Taking bets right now: Think the Navy will ACTUALLY be able to shoot down that satellite?

[Redstone]

I'd put the odds at not more than about three percent that they'll do it.

After all, remember all those glorious Patriot Missile "intercepts" we saw on TV during Gulf War 1? Remember how they all turned out to be NOT actual intercepts? That the Patriots had not, in fact, even intercepted even ONE SCUD?

(Yeah, I know, this is the Standard, not a Patriot, but still...)

Redstone

[tekisui]

1. They are saying they will take one shot. I predict a miss.

[jasmine621]

42. Is this a test of our missile defense system? I predict a hit too.

Nothing like turning one piece of shit into a thousand little pieces of shit.

[bbinacan]

2. I think they will

pull it off.

[Journeyman]

12. Yes, thus "proving" the capabilities of a "Star Wars" defense system. . .

capable of hitting a target with a known trajectory, one that is transmitting a tracking beacon all the time, and finally, a target that's probably jam-packed with C4 ready to pulverize it at a moment's notice.

Probably needless to say, but I'll do so anyway: I don't put anything past these manipulating criminals. Wouldn't surprise me to learn the satellite was set in orbit pre-ready for precisely this final mission.

[SoCalDem]

3. Of course they will.. Spielberg pulled out of the China Olympics.

He's got some "spare time" on his hands now.... :wink-wink-nod-nod:

we'll see the shoot-down in all its "glory"..right on our TV..and anyone who dares to say otherwise will be stripped of their retirement bennies & pension, called a big-fat-liar..and a partisan democRAT... :evilgrin:

[JBoy]

21. What will really impress me

is how they manage to get the camera angle from the view of the satellite, with the missile coming up at it. That will be amazing.

[SoCalDem]

24. Spielberg can do it..stay tuned n/t

[hobbit709]

4. Remember all those staged tests?

Where the target missile had a transponder and they still couldn't hit it? And that was at a much lower altitude than this one. I would probably win the lottery before they SUCCESSFULLY intercept.

[peace13]

5. I hope they can.

If they don't it is not their fault. But in the event that they miss I think their commanders will say that it was a hit.

[PetrusMonsFormicarum]

6. This news was only released

because it was going to be leaked. Otherwise, me might never have heard about 450 pounds of potentially lethal hydrazine fuel that could smack into Anytown, Earth.

[Mz Pip]

7. I certainly hope

they can shoot it down somewhere over the ocean. I wouldn't want the damn thing raining down on land somewhere.

Mz Pip
:dem:

[LakeSamish706]

8. I tell ya, they need to hand this one off to China to do for them.. n/t

[icnorth]

39. You my friend

have just put yourself number one on the freepers 10 most wanted.:D

[islandmkl]

9. either way...once it hits Earth it will have been 'shot down'....

even though they may have to claim it was, in reality, shot down by the people who launched it...parabola and orbit and gravity and all that stuff were 'calculated' so as to make sure it could be 'brought down'...by itself no less.


Oh, do you really mean will it hit anything?

[applegrove]

10. That is what I thought when I heard the news they were going to shoot it down.....

exactly how will that work?

[bigbrother05]

11. Miss, and then we will have two things falling on us

[napi21]

13. YEP! They'll hit it. They may wait for a lower orbit to do so, but

those guys really are better at their job than you give them credit for.

[Adsos Letter]

14. They SHOULD be able to pull it off...

because of the much greater targeting "window" and the ability to target this thing based upon an orbital consistency.

Laying aside, for the moment, issues of what massive spending on defense should have provided us, capability wise...

I think they were finally able to claim a "shootdown" with starwars testing once they put the target out there with all of the "real world" variables erased...seems like this oughta be in the same category...

[mod mom]

15. Our military is competent it's only the commander in thief that is lacking.

[dysfunctional press]

16. it took china 3 tries to get theirs...

i wonder if we'll be able to make a bunch of space debris like they did, and piss off the world community yet again...?

[islandmkl]

17. A word of advice to all:

DON'T STAND DOWN RANGE!!

[rhett o rick]

18. predict that they can explode the satellite from the ground. But they will launch

and when the interceptor gets close both will explode and no one will know the difference.

[Johonny]

27. I know

of no satellite that can be exploded from the ground. Particularly a satellite that's communication computer isn't working. Other than that your idea seems reasonable.

[rhett o rick]

30. I would think that a satellite of that size would include such measures. Are you

in a position of knowing one way or another?

[ChimpersMcSmirkers]

19. I think they will...

As much of a waste the ABM program is, the navy part of it is probably the most reliable. Plus, the satellite is on known, predictable path...

[Parche]

20. Why Start Now

They couldnt shoot down so called 'hijacked' planes on 9/11
how could they shoot down a falling satellite?
:hi:

[tanyev]

22. Only if they've got a young kid who used to bullseye womp rats back home.

[HuffleClaw]

46. 'the force is strong with this one'

but of course those who are doing the test follow the dark side

[ChazII]

23. They'll miss. n/t

[lapfog_1]

25. Sure are a *lot* of idiotic posts here

Blowing up an ORBITING satellite is VERY VERY easy to do. Send up a warhead, match orbits, get close, press trigger.

