Weather may delay satellite shot
 The Pentagon will use a missile to shoot down the satellite |
The US might have to delay plans to shoot down a defunct spy satellite on Thursday because of bad weather.
Waves in the Pacific are too big for US warships to get into a correct position to fire a missile at the spacecraft.
The US Navy has been on standby to destroy the “spysat” before it enters Earth’s atmosphere.
The satellite, known as USA 193, stopped communicating and lost control a few hours after it was launched on 14 December 2006.
Officials say the shootdown was approved amid concerns that toxic hydrazine fuel on board could harm or kill humans if inhaled.
The US has denied the operation is a response to the anti-satellite test carried out by China last year, which prompted fears of a space arms race. But Russia has challenged America’s rationale for carrying out the action.Once the space shuttle Atlantis had returned safely to Earth, the Pentagon announced the opening of a window of opportunity for it to try to shoot down USA 193.
The military plans to destroy the satellite with an SM-3 missile fired from the cruiser USS Lake Erie, which is posted on the western side of Hawaii along with the destroyers USS Decatur and USS Russell.
Official notices have been issued to aviators and mariners to remain clear of a section of the Pacific Ocean from 0230 to 0500 GMT on Thursday.
Precision strike
The US intends to intercept the 2,300kg (5,000lbs) spacecraft - believed by some commentators to be a radar imaging reconnaissance satellite - when it is at an altitude of 240km above the ground.
Hitting USA 193 just at the edge of the Earth’s atmosphere minimizes the amount of debris that would remain in space.
 |
BROKEN SATELLITE
Owner: National Reconnaissance Office Mission: Classified Launched: 14 Dec 2006 Weight: 2,300 kg (5,000lbs) 1,134kg (2,500lbs) could survive re-entry Carrying hydrazine thruster fuel |
But the missile, launched from a Navy cruiser, will have to do better than just striking the bus-sized spacecraft.
It needs to pierce the satellite’s spherical fuel tank, containing more than 450kg (1,000lbs) of toxic hydrazine, which would otherwise be expected to survive re-entry.
With the satellite’s thermal control system gone, the fuel would now be frozen solid, allowing the tank to resist the heat of re-entry. If the tank were to land intact, it could leak toxic gas over an area the size of two football pitches.
US General James Cartwright, vice-chairman of the joint chiefs of staff, said exposure to the fuel would have similar effects to inhaling chlorine or ammonia - a burning sensation in the lungs and, if too close and too much, possibly death.
Window of opportunity
By rupturing the one metre-wide tank, the military hopes to disperse as much hydrazine as possible in space before the National Reconaissance Office (NRO) “bird” falls to Earth.
Officials expect that over 50% of the debris will fall to Earth within the first 15 hours after the strike - or within its first two revolutions of Earth.
 General Cartwright (r) will advise on when to take the shot |
Gen Cartwright, and Gen Kevin Chilton, head of Strategic Command, will advise US defence secretary Robert Gates on exactly when to launch the missile.
The mission could go forward on any day until 29 February, when the satellite is projected to have re-entered the atmosphere, making it virtually impossible to attempt to hit with a missile.
Left to its own devices, about half of the spacecraft would be expected to survive the blazing descent through the atmosphere, scattering debris in a defined “corridor” which runs across the Earth’s surface.
Professor Richard Crowther, a space debris expert with the Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC), said that if struck with the missile, about 25% of USA 193 is likely to survive the fall to Earth.
“The smaller the debris is the more likely you are to get burn-through. So if you fragment something before re-entry, less mass will survive to hit the Earth,” he told BBC News.
Russian concerns
But Russia’s defence ministry has effectively branded the US operation a cover for testing an anti-satellite weapon.
“Essentially, speculations about the danger of the satellite hide preparations for the classical testing of an anti-satellite weapon,” a statement reported by Itar-Tass news agency said.
 USA 193 lost control a few hours after launch on a Delta II rocket |
The Russian defence ministry argued that various countries’ spacecraft had crashed to Earth in the past, with many using toxic fuel on board, but that this had never before merited “extraordinary measures”.
