Re: Doom from the skies, part the next

We could always ask China to deal with it, especially if it's reentry
isn't fail-safe enough. Otherwise our ABLs might be sufficient enough
to insure a more extensive burn-up.
- Brad Guth


Allen Thomson wrote:
This is kind of weird. USA 193 seems like the logical candidate --
it's going to reenter in around March, but why get worried over it?

Maybe MISTY? There's a slightly logical argument, though I remain to
be convinced, that it might have used an RTG. But as of last sighting,
it was in way too high an orbit to be reentering this soon.

Most perplexing.

=========================

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/01/26/AR2008012601407.html?

Disabled Spy Satellite Threatens Earth
By EILEEN SULLIVAN
The Associated Press
Saturday, January 26, 2008; 6:23 PM

WASHINGTON -- A large U.S. spy satellite has lost power and could hit
the Earth in late February or March, government officials said
Saturday.

The satellite, which no longer can be controlled, could contain
hazardous materials, and it is unknown where on the planet it might
come down, they said. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity
because the information is classified as secret.

"Appropriate government agencies are monitoring the situation," said
Gordon Johndroe, a spokesman for the National Security Council, when
asked about the situation after it was disclosed by other officials.
"Numerous satellites over the years have come out of orbit and fallen
harmlessly. We are looking at potential options to mitigate any
possible damage this satellite may cause."

He would not comment on whether it is possible for the satellite to be
perhaps shot down by a missile. He said it would be inappropriate to
discuss any specifics at this time.

A senior government official said that lawmakers and other nations are
being kept apprised of the situation.

Such an uncontrolled re-entry could risk exposure of U.S. secrets,
said John Pike, a defense and intelligence expert. Spy satellites
typically are disposed of through a controlled re-entry into the ocean
so that no one else can access the spacecraft, he said.

Pike also said it's not likely the threat from the satellite could be
eliminated by shooting it down with a missile, because that would
create debris that would then re-enter the atmosphere and burn up or
hit the ground.

Pike, director of the defense research group GlobalSecurity.org,
estimated that the spacecraft weighs about 20,000 pounds and is the
size of a small bus. He said the satellite would create 10 times less
debris than the Columbia space shuttle crash in 2003.

As for possible hazardous material in the spacecraft, Pike said it
might contain beryllium, a light metal with a high melting point that
is used in the defense and aerospace industries.

Jeffrey Richelson, a senior fellow with the National Security Archive,
said the spacecraft likely is a photo reconnaisance satellite. Such
eyes in the sky are used to gather visual information from space about
adversarial governments and terror groups, including construction at
suspected nuclear sites or militant training camps. The satellites
also can be used to survey damage from hurricanes, fires and other
natural disasters.

The largest uncontrolled re-entry by a NASA spacecraft was Skylab, the
78-ton abandoned space station that fell from orbit in 1979. Its
debris dropped harmlessly into the Indian Ocean and across a remote
section of western Australia.

In 2000, NASA engineers successfully directed a safe de-orbit of the
17-ton Compton Gamma Ray Observatory, using rockets aboard the
satellite to bring it down in a remote part of the Pacific Ocean.

In 2002, officials believe debris from a 7,000-pound science satellite
smacked into the Earth's atmosphere and rained down over the Persian
Gulf, a few thousand miles from where they first predicted it would
plummet.

___

Associated Press writers Pamela Hess and Deb Riechmann contributed to
this report.
.

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