Satellite to Hit EarthSatellite to Hit Earth

[Annette]

Satellite to Hit Earth
Government officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, revealed that a U.S. spy satellite has lost power and propulsion and is expected to crash to Earth in late February or March. It is unknown where on the planet the satellite might come down. "We are looking at potential options to mitigate any possible damage this satellite may cause," said Gordon Johndroe, a spokesman for the National Security Council. More at BBC News.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/7211443.stm


Last Updated: Sunday, 27 January 2008, 04:17 GMT

Satellite could plummet to Earth
A "large" US spy satellite has gone out of control and is expected to crash to Earth some time in late February or March, government sources say.

Officials speaking on condition of anonymity said the satellite had lost power and propulsion, and could contain hazardous materials.

The White House said it was monitoring the situation.

A spokesman said "numerous" satellites had come out of orbit and fallen back to Earth harmlessly over the years.

"We are looking at potential options to mitigate any possible damage this satellite may cause," said Gordon Johndroe, who speaks for the US National Security Council.

Questioned by The Associated Press, he would not be drawn on whether the US would try to destroy the satellite, perhaps with a missile.

An unnamed official quoted by AP said the US government was keeping lawmakers and other countries abreast of the situation.

Fuel hazard

The satellite contains the rocket fuel hydrazine, a government official told AP on condition of anonymity.

A colourless liquid with an ammonia-like odour, the fuel is a toxic chemical and can cause harm to anyone who comes in contact with it.

John Pike, director of the defence research group GlobalSecurity.org, said an uncontrolled re-entry could risk exposure of US secrets.

Spy satellites typically are disposed of through a controlled re-entry into the ocean so that no one else can access the spacecraft, he was quoted by AP as saying.

The military expert believes that shooting the satellite down would create debris that would then re-enter the atmosphere and burn up or hit the ground.

In his estimate, the satellite weighs about 20,000 pounds (9,072kg) and is the size of a small bus.

It is possible, he adds, that this one died as long as a year ago and is just now getting ready to re-enter the atmosphere.

Another expert, Jeffrey Richelson of the National Security Archive, said the satellite is probably a photo reconnaissance satellite.

Into the ocean

AP notes that the largest uncontrolled re-entry by a US space agency (Nasa) craft was Skylab.

The 78-tonne abandoned space station fell from orbit in 1979.

Its debris dropped harmlessly into the Indian Ocean and across a remote section of western Australia, the US news agency says.

In 2002, officials believe debris from a 7,000-pound (3,175-kg) science satellite hit the Earth's atmosphere.

It rained down over the Gulf, a few thousand miles from where they first predicted it would crash.

[Annette]

stupid fucking assholes! How DARE they send this up in the beginning?!

http://www.reuters.com/article/domesticN...14?sp=true

Pentagon plans to shoot down disabled satellite
Thu Feb 14, 2008 6:38pm EST
By Kristin Roberts

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Pentagon plans to shoot down a disabled U.S. spy satellite before it enters the atmosphere to prevent a potentially deadly leak of toxic gas from the vehicle's fuel tank, officials said on Thursday.

President George W. Bush decided to have the Navy shoot the 5,000-pound (2,270 kg) minivan-sized satellite with a modified tactical missile, after security advisers suggested its reentry could lead to a loss of life.

U.S. officials said they were not trying to protect classified information on the satellite or to demonstrate their capabilities to China, which downed one of its own satellites with a missile last year, drawing criticism from Washington.

But some experts disagreed and questioned the risks associated with shooting down the satellite.

Two defense officials also cited disagreement within the administration over the action and said the decision appears to have been strongly influenced by the White House.

The Pentagon hopes to strike the satellite just before it reaches the atmosphere and drive it into ocean waters. Officials would not estimate the likelihood of success, only calling it high.

Thousands of space objects fall to Earth each year, but they generally scatter over a huge area and there have never been any reported injuries.

What makes this different is the likelihood that the satellite could release much of the more than 1,000 pounds (454 kg) of hydrazine fuel as a toxic gas, according to James Jeffries, deputy national security adviser.

He said the satellite was unlikely to hit a populated area and described the danger from toxic gas as limited. But Jeffries added: "There was enough of a risk for the president to be quite concerned about human life."

SIGNAL TO CHINA?

Jeffries and other U.S. officials rejected suggestions that Bush opted to shoot down the satellite out of concern that classified material on board could survive reentry into Earth's atmosphere, and potentially land in the wrong hands.

They also said Washington was not shooting the satellite down in response to China's anti-satellite test last year, noting the United States had already demonstrated its capability to hit a space object with a missile in the 1980s.

China did not notify other countries before its test, marking a significant departure from U.S. efforts this week.

