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Navy Missile Blasts Satellite, Fuel Tank Likely Destroyed
Thursday, February 21, 2008
ARLINGTON, VA - At 10:29 p.m. last evening the Navy confirmed it hit a
falling and potentially dangerous defense intelligence satellite using an
SM-3 missile fired from the deck of the USS Lake Erie in the Northern
Pacific.
Officials say the missile likely destroyed its intended target, a 1,000
pound tank of toxic hydrazine fuel.
"There are good first indications the shot was successful. There was an
explosion on impact and over 80 pieces of debris were detected after initial
assessments," an official said.
The blast is a good sign because the warhead was non-explosive, meaning the
explosion was most likely caused by hitting the gas tank. The large amount
of debris detected is also positive because it indicates they struck one of
the satellite's more massive sections, and the tank is one of its largest.
The missile hit the satellite about three minutes after launch as the
spacecraft, roughly the size of a school bus, traveled in polar orbit at
more than 17,000 mph.
Land observers with the Joint Integrated Missile Defense Team in Colorado
Springs and Strategic Command in Omaha will continue to assess the levels of
damage along with the three Navy ships still in the Northern Pacific.
A statement released by the Department of Defense said the debris will begin
to enter the Earth's atmosphere almost immediately and "nearly all of the
debris will burn up on reentry within 24 to 48 hours".
Any remaining debris it said "should re-enter within 40 days." The Navy
hopes that any pieces of the satellite that do not burn will land in the
ocean.
The use of the Navy missile amounted to an unprecedented use of components
of the Pentagon's missile defense system, designed to shoot down hostile
ballistic missiles in flight - not kill satellites.
The operation was so extraordinary, with such intense international
publicity and political ramifications, that Defense Secretary Robert Gates,
rather than a military commander, was to make the final decision to pull the
trigger.
The government organized hazardous materials teams, under the code name
"Burnt Frost," to be flown to the site of any dangerous or otherwise
sensitive debris that might land in the United States or elsewhere.
Also, six federal response groups that are positioned across the country by
the Federal Emergency Management Agency have been alerted but not activated,
FEMA spokesman James McIntyre said. "These are purely precautionary and
preparedness actions only," he said.
More will be learned about the success of the hit when General James
Cartwright, Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, briefs the Pentagon
press tomorrow at 7 a.m.
Navy Missile Blasts Satellite, Fuel Tank Likely Destroyed
Thursday, February 21, 2008
ARLINGTON, VA - At 10:29 p.m. last evening the Navy confirmed it hit a
falling and potentially dangerous defense intelligence satellite using an
SM-3 missile fired from the deck of the USS Lake Erie in the Northern
Pacific.
Officials say the missile likely destroyed its intended target, a 1,000
pound tank of toxic hydrazine fuel.
"There are good first indications the shot was successful. There was an
explosion on impact and over 80 pieces of debris were detected after initial
assessments," an official said.
The blast is a good sign because the warhead was non-explosive, meaning the
explosion was most likely caused by hitting the gas tank. The large amount
of debris detected is also positive because it indicates they struck one of
the satellite's more massive sections, and the tank is one of its largest.
The missile hit the satellite about three minutes after launch as the
spacecraft, roughly the size of a school bus, traveled in polar orbit at
more than 17,000 mph.
Land observers with the Joint Integrated Missile Defense Team in Colorado
Springs and Strategic Command in Omaha will continue to assess the levels of
damage along with the three Navy ships still in the Northern Pacific.
A statement released by the Department of Defense said the debris will begin
to enter the Earth's atmosphere almost immediately and "nearly all of the
debris will burn up on reentry within 24 to 48 hours".
Any remaining debris it said "should re-enter within 40 days." The Navy
hopes that any pieces of the satellite that do not burn will land in the
ocean.
The use of the Navy missile amounted to an unprecedented use of components
of the Pentagon's missile defense system, designed to shoot down hostile
ballistic missiles in flight - not kill satellites.
The operation was so extraordinary, with such intense international
publicity and political ramifications, that Defense Secretary Robert Gates,
rather than a military commander, was to make the final decision to pull the
trigger.
The government organized hazardous materials teams, under the code name
"Burnt Frost," to be flown to the site of any dangerous or otherwise
sensitive debris that might land in the United States or elsewhere.
Also, six federal response groups that are positioned across the country by
the Federal Emergency Management Agency have been alerted but not activated,
FEMA spokesman James McIntyre said. "These are purely precautionary and
preparedness actions only," he said.
More will be learned about the success of the hit when General James
Cartwright, Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, briefs the Pentagon
press tomorrow at 7 a.m.