Last year, China carried out a test using a ground-based ballistic missile to destroy a satellite in space, prompting international alarm and fears of a space arms race.
On Tuesday, a US State Department spokesman stressed that the action was meant to protect people from the hazardous fuel and was not a weapons test.
Gen Cartwright has also denied claims that the main aim of the operation was to destroy secret components on USA 193.
He explained that classified parts would be burned up in the atmosphere and, in any case, that would not be a reason for shooting down the satellite.
| SATELLITE DESTRUCTION PLAN
1 SM-3 missile launched from a US Navy cruiser in Pacific Ocean |
There are two ’space’ related news articles tonight, the satellite shootdown and the lunar eclipse event set to take place within the next few hours. I thought these events were important enough to be posted as tech news, as we have a few fans of astronomy since we post The Universe TV show.
nice and detailed. well done sir
Thanks for the article
Nice article. ALL UR SATELLITE ARE BELONG TO US !
Go Usa & I Live In England
LoL
good article post mr.x
as previously mentioned, nicely detailed.
yeah fo shizzle Mr X nice post indeed
AMERICA LIES!
they are an imperialist nation and thier agenda reflects it 100%
dont be surprised when they invade iran
Peace
the general guy in the pic looks like he’s givin the old wanker sign… probably to the rest of the world after we discover its a nuke they’re sendin up… damn yanks
no credits to mr. x. just copy & paste from the bbc website.
i don’t understand, why we need such kind of articles here on rlslog….
i hope it hits some afgahns
with mob totally on this one. if i wanna read this ill watch bbc news.
I second that, #8!
And its a long article (detailed, yes) but why so long?
It comes after the big news item of a Rocky R5 rip,
which I would think would be a bigger news for this site and therefore should be in the top of RLSLOG and not a news story to cover it up.
You have to scroll long way down on the frontpage, to see there indeed is a Rambo R5 good quality rip out now!
In my mind THAT is the story to mention now!
nice
THE SATELLITE IS NOT OURS! Official reports just say that we need to shoot it down. The lie from the media is that its ours. “Its a USA funded satellite”, which infact theres not many satellites up there that are not US funded, including chinese spy satellites. I bet the third try we will hit it, it will fall to earth upon US citizens. NASA knows where the satellite will hit yet they wont tell us where. This is not some conspiracy, its the truth.
Where does Paco Rabanne stand on this?
What the hell is this? If I want to read news, I’ll go to a news site like CNN or MSNBC. This is a blog on warez releases not world news. Wtf…
This will send a message to China. Two can play this game.
I think that it is interesting news, and I’ll give Mr. X props for a well put together post, regardless of where the content came from.
But I can’t argue with the other comments that it is off-topic for Releaselog.
On the blogs that I manage, we often make use of the More tag to trim longer posts. This seems to be a fair trade, allowing authors to post a broader range, but making it easier for those that are not interested to skip past.
An even better solution for non-scene news would be to use Asides, if your WordPress theme would work with them.
@6 +
shut up biaches!
it’s not all about how much can I get…. now go eat your damn dinner, your mama is sick of calling you!!
the administrators deem this newsworthy as it is ,but amazes me how they are constantly “jumped” on .As posted above “we hate USA”, your goverments dont hate our money or when your getting the *@#$ kicked out of you WE ARE the only country for the past150 years who will save you from exstintion. you ever think maybe its your country this satellite gonna splat on?
damn, my cover is blown!
@dishwalker #20
If you truly believe USA is the World Police, we want the intervention of Internal Affairs Department ASAP
@6
You wrote:
AMERICA LIES!
they are an imperialist nation and thier agenda reflects it 100% dont be surprised when they invade iran
My response: Yes? And…
Peace? I think not. You’ve bought war. Congratulations to you and yours for waking the sleeping giant.
@23
We’d just as soon stay out of your business and let you foot the bills for your next world war (the one coming when the EU fails, as it surely will). We promise we won’t intervene. In fact, we’ll send you that useless bunch of loud mouthed mongrels called the UN and you can use them for your interventions!
