It is 5000 pounds of out of control space junk with half ton of poisonous fuel aboard. It is going to crash to earth sometime in the next month or so. The solution? Try to shoot it down so as to minimize damage.

President Bush has ordered the Pentagon to use a Navy missile to attempt to destroy a broken U.S. spy satellite — and thereby minimize the risk to humans from its toxic fuel — by intercepting it just before it re-enters the atmosphere, officials said Thursday.

The effort — the first of its kind — will be undertaken because of the potential that people in the area where the satellite would otherwise crash could be harmed, the officials said.

Deputy National Security Adviser James Jeffrey, briefing reporters at the Pentagon, did not say when the attempted intercept would be conducted, but the satellite is expected to hit Earth during the first week of March.

Yes, there are concerns about classified technology and injuries to people on the ground, but the big concern is the hydrazine fuel. We down here in Texas learned about that when Columbia broke up over the state just minutes from landing. Folks were urged not to touch the wreckage because of the toxic nature of the fuel -- and friends of min from NASA told me privately that the description is NOT an exaggeration. Indeed, the best outcome is to puncture the fuel tank of the satellite in order to dissipate the contents before it can enter the atmosphere.

UPDATE: The NY Times offers up an editorial about the shoot-down (siding with Russia and China against the US, naturally), and an article about the impact of the plan on missile defense systems (slanted, of course, to fit the paper's editorial policy). Interesting pieces, but not for those looking for an unbiased look at the plan.

Posted by: Greg at 11:12 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
Post contains 321 words, total size 2 kb.