Threat as 10-ton satellite set to crash back to Earth

[Richard]

David Watts

A LARGE American spy satellite has lost power and is expected to crash back to Earth sometime late next month.

The 10-ton satellite’s controllers admit that they do not know where it might come down and they have no way of controlling the return of a vehicle which may contain hazardous materials.

“Numerous satellites over the years have come out of orbit and fallen harmlessly,” said Gordon Johndroe, a spokesman for the US National Security Council. “We are looking at all potential options to mitigate any possible damage that this satellite may cause.” Governments around the world have been warned of the satellite’s plight.

The spokesman refused to speculate on the possibility that the satellite may be shot down by a missile to prevent any debris causing damage.

If the US government elected not to use that method to destroy the errant satellite, then it could opt instead to employ America’s new laser weapons for use against incoming missiles, which are now being tested on board a modified Boeing jumbo jet.

Falling satellites and their trajectories can usually be predicted well in advance and airlines notified. The lack of certainty over the reentry location of this dying spy in the sky, not to mention the risk from any poisonous materials that it may be carrying, underlines the threat the satellite poses as it plunges from its orbit 100 miles above the Earth.

Last year 270 passengers on board an airliner above the Pacific had a lucky escape when the wreckage of a blazing Russian satellite narrowly missed their aircraft.

Pilots of the Latin American Airbus A340 saw the fiery debris streaking through the darkness directly ahead of them. The wreckage caused a sonic boom, which temporarily drowned out the noise of the jet’s four engines.

The near-disaster happened about four hours southwest of Auckland, New Zealand, and air traffic controllers quickly realised that the flaming wreckage was what remained of a communications satellite that had not been due to enter the Earth’s atmosphere for a further 12 hours. The Pacific area is favoured for bringing satellites to Earth because of the relatively light population.

The largest uncontrolled reentry of a Nasa spacecraft from space orbit was Skylab, the 78-ton space station that fell back to Earth in 1979. The debris from the station fell across the Indian Ocean and a remote part of Western Australia. There were no reported injuries or damage from Skylab.

In 2000 Nasa engineers successfully directed a safe return from orbit of the 17-ton Compton Gamma Ray Observatory using rockets on board the satellite to bring it down in a remote part of the Pacific.

The difficulty or predicting reentry was reinforced two years later when debris from a science satellite crashed onto the Earth’s surface several thousand miles from where it had been expected to impact. Elements of the 7,000lb satellite rained down over the Gulf. Fortunately there was no reported injury to life or property.

The most dangerous satellite disaster came in January 1978 when a fireball streaked through the skies of western Canada, heralding the demise of a Russian spy satellite.

The remains of the satellite came down over Great Slave Lake and fell across the North West Territories, Alberta and Saskatchewan spreading mildly toxic radioactive waste.

In the subsequent furore the then Canadian prime minister, Pierre Trudeau, accused the United States of failing to warn the Ottawa government of the impending danger.
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk...258166.ece

[MC]

There is talk that they have not lost control of the satellite and aim to direct it on a target.If it's carrying hazardous material,that could be a problem.

[Richard]

U.S. plans to shoot down spy satellite

Last Updated: Thursday, February 14, 2008 | 4:13 PM ET
CBC News

The U.S. will shoot down a damaged spy satellite expected to hit Earth in early March, officials said at a news conference Thursday.

The satellite, launched in December 2006 and weighing more than 2,000 kilograms, lost power almost immediately and never reached its final orbit.

President George W. Bush, acting on advice of security officials, has decided to try to shoot down the satellite before it enters Earth's atmosphere.

Officials said a missile would be fired from a U.S. navy cruiser off Hawaii next week at the earliest.

The officials said downing the satellite would help ensure it landed in an unpopulated area and help destroy the satellite's thruster tanks. The tanks contain a toxic rocket fuel called hydrazine, which can harm anyone who comes in contact with it, causing a burning sensation similar to chlorine.

Deputy national security adviser James Jeffrey said that if the satellite impacted on land, the hydrazine could spread to an area as large as two football fields.

"The likelihood of it falling in a populated area is small. But there was enough of a risk that the president asked us to review our options," said Jeffrey.

In addition to safety concerns, U.S. officials told the Associated Press earlier that they do not want the satellite to fall into the wrong hands, as it carries a sophisticated and secret imaging sensor.