Oh, wait. You already tried that in Bosnia and failed. And after years of begging us to fix the mess Europe should have handled on its own, you begged us to intervene on your behalf - after it got to the point of genocidal behavior on both sides of that conflict.
You Europeans like to talk a good game, but when it comes to putting your money - and your bodies - where your rhetoric is, you all just run, hide and beg the US of A to save your cowardly behinds. You made us the World Police, not us.
Oh, and thank you for asking us to opt out of the job. We didn’t want it in the first place. Bless you and Good Night!
it has been hit and the propaganda machine declares victory.
lol @ the ticked off muzzies. I hope it hits y’all right in the burka.
Hmm… Strange that a missile with service ceiling of 160KM is going to hit a satellite at 200KM…
according to the BBC, the satellite has been shot down!
@gavrielle
Europe can not afford to pay for wars because we have been too busy using all of our money to pay for free education and free healthcare and free dental care (except in the UK) for all of our citizens.
We are banking on the fact that the US will defend us in our time of need since we have no money left for any military. We are already taxing our citizens at a 50% rate, we are really afraid to go any higher for fear of revolt.
Actually in England, we even get those citizens to pay the government for television, so maybe we can raise the taxes higher.
Who’s next?? Any other country have a satellite that needs shooting down? Any other country wanna mouth off again about how much better you are than us?
This feels just like 1945 again, when the US was the only country on the planet with the atom bomb and every other country cowered in fear.
Every satellite will soon be in our range!!!
european spy satellite=google earth
@winston
All very true, you depend on us and we are suffering for it. Now you will be depending on yourselves, because we are tired of your ungrateful attitude.
See how long your health care and free education, etc. lasts when you are paying for your own defense. I can tell you right now, that your seniors will die because of rationing, while ours will live. Your children will be uneducated, while ours will be educated up to the highest level. Your masses will be homeless while ours have the best that money can buy because we’ll be rolling in dough. And you will be wondering why those Chinese bastards (or whoever has fun invading you again) are raping your women and little boys in the High Street. Most likely, because we sold them the plans to your security systems to wipe out our national debt - which helping you created.
Bank on that, smart ass. We’ve done with you and yours, because it didn’t get us anywhere. Not even a kind thought or thank you for spending our blood and wealth on your behalf when you were at your weakest. We felt sorry for you, but no more. You can cry to the Heavens and beg for help and we’ll return the favors you’ve so graciously done us.
As for England, who do you think took down your Empire deliberately and with malice aforethought? It was planned by Samuel Adams before the Revolution and executed over a period of 200 years. We made you weak and soft. And you, like a fool, glory in it. The same goes for the French and every other truly Imperialist nation that has crossed us in the past. Remember, Hilary make think England is wonderful, but Barak has no such illusions, seeing as how YOU and YOURS instituted SLAVERY in the United States. And we will make you pay!
Yes, I agree the article is too long. I’ll trim it with a ‘more’ tag. Also when the ‘official’ or something shootdown video appears on youtube (someone paste the url when it arrives) I’d like to post that in the off-topic category tomorrow. I am curious to see what it looked like.
I’m just waiting for the events in Cloverfield to happen.
The US just knocked a satellite out of space with their missle systems.
What assurance does the rest of the world have that the US will not do this to satellites from other countries?
@35
None.
Good going!
The USA did it long ago, before the Chinese.
@gavrielle
Then our only hope is that China builds a missle system that can knock American satellites out of the sky.
Somebody has to keep these wild, war-mongering Americans in check.
@35… also, this kind of thing only applies to failing satellites. Knocking out an active satellite (even a foes’) in orbit would create a debris field to large to manage, and endanger other satellites and the space station.
@gavrielle
you dont appear to know the type of peace i mean mate
sad for you
peace be with you anyway
GOD BLESS THE GOOD OL’ U.S. of A. With only 300 years in the making, it’s amazing that WE ARE the NO.1 in the world. We, the USA, are truly blessed. Amen!
