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Space Science

Russian Rocket Hits Wyoming 265

Posted by CowboyNeal from the slightly-off-course dept.
Harmonious Botch wrote in with a CNN story that opens: "A spent Russian booster rocket re-entered the atmosphere Thursday over Colorado and Wyoming, the North American Aerospace Defense Command said. NORAD spokesman Sean Kelly said the agency was trying to confirm a report that a piece of the rocket may have hit the ground near Riverton, Wyoming, at about 6 a.m. Kelly said military personnel had not yet reached the scene. No damage was reported and the debris was not believed to be hazardous, NORAD said. Eyewitnesses reported seeing flaming objects in the sky at the time the rocket was re-entering, Kelly said."
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Russian Rocket Hits Wyoming More

Russian Rocket Hits Wyoming

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  • In Soviet Russia... (Score:5, Funny)

    by PurifyYourMind ( 776223 ) on Thursday January 04, 2007 @09:07PM (#17468462) Homepage
    Wyoming hits rocket!

  • hmmm... (Score:5, Funny)

    by User 956 ( 568564 ) on Thursday January 04, 2007 @09:07PM (#17468466) Homepage
    No damage was reported and the debris was not believed to be hazardous, NORAD said. Eyewitnesses reported seeing flaming objects in the sky at the time the rocket was re-entering, Kelly said.

    Are they sure it wasn't just a weather balloon, or maybe some swamp gas?

  • Most misleading headline ever? (Score:5, Interesting)

    by RexHowland ( 71795 ) on Thursday January 04, 2007 @09:07PM (#17468468)
    For what the story is...

    The headline sort of makes you think of a Cold-War Russian rocket attack.

    At least, it made me think that. -- And I'd already heard about the story.

    • How is it misleading? (Score:5, Funny)

      by Anonymous Coward on Thursday January 04, 2007 @09:12PM (#17468506)
      The title is: "Russian Rocket Hits Wyoming". Now let us see if it is in any way misleading.

      "Russian": The rocket is Russian. Nothing misleading here.

      "Rocket": The object in question is indeed the remains of a rocket. Nothing misleading here.

      "Hits": The rocket did indeed crash into the ground in Wyoming. It "hit" Wyoming, if you will. Nothing misleading here.

      "Wyoming": The location of the rocket crash was Wyoming. Nothing misleading here.

      I'm not sure how you justify your claim of the title being misleading. Every word in the sentence is correct and factual. The sentence as a whole is also completely correct.

      • Re:How is it misleading? (Score:5, Informative)

        by RexHowland ( 71795 ) on Thursday January 04, 2007 @09:22PM (#17468596)
        I think the key word is "hits," as opposed to "falls in," or "lands in."

        If you shoot an arrow, and the arrow "hits" the apple, you worry that something might have happened to the apple.

        If you shoot an arrow, and it "lands in" the forest... -- You're probably not too concerned for the forest.

        Maybe I'm just a stickler. -- I think it could be easily misunderstood, though.

        • Re:How is it misleading? (Score:5, Funny)

          by megrims ( 839585 ) on Thursday January 04, 2007 @10:02PM (#17468950)
          I don't know.
          What if the arrow "lands in" your eye, for example?

          It's probably justified to be concerned for the state of an apple that an arrow lands in. Changing the victim to a forest is misleading.

          Of course the differing connotations of the two terms make it all a big mess anyway. Landing in terms of missiles gives a different impression than it would with a bullet or a loosed arrow.

          • Re: (Score:3, Insightful)

            by GimliGloin ( 642963 )
            Agreed... A better way of putting it is that the term "hits" implies that the Russians were "aiming" for us. The term "falls in" implies that it was a mistake which is what it was...

            John

          • Re: (Score:3, Insightful)

            by davester666 ( 731373 )
            I believe the implication is that the rocket 'landing' in Wyoming is like landing in the forest. There's nothing in Wyomin to 'hit'. :-)

        • Re:How is it misleading? (Score:4, Funny)

          by iminplaya ( 723125 ) on Friday January 05, 2007 @12:54AM (#17470056) Journal
          "Once the rockets are up, who cares where they come down
          That's not my department," says Wernher von Braun

      • Re:How is it misleading? (Score:5, Insightful)

        by MyLongNickName ( 822545 ) on Thursday January 04, 2007 @09:25PM (#17468626) Journal
        "Anonymous coward will not stop molesting badgers"

        Since the Anonymous coward never molested badgers in the first place, the above headline is correct. Simply because something is technically correct does not mean it is misleading. You might want to look at the difference between "mislead" and "lie" in the dictionary. Kind of reminds me of the RNC fund raising letter where "Bush cuts deficit 40% in two years". Factually correct, but does not mention that Bush caused the deficit in the first place.
      • i don't think you have any idea what misleading means.