But some experts questioned Bush's decision and the calculation of the risks associated with shooting the missile down compared with allowing it to burn up upon re-entry.

Jonathan McDowell, astronomer with the Harvard-Smithsonian Center For Astrophysics, called the decision "regrettable."

"Clearly someone in the administration who has the instincts of a cowboy has decided this is the perfect excuse to rattle our sabers and show the Chinese that we have the same capabilities," he said.

SATELLITE NEVER WORKED

The satellite is a classified National Reconnaissance Office spacecraft launched from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California in 2006, according to four senior U.S. officials, who asked not to be named.

Defense officials said the satellite, known as L-21, was built by Lockheed Martin Corp. It cost hundreds of millions of dollars but the U.S. government will not say precisely how much, calling the figure classified.

Boeing Co played a role early in the project, but was relieved by Lockheed.

The satellite has been out of touch since shortly after reaching its low-Earth orbit. Since the satellite never became operational, it has toxic rocket fuel on board that would have been used to maneuver the satellite in space.

Officials said that without the shootdown, about half the satellite, including the fuel tank, would survive reentry into Earth's atmosphere and estimated a crash could spread toxic material across an area equal to two football fields.

"The tank will survive. It will be breached. The hydrazine will reach the ground and that's not an outcome we want to see," NASA administrator Michael Griffin said at the briefing.

The Pentagon has a window of about seven to eight days to fire the missile. That window opens in about three to four days, the officials said.

(Additional reporting by Andrea Shalal-Esa)

(Reporting by Kristin Roberts and David Morgan; Editing by Todd Eastham)

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SPY SATELLITE UPDATE: The Pentagon's first attempt to hit USA 193 with a missile will come no earlier than Thursday, Feb. 21st, according to press reports. This gives space shuttle Atlantis, currently docked to the ISS, a chance to return to Earth before the shooting begins. Until then, sky watchers can catch the malfunctioning spy satellite as it makes a series of final passes over many US towns and cities. Friedrich Deters sends this movie from LaGrange, North Carolina



The clip shows USA 193 rounding the horizon at dawn on Feb. 10th. The source of its luminosity: reflected sunlight. "This was the first time I could see the decaying satellite," says Deters. It was bright enough to photograph using an ordinary digital camera--"my Canon Rebel XT."

If Pentagon missiles miss USA 193, the satellite will continue to circle Earth, slowly sinking into the atmosphere as its orbit decays. In early March (March 6th is an oft-repeated estimate) the satellite would reenter and break up, producing a brilliant fireball and scattering pieces over some yet-to-be-determined part of Earth. Officials worry that hydrazine propellants could produce a toxic cloud of uncertain dimension. A missile-strike would shift these events from Earth to the relative safety of space--or so the thinking goes: comment.

Would you like to see USA 193 with your own eyes? The upcoming flybys of North America occur in early evening; no waking up at dawn required! Flyby timetables may be found at Heavens Above. You can also receive telephone and email alerts when the satellite is about to fly over your backyard by subscribing to Spaceweather PHONE.

At first glance, the image seems indistinct, but a closer inspection reveals much: "What can be seen is the golden body of the satellite and a lighter-colored sensor array," says Locker. "More importantly, what cannot be seen are solar panels, assuming it has them. Solar panels would make the spacecraft about 20 meters across. However, the widest point on the image is 4 to 5 meters. This suggests to me that the satellite failed very early in the launch campaign, before the command to deploy the panels was sent."

Locker's photo is subject to copyright restrictions and is used with permission on Spaceweather.com. More of Locker's sat-photos may be found here. It is instructive to compare his images of the International Space Station to the above snapshot of USA 193; the spy satellite is a small bird, indeed.

^ too small to hit, so it sounds .. what of the rocket if it misses?

http://www.spaceweather.com/

[Annette]

oh well, now I shit a BRICK!
read the post added to my thread over at The Tree Of Liberty}

posted by Bear [attachment=296]

Plutonium 238 is/was used as a primary fuel in spy satellites. The hydrazine story is a smokescreen. Pu238 decays so fast (88-yr half-life) it is used to produce thermoelectricity by a process that boils a liquid and the condensation of the liquid (mercury used to be used) creates a thermal-gradient voltage. Two immense plants were under construction a couple of years ago, I believe either in Idaho or Montana to produce kilograms of Pu238 . As I remember these plants would need many tons of purified uranium in special reactors to produce kilograms of the stuff. It has no use except in satellites or on long-term space shots. The Russians were experimenting with Pu241, which is a beta emitter having a half-life of only 14 years, but it was literally “too hot to handle” except, maybe, as a weapon. Bulk grams of Pu238 are red hot for years. Pu241 is difficult to produce and forms hot plasma but its powerful beta emissions made its oxide as a coating a candidate for electrodes in satellite batteries.