This was stolen from the BBC website (the entire article, including all images, in the same order). There is now a second article up there that you can steal and put up on here Mr. X, one telling of the successful destruction of the satellite that happened tomorrow. Yep, that’s right, I said tomorrow.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/7254540.stm
See? Says Thursday even though it’s still Wednesday (even where the missile was fired from).
I dont care who the #@!¤ owns some land, I just hope our children still have some land after were done with it… uhm.. or air
@Schuffee
As a landlord who makes a very good living renting out land to people, I am very concerned with who owns the land.
As far as the bit about the children goes, I have none so that is not an issue for me.
Sorry to disagree with you so strongly, but that is how I feel.
Hopefully Putin will start a new Soviet Union up and once again mother Russia will be the flagship of an empire feared by the capitalist pigs in America.
This was no innocent shooting down of a helpless satellite “gone astray”, this was clearly a test of a new weapon that will enable the US to take control of the upper atmosphere around the entire planet.
And who knows what types of weapons were onboard this satellite that suddenly needed to be eliminated from the American arsenal. What are you capitalist pigs hiding from the world now??
You can take back your blue jeans and rock music, give us back our great CCCP and our communist leaders who always kept us safe from the dangerous Americans.
@39
Always depending on someone else to fight your battles and protect your cowardly behinds. The Chinese respect strength and power. Therefore, we have nothing to fear from them. But Europe does.
@41
There is no such thing as peace, only periods of quiet where one prepares for war.
If you expect an American invasion of Iran, then you will probably get one. Especially if Iranians keep making loud, threating noises in the direction of the world’s only real super power. America is patient, but the world grows tiresome with its constant barrage of hate-mongering against us. And while I will gladly admit that Iraq was a private war; one instigated by an adventurist president by lying to his nation. I will also say that while we hate war, we will also accept war and its attendant miseries as a consequence of our freedom. That said, we neither believe it to be “glorious” nor do we make it “holy” because we know what it is. War is death. And in war, as in life, only the dead will ever truly know peace.
@46
“You can take back your blue jeans and rock music, give us back our great CCCP and our communist leaders who always kept us safe from the dangerous Americans.”
Fine with us. We didn’t give them to you anyway. You smuggled them in and enriched your black market with precious dollars instead of worthless rubbles.
Enjoy the bread lines!
@ #41
You obviously underestimate America and its ability to be peaceful. Don’t ever doubt that we won’t defend ourselves against anything that comes at us. America was the only country on the planet willing to take on the radical muslims in the middle-east, regardless of what country they may hide in.
They can run into Iran and hide their if they want, we won’t stop going after them until they are no longer a threat. As one of the three possible candidates to be president of the US has said, even if we have to stay in Iraq forever, we will do it to make sure radical muslims are not a threat to our people.
You won’t tire us out, or scare us into retreating, even if you hear a few whining Americans saying they want to cut and run. We are in this for the long haul and if Iran wants a piece of us, they will get it. We’ve got plenty of equipment just a few hundred miles from their border, its a short drive in an M1 Abrams to Tehran.
http://www.cnn.com/2008/TECH/space/02/20/satellite.shootdown/index.html
the satellite was shot down.
MR X YOU ARE A WALKING CONTRADICTION!!!!!
‘POSTING “1ST, OFF-TOPIC, OR ANY OTHER USELESS COMMENT WILL GET YOU PERMANENTLY BANNED. WE WARNED YOU…’
The banner at the top of this page says “Hot info about new scene releases!” - IS THE SCENE GOING TO RELEASE A DVDRip OF THE SAT BEING SHOT DOWN??? NO!!!!
DAMN!! What a load of crap posting a copy/paste effort of an actual news article!
If we wanted to read the news, we know how to type in CNN, MSNBC or Associated Press into Google!
Nice work X! Great article. I know you didn’t write it but thanks for posting dude
Go America! Now about those rapid share links….
If it wasn’t for America in WWII, Europe would have been f@cked
Do Americans Gas innocent?
Do Americans blow their guts because they want to have virgins in the “next life?” What a load of crap.
