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[camineet]

WASHINGTON (AP) - The Pentagon is planning to shoot down a broken spy satellite expected to hit the Earth in early March, The Associated Press has learned.

U.S. officials said Thursday that the option preferred by the Bush administration will be to fire a missile from a U.S. Navy cruiser, and shoot down the satellite before it enters Earth's atmosphere.

The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because the options will not be publicly discussed until a later Pentagon briefing.

The disabled satellite is expected to hit the Earth the first week of March. Officials said the Navy would likely shoot it down before then, using a special missile modified for the task.

Other details about the missile and the targeting were not immediately available. But the decision involves several U.S. agencies, including the National Security Agency, the Department of Homeland Defense and the State Department.

Shooting down a satellite is particularly sensitive because of the controversy surrounding China's anti-satellite test last year, when Beijing shot down one of its defunct weather satellites, drawing immediate criticism from the U.S. and other countries.

http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5h7aoM2ii3QVBCAV8m2HtJSuPxPNwD8UQ7CEO0
http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=D8UQ7CEO0&show_article=1

YES!

 

[straydog1980]

cool?

 

[RumFore]

I hope we get to see a video.

 

[Malleymal]

will they play that Aerosmith song in the back ground?

 

[Raistlin]

They should do it from Europe as a test of our missle defense shield just to piss of Putin :lol

 

[Odysseus]

They should do it from Europe as a test of our missle defense shield just to piss of Putin :lol

i was going to say they should do it right over russia

 

[AstroLad]

Simpons-->Reality

 

[StriKeVillain]

will they play that Aerosmith song in the back ground?

:lol :lol

 

[camineet]

They should do it from Europe as a test of our missle defense shield just to piss of Putin :lol

haha that'd be so f'ing awesome.

 

[Guzim]

Simpons-->Reality

First thing I thought of.

 

[fallout]

Simpons-->Reality

I really wish I had that GIF lying around.

 

[Tamanon]

$10 says we miss and hit Iran.

 

[AstroLad]

I really wish I had that GIF lying around.

I know, Simpsons screen captures even are way too hard to find. Gif of the missile going right behind the comet and hitting the bridge would be so perfect. Could even get one of our gif pros to make the appropriate edits.

 

[Odysseus]

$10 says we miss and hit Iran.

i almost spit out some coca-cola

 

[RiskyChris]

FOOLS! Blowing it up would cause the asteroid to split into millions of deadly pieces we are DOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMEEEED!!!!!!!!!!

 

[dark_chris]

Does the spy satalite have something to do with Major League Baseball?

 

[camineet]

I like this headline on drudge :lol

WE'LL SHOOT DOWN THE SATELLITE BEFORE IT FALLS TO EARTH!

 

[speedpop]

I hope they want it to begin falling into the atmosphere so it'll burn up.

Unless they just want to be fucking idiots and create more space debris.

 

[Femmeworth]

Awesome. Is this first time a satellite will be shot down?

 

[Onemic]

Awesome. Is this first time a satellite will be shot down?

China shot one down last year and the US went crazy on them. Apparently anything the US does is alright, but anything anyone else does is horrible.

 

[Suburban Cowboy]

the options will not be publicly discussed

KNOCK SOME DINGERS!

 

[Suikoguy]

Can this turn into anymore of a TV Movie?

 

[camineet]

Awesome. Is this first time a satellite will be shot down?

No, not the first. Not counting unknown secret tests.... the United States shot down a satellite in 1985 with an F-15 Eagle fighter taking up an ASAT (anti-satellite) missile. The F-15 basicly acted as the missile's first stage to help get it to orbit.

So an F-15 fighter shot down a satellite 23 years ago

http://home.att.net/~jbaugher1/f15_16.html

F-15 ASAT
Last revised March 3, 2000

In the late 1970s, even before the advent of the Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI), an anti-satellite (ASAT) mission evolved for the F-15 Eagle.

The goal of ASAT weapons is the neutralization of enemy military satellites in the event of war, particularly low-orbiting reconnaissance, ELINT, and ocean surveillance satellites. The Soviets had their own antisatellite program in which a killer satellite would rendezvous with the target satellite and explode. The American equivalent involved the arming of an F-15 Eagle with a missile which would be launched against an orbiting satellite from a zoom climb at an altitude of 80,000 feet.

In 1979, a contract was issued to Vought for an air-launched low Earth-orbit antisatellite vehicle. The Vought ASM-135A that emerged was a two-stage rocket, with a first stage derived from the AGM-69 SRAM-A and a second stage derived from the Altair III rocket. The ASM-135A weighed about 2700 pounds at launch and was 18 feet long. The payload of the ASM-135A consisted of a miniature kinetic kill vehicle which used an infrared seeker to home in on the target satellite, destroying it by impact. No explosive warhead was to be needed.