           

        • Re: (Score:2, Interesting)

          by GimliGloin ( 642963 )
          How about this statement? -> Joe Blow (fill in the name) NEVER denied that he molested children.... For people that would true statement but totally misleading...

          GSG

      • Misleading (Score:3, Interesting)

        by zippthorne ( 748122 )
        Misleading does not necessarily involve actual falsehood. In fact, that's pretty much why we use the word "Misleading" instead of "Deceiving." To differentiate between outright fraud and the most dangerous of all lies: the one your victim tells himself.

        For instance, When President Clinton went on national television and told an audience, "I did not have sexual relations with that woman, Miss Lewinsky," while shaking his hand at an elderly woman in the front row, it was obvious to any observer that he was

      • Re:How is it misleading? (Score:5, Funny)

        by Holmwood ( 899130 ) on Friday January 05, 2007 @02:09AM (#17470454)
        Now a misleading headline would have been "As Democrats Take Power, Russian Rocket Hits USA".

        Hmmm. Let me go check Fox News.

        Holmwood.
    • Yeah, talk about sensationalizing ... got my attention. Even so, 20 years ago this probably would have started WWIII, or at least fueled speculation of a WWIII by the talking heads.

      Putin and Bush's spats aside, I guess this means we're still on somewhat friendly terms with the Russians. Sure, space watchers saw it coming, but I bet there'd be a far greater degree of skepticism regarding Russian debris then than there is now.

    • Re:Most misleading headline ever? (Score:5, Funny)

      by Harmonious Botch ( 921977 ) on Thursday January 04, 2007 @09:30PM (#17468662) Homepage Journal
      Sorry.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by fm6 ( 162816 )
      Yeah, my first thought was, "Well gee, all my life I've been worrying about WW III, and when it finally happens, it doesn't even make the front page!"

  • Sensationalist title or what!? (Score:5, Insightful)

    by syousef ( 465911 ) on Thursday January 04, 2007 @09:11PM (#17468496) Journal
    Come on. Try Russian space debris hits...not rocket. It hasn't been (part of) a rocket in some time...

    Oh wait, that'd actually be good journalism. Can't have that.

  • Dupe! (Score:5, Funny)

    by naoursla ( 99850 ) on Thursday January 04, 2007 @09:15PM (#17468530) Homepage Journal
    This is just a cover for the UFO story posted on slashdot the other day.

  • Poor Aim (Score:5, Funny)

    by edwardpickman ( 965122 ) on Thursday January 04, 2007 @09:16PM (#17468534)
    Today President Bush responded to the space attack by launching a counter attack on Boswanna. The Boswannan space program being seen as a threat to national security. He's also considering attacking the Moon for the unprovoked attack by Martian meteors on Antarctica thousands of years ago.

    • Re: (Score:3, Funny)

      by complete loony ( 663508 )
      ... President Bush also sited secret evidence that conclusively proves the existence of Boswanna's dihydrogen monoxide enrichment program, though the country still claims these facilities are only used for humanitarian purposes ...
    • The CIA, though, still has not just found weapons of mass destruction, but also the nation of Boswanna [cia.gov], even after a spending a few millions on a fact-finding trip to Africa.

  • Video from Denver news station (Score:5, Informative)

    by theinfobox ( 188897 ) on Thursday January 04, 2007 @09:17PM (#17468546) Homepage Journal
    Here is video taken by a local news crew this morning: ABC 7 [thedenverchannel.com] Note: They use an embedded Windows Media Player.

  • In other news Wyoming high schoolers unite.. (Score:5, Funny)

    by Bamafan77 ( 565893 ) on Thursday January 04, 2007 @09:17PM (#17468548)
    Wyoming High School students unite to fend off Russian invasion. Fortunately, Hollywood has taught us exactly how to deal with such things.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by Adriax ( 746043 )
      Wyoming High School students unite to fend off Russian invasion.
      All 70 of them.
       