F@ckin radical islamic militants started this on 9/11 so if Iran wants a fight, America will squash ‘em like roaches
Let’s face it. Without America, no one can stand up to communism and radical islam….not even europeans
They can’t find any WMDs but they can sure track this bad boy. I’m not sure I beleive the fuel tank scenario as the true reason for blowing it out of the sky. It was a spy satelite so there’s probably some spy related technology they don’t want ending up in a chinese fishing net. But ya gotta admit they did a hell of job nailing that mofo
@gavrielle and alfred
i repect your resolve and your patriotism
the shame of the whole matter is that we live in societies such as these which seek to control and to dominate and teach their citizens to do the same
i guess with a common enemy its easier to maintain a semblance of “oneness”
but if one of those same people you are “one” with crosses you in traffic or cuts in front in line i bet youll be the first to flip the bird
society is very fragile
these things we see comming will shake even the most fervent resolve
the best be to you
and may you know peace in this life
“gavrielle” and “Captain America” are ridiculous trolls. I suspect they are unkempt, disheveled, and are all too righteous in daily life.
g and CA, please refrain from your idiocy, if possible.
And how is this relevant to scene releases? Releaselog is more and more starting to look like a poor mans New York Times. Only difference is, the NY Times doesn’t copy and paste the articles from the BBC site, with the same pictures and all.
On a different note, why not shoot down SPY satelites? They are spying aren’t they? Don’t hate the USA just because FOR ONCE they had a good idea. I bet China and Russia have done this many times already.
@ 58 - Obviously you don’t get out much as China did the exact same thing last year
Old news, the friggin thing has been shot down, now, let’s continue to download stuff!
well the great and powerful nation that is The USA remember Vietnam, thought so…. superpower you wish, your even losing in Iraq & afghanistan UK will last forever!
ahahahah @20 times are changing mate.. America’s economy is going down… and dont forget theres china. from now on its all about china not america for both economy and military. oh and another note…. if America is the international police why didnt they intervene and stop mr mugabe and his dictatorship. obviously America only intervenes if they can get something out of it… eg. oil in iraq etc…
Flame me if u wish.. meh…
wow an anti america argument on the internet, never saw that coming…
and heres my thought if america is the world police then why does los angeles have more gun related murders then half of europe combined how does one itsy bitsy little city kill more people than half a continent
@43
who cares if rlslog steals their articles, TAKE A LOOK AROUND AT THE KIND OF SITE THIS IS!!
News said that the missile had a direct hit, and debris should fall back to earth and land in the ocean. Good idea to spend echonomic money on a giant missile…. Poor America.
As for England, who do you think took down your Empire deliberately and with malice aforethought? It was planned by Samuel Adams before the Revolution and executed over a period of 200 years. We made you weak and soft. And you, like a fool, glory in it. The same goes for the French and every other truly Imperialist nation that has crossed us in the past.
Okay. No. Look. In the beginning years of the 13 Colonies, we were of course controled by the British. Then after pissing us off, we decide to revolt and actually destroy you.. so we go on our way and build up our great country, then you get all pissy pants and decide to invade. The war of 1812 was the first time anyone tried to invade us…. and the last. Don’t fool yourself into thinking America is weak. See what happens if they try to do it again. England will be destroyed.
@ gavrielle
I would like to see you recruited to go to Iraq… Or Iran..
Then you would STFU and pray not to die in a stupid oil war!!!
This is our first step into having our right to habit this planet without any fear of attack from ‘outside”.I have the feeling that if Satan decides to descend before Jesus returns,hE/sHE as seen what awaits from men of intellectual power.keep it up Americans.
Pentagon Says It Blasted Falling Satellite
http://cbs4.com/national/satellite.missile.shoot.2.659232.html
I wish the satellite had crashed on the White House and blown Bush’s A_rse
Looks like George Bush has been watching too much of Transformers!
@57
“gavrielle” and “Captain America” are ridiculous trolls
Can’t speak for the Captain, but the only time I make anti-Euro comments is when the trolling anti-American scum rises to the surface.
