The Washington Post has more detail about the attempt by the US to shoot down a disabled satellite sometime later this month. The primary reason given is that there is an almost full tank of hydrazine on board the satellite – which makes semse since the satellite malfunctioned almost as soon as it was launched. The 1,000 pounds of hydrazine could be a real danger if the tank survives reentry. Which has happened before when space shuttle Columbia broke up on reentry. Pentagon officials reject comparisons to the satellite shoot down China conducted.
The difference, Griffin said, "is, one, we are notifying, which is required by treaties and law, okay?" The Chinese satellite was destroyed at a much higher altitude — about 600 miles — creating a field of orbiting space debris that is hazardous for other spacecraft.
The United States and Soviet Union conducted anti-satellite tests in the mid-1980s but stopped once it became clear that the debris from the destroyed spacecraft became a danger to other satellites and even spaceships. Griffin said the low altitude at which the satellite will be targeted — about 150 miles — will minimize orbiting debris.
"The lower we can catch this, the quicker the debris reenters," he said. More than half the pieces will burn up or land before making two revolutions around Earth, and the rest will come down in "weeks, maybe a month, but it's a very finite period of time that we can manage."
Jeffrey said that the fuel tank is the only piece of the craft that was not expected to break up on reentry and that it is hoped that the missile can destroy it in space. If it hits the ground, it could leak gas and cause potentially fatal injury over an area of the size of about two football fields, he said, adding that "this is all about trying to reduce the danger to human beings."
Te Post, annoyingly, then says nebulous, unidentified "other experts" dispute that the tank might survive. Despite a hydrazine tank from Columbia surviving reentry. While the Pentagon also disputes contentions that they want to destroy whatever sensitive equipment is on board the satellite, I frankly don't care if they are partially motivated by that.
They are trying for a low-altitude, kinetic energy kill here. The warhead of the missile is not explosive.
The cnn article says that the satellite is US 193. If you do a search on tracking US 193 there is a website that has all its info. It can be seen with binoculars. The site is n2yo com and my software says its a safe site.
It would be neat to watch it explode. In the summer we sit outside in the back yard in the evening and watch the satellites and even occasionally the space station go overhead. I’ll bet this would beat that.
Sam, there are a number of websites with tracking info. The ISS now is a very bright object. Additionally the Shuttle is docked to it. You plug in your location and it will tell you the exact time elevation and direction. I start watching about 5 minutes before whatever time indicated. The ISS/Shuttle is very bright and moves with a determined grace across the sky. I actually saw the two just before they docked, one following the other.
ISS/STS just passed overhead, fantastic, very bright and clearly had a shape. It shone brightly through a minor cloud layer. Great.