China drew criticism

But Joint Chiefs of Staff vice-chairman Gen. James Cartwright denied that, saying classified technology is not an issue because the heating that would occur on re-entry would destroy any technology and "would not justify using a missile to shoot it down."

NASA administrator Michael Griffin said the risks to the International Space Station and space shuttle Atlantis was negligible.

It will be the first time the U.S. has ever attempted to shoot a spacecraft down with a surface-to-air missile, Cartwright said.

Last year, China drew criticism from a host of countries, including the U.S., after it used a missile to shoot down an old weather satellite about 865 kilometres above the Earth. The move was widely viewed as one that could lead to the increasing militarization of space.

Cartwright said this case is different because the U.S. is notifying countries and international organizations before attempting to knock out the satellite. He also said the plan to shoot it down as it enters the atmosphere will reduce the potential debris that remains in orbit.

http://www.cbc.ca/technology/story/2008/...crash.html

[William]

mmmmmmmmmmmmmmm

[Richard]

Russia tracks rogue U.S. satellite containing nuclear material -2

MOSCOW, February 15 (RIA Novosti) - Russia's Defense Ministry is closely monitoring a U.S. spy satellite that has gone out of control and may have nuclear material on board, a high-ranking defense source said on Friday.

"The Defense Ministry is using its space surveillance systems to track the satellite's movement in orbit," he said.

Russian military experts suggest the satellite could have an on board nuclear power source, a senior parliament member said.

Igor Barinov, first deputy chairman of the State Duma Defense Committee, also expressed concern that the U.S. had made a unilateral decision to destroy the satellite.

He said that decisions, which could jeopardize collective security, "should be made taking into account all parties concerned and all countries involved in space research."

The U.S. Defense Department said Thursday it would shoot down the decaying satellite, which it earlier considered to be low risk. The department said the chances that the "uncontrollable U.S. experimental satellite" will hit a populated area are small, but "the potential consequences would be of enough concern to consider mitigating actions."

The U.S. will attempt to shoot down the satellite using a Navy Standard Missile 3, U.S. officials said.

They said the satellite will be shot down after the space shuttle Atlantis, which is in orbit, completes its mission and lands next week. NASA officials do not want to risk sending debris into the path of shuttle.

Marine Corps Gen. James E. Cartwright, the vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said U.S. officials would attempt to hit the satellite at an altitude of 130 nautical miles, or just outside Earth's atmosphere, so that most of the debris would fall to Earth within two orbits.

He said the window of opportunity for taking the satellite down would open in three or four days, and would last for about seven or eight days.

If the missile shot is successful, much of the debris will burn up as it falls. The goal is to hit the fuel tank in order to minimize the amount of fuel that returns to Earth, Cartwright said.

The satellite was launched in 2006 and malfunctioned almost immediately. On board is around 1,000 pounds of propellant fuel (hydrazine), a hazardous material.

President George W Bush has authorized the destruction of the satellite using a sea-to-air missile within the next few days.

Earlier the director of the Henry L. Stimson Center, which monitors space security and research Michael Krepon, said that the reasons given for shooting down the satellite were "unpersuasive," adding previous satellites that had gone out of control had not caused any damage.

"The president has decided to take action to mitigate the risk to human lives by engaging the nonfunctioning satellite," the Defense Department explained in a news announcement. "Because our missile defense system is not designed to engage satellites, extraordinary measures have been taken to temporarily modify three sea-based tactical missiles and three ships to carry out the engagement."

Several government agencies are involved in monitoring and planning for re-entry of the satellite.

http://en.rian.ru/russia/20080215/99347040.html

[Polly]

I am leaning towards the idea that this is really a weapons test and has nothing to do with safeguarding lives on the planet.

[Richard]

I saw a few news stories that talked about that possibility too. It sounds like it could be true.

[Polly]

This is what I find so frustrating -- knowing that people are going to be recording this event with photography and I won't be able to see it as it actually, truthfully happens.

[marting]

Found this article claiming there is a hybrid astronaut on board the satellite...

http://www.rumormillnews.com/cgi-bin/for...ead=119104

[Polly]

Hi Marting, I read that yesterday but didn't think it had any validity.  What do you think of it?