As I have said before, I am tired of everyone jumping on the trendy hate America bandwagon and thinking it’s okay to dis 300 million people while imagining that at least one of them will never answer back in kind. We don’t go around dissing individual Europeans for the policies of their governments. Why do imagine we, as a nation, are entirely responsible for ours? There is something in this country - maybe not in yours - known as loyal dissent. America is filled with loyal, dissenting Americans, who disagree with all the same policies Europeans do, but who are unwilling to let an entire nation be harangued and slandered for the amusement of a few small minded, ignorant ethnocentric bigots who just happen to be living in Europe.
As for how righteous I feel I am, why don’t we talk about you first, O Master of Creatures?
What an interesting choice of appellations you sport. Are you implying the rest of us are not human and therefore beneath your notice? Or that we are all creatures, including yourself, and that you have risen to the top of the heap and are better than everyone? Or do you just live in your mother’s basement and have lots and lots of roaches, rats and other vermin over whom you preside because you have no other life and no hope of ever getting one?
@67 & 68
I’d like to see you walking to work because there is no oil.
In any case, don’t make enemies of people who have always supported the same position you do. Idiot! Next time, actually read my posts before shooting off your ignorant mouth and jumping in with the last resort of a failing argument, i.e. you want to punish me and make me suffer because you have nothing intelligent with which to counter.
America is constantly under attack from around the world.
Like right now, the Serbs are going crazy again, just like 10 years ago. They are burning down the American embassy building.
Everyone sounds so extreme. Come on y’all…
Lets hug it out b!tch
Let it burn to the ground, the Americans are trying to split up our country.
They need to know they can’t get in the middle of other countries business. This is a good way to teach them.
Average Americans don’t care about Serbia or Kosovo. We never did and never will. The people in the Embassy are merely clerks, accountants and low level paper pushers. They have nothing to do with deciding foreign policy - administration appointees (not elected officials) in Washington do that. Burning down our Embassy will merely make us pull out our people and declare Serbia a hostile region so no Americans or American business dollars will enter your country.
Now, good luck with your nationalist drive towards poverty, obscurity and genocide. It’s the EUs problem, not ours.
the average american doesnt care about anything that isnt american…
And America destroyed whole population of Indians, made Vietnam war, Gulf-War, Cold-War, etc….wars. And then who is wron on this planet, every nation or America? I think America. IF there was no America there would be peace on earth. Every war from WWII had America involved. Justa bunch of parasites that want to drain other country resources, because: Problem with money (euro 2xUS$), problem with realestates, and now problem with food. And yes America how much Americans love it, remeber ture Americans are Indians, the rest are just bunch of blood thirsting, gun loving idiots (I’m not telling that all of them are), but geez guys we live on the same planet. Go ahead destroy it with your”super” weapons, and then don’t go to your mommy and cry why you cannot go outside, because there is nuclear wind coming every 5 minutes for next 1000 years.
IF there was no America there would be peace on earth.??????????YOU would be in a pool of blood with your a** stuck up in the air,and ur a** would be dry f@*&#*!!! its easy to speak crap hiding on the www.!!! our men and women volenteer to go fight evil everyday ,while u spout off ,setting safe….MAY THE WINGS OF FREEDOM NEVER LOSE A FEATHER!…..from DO THE DEED!!!
“fight evil everyday”…ROFL!!!What a cheesy thing to say.
Americans make war and then hollywood makes movies on those to brainwash crazy americans.
Cleraly,you’ve been brainwashed by movies like Independence Day and Black Hawk Down or some other ones.
So many shootings in schools,any one can go out,buy a gun and kill you.
Yeah right,you’re fightning “EVIL”.
I’m glad I don’t have to worry about getting shot by some d!(ks,in my country.
3rd world comedians, u got to luv ‘em….staff please close this post its going nowhere…..
@Alexander
LOL! Go drink your coca-cola, eat your MacDonalds and watch your American movies and TV, then spew some bad “rap” about how oppressed you feel by it all like the good Americanized slut we know you are. Just remember, no matter how low we go you still come snuffling after us like the dogs you are, hungry for the crumbs from our tables.