A microgram of any of the Pu species lodged in a lung can produce cancer from both or either chemical and radioactive reactions."

Now to say that the hydrazine angle is a 'smokescreen' may sound like a strong claim, but another reader, an Alabama chemical engineer with some training in such things, send along some interesting information about it (such as price) here as well as offering this to the time monks and me:

"Fellows: I have some experience with hydrazine in it's many uses. It was commonly used to add to the condensate return lines in steam boilers at power plants. It's structure is H2-N-N-H2 (two hydrogen bonded to each nitrogen). It wants to break down into H2 and N2 where the N-N is a very stable triple bond, as in the 79% of air that is nitrogen. When added to boiler water, it carries over into the steam, and then to the condensed steam, where it reacts with any CO2 absorbed from the air. The CO2 forms carbonic acid that eats out the condensate return piping, that recovers the water for reuse. Without the recovery the cost of water skyrockets. Because it is flammable and corrosive to skin and eyes, it is not commonly used anymore.

I am wondering, if the toxic effects are so high, why there was not more outcry and noticeable effects when the two space shuttles came down. The first had a full tank of everything, and I believe was either LiqH2+LiqO2 powered or H4N2+O2 powered.

I have attached the Material Safety Data Sheets for Hydrazine (anhydrous, with desiccants added to absorb all the water) and Hydrazine Hydrate (with absorbed water in the molecule) . All have the same skin absorption tox data, of about 500-600 Mg/Kg for 4 hours. This is a pretty high air concentration. The tank is about 1000 lbs, and the specific gravity if the same as water, so it has the same density as water, which is 62.4 lbs/ft3. This means we are dealing with about 16 cu. Ft. or about 120 gallons. This is not a very big volume spill, especially when you look at the air volume into which it is dispersed, and realize that the stuff reacts spontaneously with water. When it touches the humidity in the air, it will degrade into N2 and O2 and water, all innocuous stuff. If it did not react, the volume you are releasing it into is such that it will never reach the odor detectible limit (3.7 ppm, before the nose knows, says the MSDS).

Even if it is a school-bus sized tank of nothing but hydrazine, it is not going to be that concentrated when it gets to ground level. And look at the section 6 and section 8 of the MSDS's, the instructions for cleanup of small and large spills. All that is required for small is dilute with water and mop up. Larger spills require vapor protection and ignition protection. The stuff will burn even when dissolved in water, at high enough concentrations. But when you back up and look at the hype and breathless reporting, as George has noted, is this a problem or is it something the PTB want us to focus on so we do not look at the real problem. As you note below, this stuff will just burn in the air, and is not going to affect anyone on the ground.

I am thinking that the hydrazine is the "curtain" and they are waving it because they want us to ignore the "little man" behind it. There is something on that satellite that the PTB do not want recovered by anyone other than themselves on the ground, and so they will destroy it before it comes down in a place they cannot control, or in pieces large enough to be identified on the ground. And that thing is not hydrazine.

PU is fatal chronically (over long periods of exposure, causing cancer) in the concentration of one PU atom for a cubic foot of air. Literally, if you inhale one PU atom, ever, you are a goner. So that material could be a panic inducer if it is on board. But this is usually used only for extra-system space travel, not orbits. So is it some other material or data on board. What images was this thing transmitting? Planet X? Asteroid?

http://www.urbansurvival.com/week.htm
_________________
CUM CATAPULTAE PROSCRIPTAE ERUNT TUM SOLI PROSCRIPT CATAPULTAS HABEBUNT.
[attachment=297]

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Hey Frankybonz, Bear's avatar reminds me of yours!
I've always liked this guy} [attachment=298]

[Annette]

+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
| USA 193 Shootdown Set For Feb 21, 03:30 UTC |
| from the gardyloo-in-the-pacific dept. |
| posted by kdawson on Monday February 18, @20:14 (Space) |
| http://science.slashdot.org/article.pl?s.../19/018224 |
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+

An anonymous reader writes "Amateur satellite watcher Ted Molczan notes
that a "Notice to Airmen" (NOTAM) has been issued announcing
[0]restricted airspace for February 21, between 02:30 and 05:00 UTC, in a
region near Hawaii. [1]Stricken satellite USA 193, which the US has
announced plans to [2]shoot down, will pass over this area at about
03:30. Interestingly, this is during the totality of Wednesday's lunar
eclipse, which may or may not make debris easier to observe."

Discuss this story at:
http://science.slashdot.org/comments.pl?.../19/018224

Links:
0. http://www.satobs.org/seesat/Feb-2008/0337.html
1. http://science.slashdot.org/article.pl?s...28/0356209&tid=160
2. http://science.slashdot.org/article.pl?s...14/1858248&tid=160