Video Of The Navy Missile / Satellite Collision
Once again, the Navy comes to the rescue:
While I for one don't completely buy the "we only did it because of the hydrazine" explanation, I think it was a great test. Hopefully we got some good data to help us predict how the Standard Missile might do against satellites in slightly higher orbits if it's ever needed for such a mission.
posted by Bubblehead at 8:20 AM
9 Comments:
My Theory:
1. Even thought they said it wasn’t working, the satellite has been working since they put it up and they shot it out of the air to ensure nobody got any piece of it.
2. They shot it out of the air to prove to ourselves we could.
3. They shot it out of the air to show everybody we could.
4. They didn’t really shoot it out of the air. It’s still up there disguised as a satellite doing all that super sleuth stuff it hasn’t been doing since it was launched.
That Damn Good Looking Aganger From Iowa
2/21/2008 3:06 PM
I'm pleased. I think it's great that we did this, especially with a system that wasn't really designed for this kind of shot.
All those Chinese need to just sit back and think what we could od if we really wanted to.
2/21/2008 6:04 PM
I think we're all in agreement that there is more to this story than just shooting down a dead satellite.
I think it's a conglomeration of what both anony and jay said, especially in light of the fact the Chinese did this very same thing (shot down a satellite with a rocket) a while back. Does anyone remember that, and all the wailing and gnashing of teeth that ensued?
2/21/2008 6:24 PM
Completely different situation than what the chinese did. They destroyed a satellite in a stable orbit, so the debris from that satellite is going to be a navigation hazard for many, many years to come. We destroyed a satellite in the upper-atmosphere in a rapidly decaying orbit. Orbital mechanics dictates that no how the material from this impact was ejected, that point of ejection will be perigee for any object that manages to complete an orbit.
Toss in some stuff about the greater surface area of many bits of satellite compared to the surface area of a non-blown up satellite resulting in significantly more total drag, and it can be shown that the debris will be gone within maybe a few weeks at most.
Other than arguments about the weaponization of space, there really isn't too much that people could complain about with this.
2/21/2008 7:19 PM
Other than arguments about the weaponization of space, there really isn't too much that people could complain about with this.
You forgot to mention: "...unless one is basically stupid, and unable to discern the truth in the news, especially when spoon-fed the liberal/enemy-of-America bias."
2/21/2008 7:38 PM
So the Navy successfully launched a missile, revved it up to 22,000 MPH, flew it 130 miles into space, and precisely hit a satellite, itself traveling at 17,000 MPH.
And yet the Knicks can't find someone to hit a jump shot from 12 feet out.
Where's the justice?
2/22/2008 8:01 AM
The Air Force tosses a piece of expensive junk into space and the Navy's Black Shoes have to clean up the mess.
2/23/2008 9:05 PM
And the Knicks that miss the jumper get paid more than the missile costs.....
3/01/2008 9:56 PM
I fully agree with anything you've printed here.
10/24/2011 1:49 AM
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