite's impending reentry posed. Gen. James Cartwright, the vice chairman of the Joints Chief of Staff, said he has a "high degree of confidence" that the fuel tank, which held approximately half a ton of frozen hydrazine, had been destroyed in the collision and the hydrazine dispersed. When the US announced plans to intercept the satellite on February 14, they cited the potential risk the fuel tank and its contents could pose, if the spacecraft reentered on its own, as the primary reason to attempt the intercept. The SM-3 missile, fired from a naval vessel near Hawaii, broke the USA 193 satellite into "less than" 3,000 pieces, none larger than a football, all of which are expected to reenter and burn up in the Earth's atmosphere in the coming weeks. None of the debris is expected to survive reentry, according to the DOD.
Defense Department officials said Monday that the missile that intercepted a defunct spy satellite last week completely broke apart the spacecraft's hydrazine fuel tank, eliminating any threat the satellite's impending reentry posed. Gen. James Cartwright, the vice chairman of the Joints Chief of Staff, said he has a "high degree of confidence" that the fuel tank, which held approximately half a ton of frozen hydrazine, had been destroyed in the collision and the hydrazine dispersed. When the US announced plans to intercept the satellite on February 14, they cited the potential risk the fuel tank and its contents could pose, if the spacecraft reentered on its own, as the primary reason to attempt the intercept. The SM-3 missile, fired from a naval vessel near Hawaii, broke the USA 193 satellite into "less than" 3,000 pieces, none larger than a football, all of which are expected to reenter and burn up in the Earth's atmosphere in the coming weeks. None of the debris is expected to survive reentry, according to the DOD.
Related Links:
| <<previous article | next article>> |
|
news in brief
|
|
|
|
news links
|
|
Tuesday, February 17
ESA Boss Couches Lunar Plans In Security Terms
Aviation Week — 1:43 am ET (0643 GMT) U.S. Smuggled Thousands of Starlink Terminals Into Iran After Protest Crackdown
Wall Street Journal — 1:42 am ET (0642 GMT) 700-plus Space Command personnel in Alabama by end of 2028, Sen. Katie Britt says
Huntsville Times — 1:41 am ET (0641 GMT) Space Race 2.0: The Competition for the Future Operating System of Space
The Diplomat — 1:35 am ET (0635 GMT) Creating New Launchpads for Space Exploration
Dartmouth Univ. — 1:35 am ET (0635 GMT) |