F-15A 76-0086 was modified for trials with the Vought ASM-135A. The ASM-135A was carried on the centerline station of the F-15. The aircraft had to be specially wired to accommodate the ASM-135A missile, and had to be provided with backup battery, microprocessor, and datalink for midcourse guidance.

Beginning in the early 1980s, captive flights were made with the missile in place, the aircraft zoom climbing to altitudes as high as 80,000 feet. The first actual launch of an ASM-135A from an F-15 took place in January 1984, the missile being aimed at a predetermined point in space. Subsequently, three launches of the ASM-135A were made against celestial infrared sources.

The first and only ASM-135A launch against an actual target satellite took place on September 13, 1985, when F-15A 77-0084 of the 6512th Test Squadron stationed at Edwards AFB took off from Vandenberg AFB and zoom-climbed up to 80,000 feet and then launched the ASAT against the Solwind P78-1, a gamma ray spectroscopy satellite that had been launched in February of 1979. Both the first and second stages fired successfully, and the miniature kinetic kill vehicle separated and homed in on the satellite, destroying it upon impact.

The test was a success in that it demonstrated that the basic concept was feasible. However, it enraged arms control advocates, who saw the test as a violation of a joint US/Soviet treaty forbidding the development and testing of antisatellite weapons. Solar scientists were not happy about the test either, since although the Solwind P78-1 that was killed had officially completed its mission, it was still sending back useful data.

Initial plans were made to modify twenty F-15As for the antisatellite mission and to assign them to the 48th TFS at Langley AFB in Virginia and the 318th TFS at McChord AFB in Washington. These squadrons had each received three or four F-15A/B airframes which had been rewired for ASAT operations. However, Congress was unwilling to permit any further testing of the system, and the ASAT program was officially terminated in 1988.

 

[trilobyte]

They just need to send in the space cowboys

 

[Tornado Condor]

video please!

 

[KRS7]

Why did the US military announce this ahead of time? If they fail, it will look pretty bad for them. They could have just shot it down and informed everyone after the fact. If they failed, they could just try again without looking like dumbasses. They must be pretty confident they can get it down on the first try.

 

[Rezbit]

pewpewpew?

 

[Crushed]

This will be quite possibly the most badass moment in history.

They should broadcast this worldwide for free, so that a global cry of "BITCHIN" is raised to the heavens.

 

[camineet]

Why did the US military announce this ahead of time? If they fail, it will look pretty bad for them. They could have just shot it down and informed everyone after the fact. If they failed, they could just try again without looking like dumbasses. They must be pretty confident they can get it down on the first try.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/14/s...&ex=1203656400&partner=MYWAY&pagewanted=print

In many ways, the task resembles shooting down an intercontinental nuclear missile, although in this case the target is larger, its path is better known, and if a first shot misses, it will continue to circle the earth for long enough to allow a second or even a third try.

 

[AndersTheSwede]

China shot one down last year and the US went crazy on them. Apparently anything the US does is alright, but anything anyone else does is horrible.

I think you need to clean the sand out of your vag.

One was a deliberate shot for prestige, this is to prevent damage.

 

[Windu]

 

[FunkyMunkey]

China shot one down last year and the US went crazy on them. Apparently anything the US does is alright, but anything anyone else does is horrible.

Over-simplifying it a bit much, eh?

 

[Femmeworth]

I hope they want it to begin falling into the atmosphere so it'll burn up.

Unless they just want to be fucking idiots and create more space debris.

Oh snap, Kessler Syndrome a possibility?

 

[sangreal]

So this was whole thing really just a ploy to practice blowing up satellites after we gave China a lot of shit for doing it?

 

[AndersTheSwede]

So this was whole thing really just a ploy to practice blowing up satellites after we gave China a lot of shit for doing it?

Yes, they totally planed to have a million dollar satellite fail staying in orbit, getting major egg on their face... just for practice.

Logic, do you use it?

 

[sangreal]

Yes, they totally planed to have a million dollar satellite fail staying in orbit, getting major egg on their face... just for practice.

Logic, do you use it?

Yes, because I was totally serious

Logic, do you use it?


Also, this Satellite has been broken since its launch over a year ago

 

[castle007]

Something is fishy about this whole thing.

There aren't any available photos of the satellite in question. Does it even exist.

Maybe the U.S is using this as an excuse, and the missle will somehow miss it and land back in North Korea/ Iran/ accidently kills Osama Bin Laden

 

[Xeke]

I hope they want it to begin falling into the atmosphere so it'll burn up.

Unless they just want to be fucking idiots and create more space debris.

Space is running out of room.

 

[AndersTheSwede]

Yes, because I was totally serious

Logic, do you use it?


Also, this Satellite has been broken since its launch over a year ago

Unfortunately sarcasm doesn't come out in text. It's impossible to separate the crazies from those trying to be funny shits.

Exactly, and its orbit has steadily deteriorated.