      What, you think I'm joking? I'm from there.
      Frankly they wouldn't even need 70, 6inches of hard packed mud armoring their trucks and more guns than people by a factor of atleast 5 makes wyoming the dumbest place in america to attack.
    • I've been trying to forget that movie for decades. Sigh. The stupid things we whilst stoned...

  • Saw video on the news (Score:4, Informative)

    by Iphtashu Fitz ( 263795 ) on Thursday January 04, 2007 @09:18PM (#17468550)
    Somebody got some really good video footage of this thing breaking up in the atmosphere. It was a series of streaks of fire against a dark sky. Probably just a matter of time before it starts showing up on youtube, etc.
    • Somebody got some really good video footage of this thing breaking up in the atmosphere

      It was a TV news helicopter crew, actually. They were already up in the air, and had camera gear. The footage is quite cool.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by trcooper ( 18794 ) *
      I saw this yesterday morning in Omaha, NE. At the time I thought it was a plane, but it was out of place for anything with their landing lights on. Way to far west for anything approaching either Omaha eppley or Offutt AFB. When I read the story yesterday, the time matched up, as did the position.

      Didn't look quite like the video from here, more like a very bright light, but still cool to see in person.

  • "...No damage was reported..." (Score:5, Funny)

    by NoseBag ( 243097 ) on Thursday January 04, 2007 @09:18PM (#17468554)
    "...No damage was reported..."

    Well, duh! It's Wyoming, fer christsake.

  • Home on the Range (Score:5, Funny)

    by MillionthMonkey ( 240664 ) on Thursday January 04, 2007 @09:18PM (#17468556)
    Oh give me a home
    Where the buffalo roam
    And the deer and the antelope play

    Where seldom is heard
    a discouraging word
    and the skies are not full of spent Russian booster rockets
    • 'Mid the yuccas an' the thistles
      I'll watch the guided missiles
      While the ol' FBI watches me (yee-hoo!)...

      Chris Mattern

  • More info (Score:5, Informative)

    by Anonymous Coward on Thursday January 04, 2007 @09:18PM (#17468558)
    From Spaceweather.com

    Something from space disintegrated over Denver, Colorado, this morning around 6:20 am MST (1320 UT). Witnesses describe it as "brilliant, slow, twinkling, sparkly and full of rainbow colors." It was not a meteor. The fireball was the decaying body of a Soyuz U rocket that launched the French COROT space telescope on Dec. 27th. The re-entry caused no damage on the ground--just a beautiful display in the sky.

  • Umm... link to video? (Score:5, Informative)

    by lpangelrob ( 714473 ) on Thursday January 04, 2007 @09:19PM (#17468568)
    Link [google.com]. This story could use a visual. Clearly, as opposed to what the poster of the video would like us to think, it is not a UFO.

  • Video (Score:4, Informative)

    by Digitus1337 ( 671442 ) <lk_digitus@hotma i l . com> on Thursday January 04, 2007 @09:20PM (#17468574) Homepage
    http://www.myfoxcolorado.com/myfox/ [myfoxcolorado.com]

  • Just remember, everyone... (Score:5, Funny)

    by dubdays ( 410710 ) on Thursday January 04, 2007 @09:32PM (#17468684)
    ...duck and cover.
  • Space Junk: Norad identifies Denver light as body of Russian rocket re-entering the atmosphere

    View [foxnews.com]

    • Re:Video showed on Fox News earlier (Score:4, Funny)

      by Sporkinum ( 655143 ) on Thursday January 04, 2007 @10:24PM (#17469120)
      DEVO

      She was walking all alone
      Down the street in the alley
      Her name was sally
      She never saw it
      When she was hit by space junk
      In new york miami beach
      Heavy metal fell in cuba
      Angola saudi arabia
      On xmas eve said norad
      A soviet sputnik hit africa
      India venezuela (in texas
      Kansas)
      Its falling fast peru too
      It keeps coming
      And now Im mad about space junk
      Im all burned out about space junk
      Oooh walk & talk about space junk
      It smashed my babys head
      And now my sallys dead

  • red dawn (Score:3, Funny)

    by minus_273 ( 174041 ) <aaaaa AT SPAM DOT yahoo DOT com> on Thursday January 04, 2007 @09:54PM (#17468874) Journal
    oh no! now only Patrick Swayze can save us like in that 80s documentary!

