Comments on: Nifty

By: Linoge

Linoge — Fri, 15 Feb 2008 11:13:33 +0000

From what I understand of the situation (and, admittedly, it is not much) we cannot use the fuel onboard to accelerate its descent, or blow it up, because the satellite has stopped responding to control signals. And given it was a LEO satellite to begin with, their orbits are not always stable, and it started heading south.

As for shooting it down before it splashes, the impact could hurt someone, stuff could be on there we do not want other people to know about, “environmental impact”, and, yeah, definitely showing off to the Chinese.

By: Rabbit

Rabbit — Fri, 15 Feb 2008 05:31:58 +0000

I’m sure that when the Navy is successful in reducing the satellite to Very Small Pieces some moonbat is going to announce that this is exactly what happened to the shuttle Columbia, Flight 800 (again), KAL 007, Amelia Earhart, and Kucinich’s hopes for 2008.

Regards,
Rabbit.

By: Justthisguy

Justthisguy — Fri, 15 Feb 2008 03:04:32 +0000

I heard a radio news report about this a little while ago, which did not seem to make any sense. The gal said that they weren’t worried so much about having bad guys find classified gear, as about saving innocents from having stuff fall upon their heads. She said the thing still had half a ton of hydrazine mono-propellant in it, which would be a health hazard if it got to ground.

Hello! And WTF! That’s a high-energy substance, which would most certainly not get to ground after re-entry heating. Further, why can’t they just use that half-ton of hydrazine all at once, and bring ‘er down quick?

I think somebody is trying to show the Chicoms how to do it right, without splattering LEO with debris, while also showing that we can solve the more difficult problem of destroying something which is already re-entering.

By: Jay

Jay — Fri, 15 Feb 2008 00:00:54 +0000

What could possibly go wrong? LOL

By: gattsuru

gattsuru — Thu, 14 Feb 2008 21:32:04 +0000

The issue isn’t the lack of a specific sat. It’s the sat hitting the ground in one big chunk.

As for blowing up a sat in orbit, that’s old news. American Air Force and China have had the basics down for years; it’s a little hard, but not complicated.

By: Mike M.

Mike M. — Thu, 14 Feb 2008 21:19:08 +0000

VERY secret.

By: SayUncle

SayUncle — Thu, 14 Feb 2008 21:00:55 +0000

And it’s probably got secret technology on it.

By: Alcibiades McZombie

Alcibiades McZombie — Thu, 14 Feb 2008 20:51:32 +0000

The fuel is apparently toxic. They apparently want to break it up before it enters the atmosphere so that it doesn’t come down concentrated near a populated area..

By: Cactus Jack

Cactus Jack — Thu, 14 Feb 2008 20:28:03 +0000

Hmmm… This satelitte is coming down on it’s own right? Yet the clowns at Fort Fumble want to shoot it down before that happens. Am I the only one that sees wasted effort here? That’d be like a homeowner saying that his basement is going to flood the next time it rains and fills the basement with water to keep that from happening.

This dos’nt surprise me. After 30 years of working for the DoD I cant recall ever seeing a intelligent decision come out of the Puzzle Palace.

By: Mike M.

Mike M. — Thu, 14 Feb 2008 20:00:36 +0000

#9, it IS possible. The Navy will, once again, save the Free World.

By: Gunstar1

Gunstar1 — Thu, 14 Feb 2008 19:44:00 +0000

If they need a 50 caliber sniper rifle capable of shooting down satellites

You know, I would not be surprised if “the gun guys” put something like that on their web page as a factual statment.

By: _Jon

_Jon — Thu, 14 Feb 2008 19:40:41 +0000

Ask the Chinese to do it.
Detante and all that….

By: # 9

# 9 — Thu, 14 Feb 2008 19:23:09 +0000

Is that even possible? If it is, this is huge news.