Navy successful hitting satellite with missile

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/23265613/


Navy missile hits spy satellite
Extraordinary operation requires steady seas and optimum positioning


WASHINGTON - A missile launched from a Navy ship successfully struck a
dying U.S. spy satellite passing 130 miles over the Pacific on
Wednesday, a defense official said.

Two officials said the missile was launched successfully just after
10:30 p.m. ET. One official, who is close to the process, said it hit
the target. He said details on the results were not immediately known.

The goal in this first-of-its-kind mission for the Navy was not just
to hit the satellite but to obliterate a tank aboard the spacecraft
carrying 1,000 pounds of a toxic fuel called hydrazine.


U.S. officials have said the fuel would pose a potential health hazard
to humans if it landed in a populated area. Although the odds of that
were small even if the Pentagon had chosen not to try to shoot down
the satellite, it was determined that it was worth trying to eliminate
even that small chance.

Officials said it might take a day or longer to know for sure if the
toxic fuel was blown up.

The government has organized hazardous materials teams to be flown to
the site of any dangerous or otherwise sensitive debris that might
land in the U.S. or elsewhere. The operation was so extraordinary,
with such intense international publicity and political ramifications,
that Defense Secretary Robert Gates -- not a military commander -- made
the final decision to pull the trigger.

The U.S. 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.




High seas in the north Pacific had threatened to postpone the launch
as the USS Lake Erie prepared a three-stage missile. Beyond a certain
point, rough seas can interfere with the cruiser's launch procedures.

The NAvy launched a SM-3 missile 130 miles to just beyond the edge of
the Earth's atmosphere in an attempt to speed its non-explosive
warhead directly into the satellite.

Early in the day, a senior military officer said it did not look as if
the weather would be good enough. That was shortly after the space
shuttle Atlantis landed, removing the last safety issue for the
military to begin determining the best moment for launch.

The aim was not just to hit the bus-sized satellite -- which would burn
up upon re-entering the atmosphere anyway -- but to obliterate a tank
onboard that is carrying 1,000 pounds of hydrazine, a toxic fuel. The
fuel, unused because the satellite died shortly after reaching orbit
in December 2006 -- could be hazardous if it landed in a populated
area.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention issued a health
bulletin saying that the health risk from satellite debris was
considered to be low. "However, CDC is encouraging health officials
and clinicians to review information about the health effects related
to hydrazine to prepare in case their communities are affected by
satellite debris."

In a routine precaution, notifications have been issued worldwide to
mariners and aviators to stay clear of an area in the Pacific where
the satellite debris might fall. The military has calculated that the
risk to aviation is so low that U.S. and international aviation
officials decided not to reroute air traffic, a senior military
officer said Wednesday.

The shootdown, which was approved by President George W. Bush, is seen
by some as blurring the lines between defending against a hostile long-
range missile and targeting satellites in orbit.

Much of the equipment used in the satellite shootdown was part of the
Pentagon's missile defense system, a far-flung network of
interceptors, radars and communications systems designed primarily to
hit an incoming hostile ballistic missile fired at the United States
by North Korea. The equipment, including the Navy missile, has never
been used against a satellite or other such target.

The three-stage Navy missile has chalked up a high rate of success in
tests since 2002 -- in each case targeting a short- or medium-range
missile. A hurry-up program to adapt the missile for this anti-
satellite mission was completed in a matter of weeks; Navy officials
say the changes will be reversed once this satellite is down.

Left alone, the satellite would have been expected to hit Earth during
the first week of March. About half of the 5,000-pound spacecraft
would be expected to survive its blazing descent through the
atmosphere and would scatter debris over several hundred miles.


http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/23265613/