  • Dead Like Me (Score:4, Funny)

    by tekrat ( 242117 ) on Thursday January 04, 2007 @09:57PM (#17468894) Homepage Journal
    I hope Ellen Muth wasn't in the area..
    (For reference, her character (George) was killed by a piece of debris from the de-orbiting of Mir)...

  • A better subject line... (Score:4, Funny)

    by dghcasp ( 459766 ) on Thursday January 04, 2007 @09:59PM (#17468914)
    BREAKING NEWS:

    Extremely slow Soviet ICBM hits US one month after launch and over ten years after breakup of the Soviet Union.

    Film at 11

  • Putin called a news conference (Score:5, Funny)

    by JeanBaptiste ( 537955 ) on Thursday January 04, 2007 @10:37PM (#17469214)
    My fellow Russians, I'm pleased to tell you today that I've signed legislation that will outlaw Wyoming forever. We begin bombing in five minutes.

  • Rocket Seen 6:14am over Billings (Score:2, Interesting)

    by Anonymous Coward
    2 of my coworkers and I saw the rocket burning before it began splitting up at Billings Logan International Airport in Montana. It split into 3 pieces south of us before going out of sight. It sure was pretty cool to see-- about 1/4 the size of the full moon that was out.-- JB, Billings, MT

  • missle defense system? (Score:3, Funny)

    by mabu ( 178417 ) on Thursday January 04, 2007 @10:57PM (#17469348)
    So much for any notion of a warning system for missiles eh?

  • Russian Rocket Hits Wyoming (Score:3, Funny)

    by Amiga Trombone ( 592952 ) on Thursday January 04, 2007 @11:46PM (#17469668)
    Wyoming?

    How did they know?
  • Where the men are men, and the sheep are.... threatened by falling space debris??
  • "and the debris was not believed to be hazardous"

      A ton of hot metal falling out of the sky going Mach 1 is certainly not hazardous...it's lethal.

  • Good luck finding it now... (Score:4, Funny)

    by cjsnell ( 5825 ) on Friday January 05, 2007 @12:12AM (#17469816) Journal
    It's been snowing like mad all day.
  • How about the story that ran last year about how Kazakhstan and Siberia were littered with highly-toxic remains of rockets? IIRC this was due to the poisonous hydrogolic (self-igniting) fuels many of the Russian rockets still use. If this was an upper stage especially.

  • Well at least all that StarWars money was worth it. Wasn't the point of MAD that you were meant to be able to tell if Russian Rockets were going to hit *BEFORE* they actually did.

  • Let's see if anybody gets this one (Score:3, Funny)

    by Conanymous Award ( 597667 ) on Friday January 05, 2007 @08:12AM (#17472196)
    I thought Pavel Bure retired many years ago. And Wyoming doesn't even have an NHL team!
    • Man, I wish I had mod points right now.

      Apparently no other Canadians do either.

      Off topic, but I saw a guy in a Bure jersey last night, as the Panthers were in town.
  • ...that the way I would come to know that a place could be called Wyoming as by it being hit by a russian rocket! Imagine the odds!!!
  • ...that we've had all those missiles in Wyoming pointed at the USSR/Russia for decades, and they actually got the first strike. It used to be common practice for both sides to occasionally test the others reactions in various ways. So, having not RTFA, and putting on my tin foil hat, I wonder if this was truely debris, or could it have been been an "accident" to test our defenses?

    Related link: http://www.strategic-air-command.com/missiles/Peac ekeeper/Peacekeeper_Missile_Home_Page.htm [strategic-...ommand.com]

  • OK, ok... (Score:3)

    by Wapiti-eater ( 759089 ) on Friday January 05, 2007 @11:53AM (#17475218)
    You've seen the smoldering piece of space junk.
    You've taken photos of the dimple in the prairie where it landed.
    You drank all our beer.
    You've chased our women and you've run over our Antelope.
    We tolerated your complaints about there not being enough Starbucks around to satisfy your habits.

    Now, just pay your damn bar tabs and go home already. Winter is setting in, we got work to do and we don't want to have to spend time saving your happy asses when the weather gets bad.

    Thank you and have a nice day.
      - Wapiti-eater
            Wyoming Immigration Officer
            Central District

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