The Russians have been sending up unmanned supply rockets to the ISS for years and years now. And they DOCK them. The military only has to get close.

This is NOT AT ALL like intercepting an ICBM.

But carry on, the comments here are really funny.

(ex-NASA guy here)

[rockymountaindem]

31. Heh

If the universe relied on DU for science advice, I think we'd all have imploded by now.

[Redstone]

33. Ahem. A Standard missile can't put a warhead into orbit.

Ex-NASA guy or not, you need to do some homework.

Redstone

[Thothmes]

35. Not going into orbit

Missile will be fired from an Aegis Class Cruiser when the satillite is about 130 miles above the surface of the earth. Do not know at what altitude intercept will be.

[Redstone]

36. Ah, but the "ex-NASA guy" said that was what they were planning.

Nonetheless, I don't think a Standard is capable of that kind of intercept. Despite the (mis)information on CNN and Yahoo News, that rocket was NOT designed "to intercept ICBMs." It was designed to intercept anti-shipping missiles, which are a different breed of cat.

Redstone

[Thothmes]

40. Actually the standard missile is designed for anti-aircraft purposes

An SM-3, has a range of about 500km and an altitutde of 160km. Should be able to make it.

[lapfog_1]

47. Of course, you are completely ignoring

the majority of threads here saying this is an exercise of Star Wars missile defense shield. Which is what I was posting about. And it doesn't matter if they use a land based rocket or ship based missile, hitting a satellite in orbit is just a whole lot easier than hitting an ICBM (which is why I said there were a lot of idiotic posts here). BTW, did you know that the Chinese have already DONE THIS, either to destroy a malfunctioning spy satellite or to test their ability knock out our spy satellites? Did it on the first try. Unfortunately, it left just a whole bunch of space junk in orbit. Stuff bigger than 4mm in at least one dimension. Stuff that everybody else has to be concerned about when they launch.

Hitting an orbiting satellite is a lot easier than hitting a land launched anti-ship missile.

All you need is range. I have no idea on the range of the missile they intend on using, but I'm sure they have many in inventory that can hit it. And, as I have pointed out, so what if they miss? It's not like they don't have a few more chances.

Another thread suggested that this was all a Gulf of Tonkin ploy... launching a missile to have it land in Iran someplace and start a war... do you agree with that (knowing the the 3 Aegis cruisers will be operating out of the north Pacific)?

And, yeah, I spent 10 years at NASA... what are YOUR qualifications?

[lapfog_1]

37. The point was that hitting an ORBITING spacecraft

is quite easy. All of the comments here are about the Reagan Star wars and anti-missile defense systems... none of which is applicable to this case. It is NOT like intercepting an ICBM or even a Scud. We know exactly where the satellite is now, and where it will be at time X. Getting a missile or a rocket to hit point Y at time X (and you don't have to be all that precise, just close enough to have the shock wave hit hard enough to break it up into parts) is not that hard.

And should they miss, which they won't, what the hell is the harm? You don't think they will have another shot at it?

You don't need to tell me to do my homework...

I did enough in a 10 year career there... Enough to know what I'm talking about, unlike you, for example.

[MonkeyFunk]

26. Maybe

but I'd say they have an equal chance of accidentally shooting down the International Space Station.

[Stinky The Clown]

28. I'm betting they miss and hit the Moon

The Sandman better wake up the Moon guy.

[Johonny]

29. well we did it before so I say they can hit it.

from Wiki: ASATs were generally given low priority until 1982, when information about a successful USSR program became widely known in the west. A "crash program" followed, which developed into the Vought ASM-135 ASAT, based on the AGM-69 SRAM with an Altair upper stage. The system was carried on a modified F-15 that carried the missile directly under the central line of the plane. The F-15's guidance system was modified for the mission and provided new directional cueing through the pilot's heads up display, and allowed for mid-course updates via a data link. The first launch of the new anti-satellite missile took place in January 1984. The first, and only, successful interception was on September 13, 1985. The F-15 took off from Edwards Air Force Base, climbed to 80,000 feet and vertically launched the missile at the Solwind P78-1, a US gamma ray spectroscopy satellite orbiting at 555 km, which was launched in 1979.<4> Although successful, the program was cancelled in 1988.

[Redstone]

34. That was an ASAT launched from an F-15 at 80K feet, not a missile fired from a ship.

Big difference.

Redstone

[HooptieWagon]

32. Nope.

[malaise]

38. They'll show us another made for TV special

The sheeple will buy it until the Chinese and Russian expose the lie.

[ileus]

41. Got to test somehow....Hit or Miss our side will learn something.

[kentuck]

43. If it crashes in the ocean...?

They will say they shot it down. If it crashes over a populated area, they were not able to shoot it down for fear of hitting civilian population. And as Keith said, the precursor to a new "Star Wars" military defense program.

[Generic Brad]

44. They will miss it, but say they hit it

How the hell would we know the difference?
:nuke:

[HuffleClaw]

45. not a chance

but WHO will ever be able to prove it?