 

[Phoenix]

So this was whole thing really just a ploy to practice blowing up satellites after we gave China a lot of shit for doing it?

We've shot down satellites before and we've shot down missiles before. That is non-news. The satellite will follow a very direct trajectory and we will have ample opportunity to shoot it down. This is in no way 'practice' because we already know that we can shoot down satellites using Aegis cruisers. The russians have had capability to shoot down satellites since the 50s and this later evolved into their ABM system. The US after dealing with all sorts of political and Congressional issues on the topic tested their first system in 1982 and took out a satellite. We tested new systems in 85 and 86 as well, each time increasing the capability of the system to take out satellites.

If we really wanted to 'practice' we would be doing it with the MIRACL, or HELSTAF laser systems out at White Sands. For a long time there were Congressional bans on using either system against an object in space. The Republican Congress renewed these projects and took away the bans so that now they too can be tested against orbiting satellites as well (we actually used MIRACL for that one and disabled a satellite using a VERY low power setting of the laser).

So to say that we're going to shoot off a very production ready SM-3 off an Aegis cruiser which has systems designed for the task as a 'test' is ludicrous.

 

[Phoenix]

I hope they want it to begin falling into the atmosphere so it'll burn up.

Unless they just want to be fucking idiots and create more space debris.

They are targeting and shooting at the satellite in a window where they should be able to target and hit the propellant tank on the satellite (high toxic) and have the debris fall into the ocean as opposed to risking it falling over land. By international law, anything you put into space that comes out of space and does damage on the ground is that countries responsibility and it is highly liable for any damages incurred. So no, they aren't being idiots, they will have 3 Aegis cruisers on station ready to fire at the satellite and have it crash into the ocean.

 

[AndersTheSwede]

Excellent argument

Didn't you hear? He was just making a joke. Isn't he good?

 

[Phoenix]

China shot one down last year and the US went crazy on them. Apparently anything the US does is alright, but anything anyone else does is horrible.

The difference between this and what China did is pretty large... hundreds of miles large. The US is shooting at a target on the edge of space, about 130 miles up - where satellites don't operate and its debris will come to earth in the ocean (hopefully). What China did was fire at a satellite in normal operating orbit, about 540 miles up. This is a HUGE difference in the illustrated intent and capability. Our shot will hit something where satellites don't operate and the debris will fall in the ocean. Theirs was fired where satellites do normally operate and left a debris field in orbit. Theirs was a statement/test that they can take out operational satellites in orbit. Ours can only be perceived by the international community as being able to shoot down an ailing satellite.

Oh, and we also informed the international community ahead of time for ours. The Chinese didn't bother notifying anyone until the test was over.

 

[thesoapster]

They should do it from Europe as a test of our missle defense shield just to piss of Putin :lol

:lol yeah, get him to build another Commie wall

edit:

Nice picture

 

[Phoenix]

Something is fishy about this whole thing.

There aren't any available photos of the satellite in question. Does it even exist.

Its a classified spy satellite. Why would there be a lot of pictures of it?

 

[camineet]

The difference between this and what China did is pretty large... hundreds of miles large. The US is shooting at a target on the edge of space, about 130 miles up - where satellites don't operate and its debris will come to earth in the ocean (hopefully). What China did was fire at a satellite in normal operating orbit, about 540 miles up. This is a HUGE difference in the illustrated intent and capability. Our shot will hit something where satellites don't operate and the debris will fall in the ocean. Theirs was fired where satellites do normally operate and left a debris field in orbit. Theirs was a statement/test that they can take out operational satellites in orbit. Ours can only be perceived by the international community as being able to shoot down an ailing satellite.

Oh, and we also informed the international community ahead of time for ours. The Chinese didn't bother notifying anyone until the test was over.

Thanks for clearing that up, very interesting. I didn't realize China's shot was so much higher up. indeed a huge difference. what missile did China use? I haven't googled it yet.

 

[castle007]

Its a classified spy satellite. Why would there be a lot of pictures of it?

well, they are going to destroy it, so might as well release some photos

 

[mj1108]

They should just launch it at the mid-east and then start over.

 

[Phoenix]

Thanks for clearing that up, very interesting. I didn't realize China's shot was so much higher up. indeed a huge difference. what missile did China use? I haven't googled it yet.

We call it the SC-19. Its a modified solid rocket missile used by China, so they had to bejigger it a bit to have it hit the satellite. But really, hitting satellites in orbit is not that hard. At the very least all you have to so is get to its orbit and sit there until the satellite comes and runs into you. The kinetic energy will destroy both objects. In fact this is the methodology used by the soviets when they build their ABM system. The SC-19, however, is a kinetic kill vehicle IIRC - it must intercept with the object in space as opposed to just sitting in its orbit.

 

[Baryn]

I hope they don't shoot where it is, but where it is going to be.