US may shoot down satellite Wednesday

[Lone_Star_Dem]

Source: Associated Press

WASHINGTON - An attempt to blast a crippled U.S. spy satellite out of the sky using a Navy heat-seeking missile — possibly on Wednesday night — would be the first real-world use of this piece of the Pentagon's missile defense network. But that is not the mission for which it was intended.

The attempted shootdown, already approved by President Bush, is seen by some as blurring the lines between defending against a weapon like a long-range missile and targeting satellites in orbit.

The three-stage Navy missile, designated the SM-3, has chalked up a high rate of success in a series of tests since 2002 — in each case targeting a short- or medium-range ballistic missile, never a satellite. 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.

The government issued notices to aviators and mariners to remain clear of a section of the Pacific beginning at 10:30 p.m. EST Wednesday, indicating the first window of opportunity to launch an SM-3 missile from a Navy cruiser, the USS Lake Erie, in an effort to hit the wayward satellite.

Read more: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080219/ap_on_go_ca_st_pe/dead_satellite

[C_U_L8R]

1. Duck

duck borrowed (not plagiarized) from this thread:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=132&topic_id=4665609&mesg_id=4665609

[nycmuse]

30. And Cover n/t

[HereSince1628]

2. They are either very confident that their crappy star wars technology

can do this.

OR

the freaking satellite is gonna fall in a way that no one will be able to tell that it didn't.

Personnaly I'm leaning toward the later.

[Lone_Star_Dem]

3. I had the same thought

I read this and immediately thought it must be about to fall of it's own accord and they plan on using it to their advantage.

[hack89]

21. The Aegis Ballistic Missile Defense System has 8 hits out of 10 attempts

while I don't know how it will work against a real ballistic missile attack, this satellite is a much easier target due to it's predicable orbit.

Here is a description of the system and the tests they have run:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aegis_Ballistic_Missile_Defense_System

[Kutjara]

4. Er. Let me get this straight.

They made changes to the SM-3 missile to enable it to shoot down the satellite. OK, I follow that. Then, after it shoots down the satellite, they're going to change the missile back? Sorry, what? Won't the missile be destroyed? Or are they so pessimistic about the chances of success, they figure they'll just retrieve the missile from whatever back yard it landed in, dust it off, and reconfigure it for ABM defense?

[pimpbot]

7. I believe they meant reconfigure the program

The missile itself is a goner once its up there. I am assuming they meant they will reconfigure the missle programming on that ship to do defense once again. Although now that they have the satellite blow up program done, I dont see why they wouldnt leave a copy of it there, you know, just in case :)

[Kutjara]

9. That would make sense.

And, as you say, I'm sure they'll probably keep a copy of the program on a floppy somewhere. You know, just for nostalgia's sake. ;)

[ORDagnabbit]

5. hearing there might be plutonium on board. n/t

[underpants]

6. Why, god help me, why do I have this image of this satellite hitting something

like Rushmore or the capital or something like that

This,sadly, could provide us with the visual end of the Bush administration and the conservative movement

[jannyk]

8. Also total eclipse of the moon Weds - everyone will be watching the night sky

so this is like what?...a superbowl commercial for 'star wars'?...
We'll all get to see our hard earned dollars being shot into space - yippee :sarcasm:

[Karenina]

10. And in what areas can that be seen?

[jannyk]

19. The Eclipse? Everywhere in the US apparently. The warhead? ..

I have no idea, but I'm sure it'll be pretty.
Link to Lunar Eclipse info:

http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5jyjLAQ7vDuGT2-CSFBsAVPCYEXpAD8UTHS9O0

[Karenina]

27. Thanks for the link! We're outta luck...

socked in by fog. We had beautiful clear skies for DAYS... PSHAW!

[soothsayer]

23. Just a lunar eclipse, not a solar one. But full---that's pretty cool anyway. And slow!

[Deny and Shred]

11. If this missile misses, wouldn't that embolden others with rockets

since our missle shield will have been exposed for the Defense-Contract-Pork
farce it is.
Make no mistake, this is the Neocons trying to show off their new toy "in action, on the battlefield" as it were.

http://www.ciponline.org/dfd/shield.htm

http://www.cdi.org/program/document.cfm?DocumentID=3940&StartRow=1&ListRows=10&appendURL=&Orderby=D.DateLastUpdated&ProgramID=6&from_page=index.cfm

[ConcernedCanuk]

12. OK - someone educate me, the SM-3 is a HEAT-SEEKING missile,

.
.
.

