Any ideas how they are going to stop that satellite that is fast falling to the earth? I read that?

Question

Cheney was being provided with a special gun to shoot it down. Is it true? It was in the NYT.

Answer 1

The USN/Govt have claimed that they intend to shoot it down with a Standard-3 surface to air missile.  All very well and good as it has a range of 270 nautical miles, but only an operational ceiling of 100 miles, and the satellite is at 140 miles altitude.

The official line is - On 14 February 2008, U.S. officials announced plans to use a modified SM-3 missile launched from USS Lake Erie (CG-70) in order to shoot down failed American spy satellite USA 193 at an altitude of 130 nautical miles (240 kilometers) shortly before atmospheric reentry, stating that the intention was to "reduce the danger to human beings" due to the release of toxic hydrazine fuel carried onboard.A spokesperson stated that software associated with the SM-3 has been modified to enhance the chances of the missile's sensors recognizing that the satellite is its target, as the missile was not designed for ASAT operations.

I for one would not want to be on the space shuttle or the international space station when Elmer presses the button. I have this strange feeling that they will miss and hit something else, possibly Russian or Chinese, or is that just me being paranoid?

Answer 2

Russia says it's a ploy to test a new weapon...well, it

would be an opportunity to see how well one would

work....Washington says if it is not destroyed it could

cause loss of life on the planet....sorry Russia...we don't

have time to argue about this one...we gotta blow her

to bits, she ours and she is being unruly..she's gotta go!

Answer 3

We are gonna blow it up to reduct the hazard to human life.

Question is "why dont we have china do it"

We know they can because they did it last year and it would save us money to outsource it. They already control our western ports. Might as well outsource a little satilite explosion.

Answer 4

The military will get to have a little fun. Like a large trap shooting event. With the entire world watching.

Answer 5

LOL, no. The Navy will be blowing it out of the sky.

Answer 6

It will be targeted and shot down by missiles.  

There is debate as to how many missiles they will train on the falling satellite.  They have a few weeks before it will fully re-enter Earth's atmosphere, but the idea is to detonate it before it does.  That way most of the pieces of it will also burn up upon reentry.  The problem then lies in the resulting explosion  reorienting some of the thousands of pieces of space junk we are currently tracking that is orbiting our planet.

Of course, some nations thing this may be a subversive technique to test a missile capable to taking out a satellite.  And with our past history of misinformation, I really can't say it isn't.

By the way, Cheney is the last guy I would give any sort of gun to.  "Duck!"