US To Shoot Down Dying Satellite

A user writes "US officials say that the Pentagon is planning to shoot down a broken spy satellite expected to hit the Earth in early March. We discussed the device's decaying orbit late last month. The Associated Press has learned that the option preferred by the Bush administration will be to fire a missile from a U.S. Navy cruiser, and shoot down the satellite before it enters Earth's atmosphere. 'A key concern ... was the debris created by Chinese satellite's destruction -- and that will also be a focus now, as the U.S. determines exactly when and under what circumstances to shoot down its errant satellite. The military will have to choose a time and a location that will avoid to the greatest degree any damage to other satellites in the sky. Also, there is the possibility that large pieces could remain, and either stay in orbit where they can collide with other satellites or possibly fall to Earth.'"

Hey, how about making a film about this??

[sholdowa]

We could send up a group of octogenarian actors in a shuttle... whadya mean it's already been done!

Simple enough

[Nushio]

Host a tournament based on Missile Commando or any game similar to that.

The Winner gets to choose when and where to shoot the missle :)

I can imagine that conversation

[techpawn]

Military: Sir, there is a satellite and it's slowly falling to earth
Bush: 'kay
Military: It poses no real threat, it will probably burn up on reentry...
Bush:'Kay
Military: It was a secret spy satellite...
Bush:What? Spy?
Military:It will look real pretty if we blow it up sir...
Bush: OooOooOoo Pretty... Kay, where do I sign to see the pretty boom boom?!

Orbit Pollution

[the computer guy nex]

"Rather than let the thing burn up in the atmosphere they have to prove that they are willing and able to blow stuff up and leave earth orbit even more polluted."

Wonder how long till Al Gore's next book?

Cost Effectiveness.

[gandhi_2]

Since the Chinese have proven they can do this, it's reasonable to assume they can do it cheaper. Maybe they pentagon could outsource this satellite shoot-down.

You know, if the pentagon REALLY wanted to come across as bad ass, they wouldn't have told anyone it was a bad satellite. Then we could show the world we'll shoot down our own satellites just cause we can. Like a diplomatic "Don't you know i'm locco, esse?"

Shooting it down?

[sm62704]

It's already coming down, isn't it? Wouldn';t they be shooting it UP?

That makes a better headline anyway, "US To Shoot Up".

Comment removed

[account_deleted]

Comment removed based on user account deletion

Re:Incompetent

[ddusza]

Yes sir, can you try typing Ctrl-Alt-Delete? Oh, that didn't work? Hmmmm, can you try turning the power off and back on again? No? Well, I'm afraid we are just going to (trouble)shoot it remotely from one of our Tech Support Cruisers.... The NEW world of Tech Support

In other news... Dead Horse Mercilessly Beaten

[t33jster]

I must be missing something. The satellite is FALLING. We're going to shoot it DOWN?!?!

I often wondered

[kellyb9]

I've often wondered what aliens might think if they were to visit earth and see us shooting missles at our own satellites as means of getting them down. On one side of the coin, we might look really badass.

Re:let this be a lesson to NASA/JPL (whoever)

[moderatorrater]

Great idea. Then the smart ass 12 year old Polish kid's going to use a TV remote to blow it up. Aside from the added weight and technical complexity that this would add to the satellite, if those codes get hacked it's millions if not billions of dollars down the toilet. Maybe more, if they detonated the satellites at a strategically advantageous time.

Re:Controlled de-orbit?

[Oktober Sunset]

Ohhhh, they could launch it from a hollowed out volcano and it could capture space capsules too and hold the astronauts hostage.

Re:Target practice or....?

[imipak]

I say we launch it into orbit, and nuke it from the surface. It's the only way to be sure.

Re:Oh bullshit.

[eclectro]

there's a crapload of technology that even after reentry would be of HUGE value to many many people on this planet.

Including all those who would want to see if it could run Linux.

Re:Brilliant! +6 insightful

[Anonymous Coward]

Give me a break - the US doesn't give a damn about human rights. Witness our (in)action in Sudan, Rwanda, etc.

Human rights are just a justification for doing what we want to do for other reasons. If Sudan or Rwanda had significant oil, you'd see a different level of attention paid - unless of course the goverment perpetrating these atrocities was friendly with us, in which case you'd never hear about it at all.

Re:Target practice or....?

[Jeremi]

That's nice that you know the volume of a circle

Just to be a smartass, I have to point out that the volume of a circle is zero, not pi*r^2.

Re:Ulterior motive?

[robfoo]

I would say it is a kill two birds with one stone.
A..
B..
C..

uh, I think that's three birds.