And the purported reason for the failure is that the satellite can't power up to use the fuel on board,

And so it is still full of fuel.

So it ain't making no heat -

Right?

And if another satellite with a source of heat is nearby,

wouldn't that missile just decide to go for the "heat"?

I dunno,

just askin'

[Thothmes]

15. Do not believe that the SM3 is a heat seeking missile

The SM series of missiles home on reflected radar energy. Either from a ship board illuminator, or from a terminal guidance radar in the missile nose cone.

[ConcernedCanuk]

16. Well, that's what it says in the first sentence of the OP

.
.
.

"An attempt to blast a crippled U.S. spy satellite out of the sky using a Navy heat-seeking missile . . . "

:shrug:

[hack89]

20. Against the temperature of outer space

there will be sufficient thermal difference for the kill vehicle to home in on.

Space is huge - satellites are not that close together that it will be an issue. The kill vehicle has a very small search area - much of the difficulty in shooting down ballistic missiles is determining their trajectory accurately enough to get the kill vehicle in the right place at the right time so it will be able to see the target. With a satellite on a predicable orbit that part is relatively easy.

[Been Fishing]

22. It is possible

Just read "infra-red" instead of "heat". The target does not need to be firing a
rocket engine for the SM-3 warhead to detect it. Even satellites will have a
infra-red signature against a space background. Stars, planets, moons, and other
space objects can be ignored.

Many simulations were probably run to come up with an 80% estimate of success.

The SM-3 warhead is kinetic. It carries no explosives. It is the high speed
impact of the warhead hitting the target that will destroy it.

Look at the Missile Defense Agency website:
http://www.mda.mil/mdalink/html/video.html#seavid.ANC

From the pull-down movie menu, select the FTM-11, 26APR2007 (7.8MB)and click play.
It shows the SM-3 and target launches. There is also sensor tracking of the
impact.

[soothsayer]

24. It's totally going to target the space shuttle instead. just watch!

[RebelOne]

25. The space shuttle will have already landed by that time.

[onenote]

26. Uhh, the shuttle will have landed

A gentle suggestion...read up on what your posting about before posting.

[SpiralHawk]

13. "Ahh, BushCo using the occult energy of the Eclipse." - Ronald Reagan's Dead Astrology

"Ya gotta hand it to us republicons, we take advantage of every, smirk, opportunity to use the occult. Full Moon eclipse on Wednesday. Smirk. No one will ever figure out what the occultist republicons are really, smirk, up to."

- Ronald Reagan's Dead Republicon Astrologer

[ConcernedCanuk]

14. Looks like they are gonna try it West of Hawaii - no one will see what happens

.
.
.

will they? way out in the middle of the Pacific?

From another article:

U.S. could shoot down satellite overnight Wednesday

Tue Feb 19, 2008 11:43pm GMT

The U.S. Navy may make its first attempt to shoot down an errant spy satellite loaded with toxic fuel overnight on Wednesday in an area of the Pacific Ocean west of Hawaii, according to U.S. officials and government documents.

A notice to mariners broadcast by the National Geospatial Intelligence Agency warned of "hazardous operations" in the area between 2:30 a.m. and 5 a.m. British time on Thursday.

The Federal Aviation Administration issued a similar notice to airmen.

Officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the notices were intended to clear the area of shipping and air traffic during what could be an initial attempt to down the bus-sized satellite from a U.S. Navy ship in the Pacific.

[YDogg]

17. My guess is that either the missile or the satellite will land in Polk County, Florida.

Or bumfuck, Texas, wherever bush is from. Yeah, crawford.

[mahatmakanejeeves]

18. This is why all satellites should have concealed carry.

.

[The Croquist]

28. Weather May Delay Satellite Shot

http://apnews.myway.com/article/20080220/D8UU4DOO2.html
WASHINGTON (AP) - High seas in the north Pacific may force the Navy to wait another day before launching a heat-seeking missile on a mission to shoot down a wayward U.S. spy satellite, the Pentagon said Wednesday.

That sure makes me feel confident about our ability to shoot down incoming missiles. I'm pretty sure that North Korean missiles aren't designed to get wet.

[dkofos]

29. If the weather is nice!!

[Auntie Bush]

31. they already hit it with a missile but. they don't know yet whether it hit the fuel tank.

That was an hour ago and I haven't watched the news since. I'm sure there must be some more up to date news. :shrug: