Thread: Shooting Down Satellites

US got all upset when China shot down their own satellite.

9 Feb 2008 briefing to State leaders on the shoot down of a United States spy satellite over US territory, written at the For Official Use Only level. Powerpoint presentation by DHS/FEMA. The file has been converted to PDF format by Wikileaks. Title "Space Object Rentry State Leadership Briefing DHS/FEMA region IX." Forensic analysis of the document meta data, which Wikileaks has had to remove to protect the source, leads us to say with high confidence that the document is genuine. The briefing begins by outlining the basic details about the circumstances of the interception, including details about the toxicity of hydrazine, a substance declared by the National Toxicology Program to be "Reasonably Anticipated to be Human Carcinogen", which would normally be used for manuvering the sattelite in space.
The interception of the satellite is discussed, where it is explained that the goal of the mission is to intercept the satellite with a low altitude missile launch. Based on statements by the Department of Defense, this launch is expected to consist of a United States Navy SM-3 Missile fired from the USS Lake Erie. The document indicates that the Department of Defense, "has a high degree of confidence the engagement will be sucessful". Should this be the case, the document states that the hydrazine tank will fragment, releasing the hydrazine in space, and that 99% of the debris is expected to fall into Earth's atmosphere within one week. The footprint of this debris is described within the document as typically being 10 to 25 miles wide and 100 to 1,000 miles long.
The document then discusses the response by federal, state and local officals. Local first responders are expected to take initial actions, should a hazardous situation arise. The document states that response teams are to be ready throughout the country to respond to requests by state and local officals. Should re-entry occur over the United States, state and interagency partners are to be notified using the National Warning System (NAWAS), and that a plan is being developed to notify the public, the media, governors, public security officals, and first responders of the expected time, and location of re-entry.
Of particular note in the document, is the fact that along with FEMA and safety task forces, a Department of Defense "Payload Recovery Task Force" is expected to respond to the impact site approximately 3 to 6 hours after the impact. This suggests that there may be some validity to rumors that US-193 is being intercepted on national security grounds. Context United States Wikileaks release date
Wednesday February 20, 2008
Note
It appears the internal distribution of the briefing was sizeable. Many should be in a position to verify the material.
File size in bytes
1367030
File type information
PDF document, version 1.4
Cryptographic identity
SHA256 ecc8b4202802786f208a5b1c2896d1942429ba5143759790f2 2a44a9f4408a14

US-193 Space Object Rentry State Leadership Briefing - Wikileaks

Don't fancy having a hydrazine sprayed across the world much.

I remember a radioactive satellite crashing in Canada in the 70's (China isn't mentioned ^)...

Last year China shot down own of their own when testing a new missile.

US was very unhappy about it. They claimed that it was because of the space debris but most people knew it was because China had demonstrated that it could disable a satellite with a missile.

Now they are doing the same thing.

Shapes of things to come...



Enlarge Image


Directed-Energy Systems | Slide 1 of 8
Feasibility: Medium
Cost Estimates:
· Ground-based laser: $4 billion–$6 billion
· Space-based laser (low- to high-power capability): $3 billion–$60 billion
· Space-based microwave radiator: $200 million–$5 billion

Ground-based laser beams that are precision-guided onto their targets by adaptive optics (deformable mirrors that compensate for atmospheric distortions) could blind, disable or destroy satellites in low Earth orbit. Moderate-power lasers could “dazzle” optical-imaging satellites or damage their sensitive detectors. High-power lasers could “fry” satellites by damaging their electronics or even piercing their skin. Because fast-moving orbital targets lie mostly over Earth’s horizon at any one time, ground stations could also direct laser beams at airships or satellite-borne transfer mirrors, which could redirect the beams toward their targets.



Next Back

You betcha!

We can all thank the greatest American President in modern times - Ronald Reagan for Star Wars...which by the way, the Chinks ripped off. Parts of the program at least...

I am quite interested to know what the difference was between this satellite shooting and the chinese one.

Same sort of orbit etc or was the American one more technical?

Now they are doing the same thing.

No, they're not.

The Americans shot down a satellite that was in orbital decay, on the verge of enter the atmosphere on it's own. They waited until it was on the verge of entering and burning. Nothing remains of that satellite.

The Chinese blasted theirs while it was in it's normal orbit. Nothing returned to Earth and 1,800 pieces of junk are now littering the sky and making any spaceshot through that area impossible.

Of course your theory sells more books.

If the hydrazine tank landed on Earth and cracked open, it would have contaminated an area the size of two football fields. To my mind, that ain't very big -- unless you watch too much TV and assume every piece of space junk lands in Manhattan.

Still, "Reasonably Anticipated to be Human Carcinogen," isn't a shoo-in.
Sorta like cellphone use.

nice try.

I doubt it had anything whatsoever to do with hydrazine and more to do with stopping anyone else getting their hands on any technology that was within the satellite.

JMO!

^ Initially, that's what I thought too.

After a bit, I changed my mind when they revealed it was only an experimental satellite.

They wanted to test (and demonstrate) a defensive capability.

There are some conspiracy theories about that all of this is a cover for a new arms race, perhaps a way of testing the ability to shoot down objects at ICBM velocity.

The US Navy's Lake Erie has done several already. So have the Japs. It's a developing technology, but hardly new. I recall about 7-10 years ago, the military was big on airborne lasers, mounted in the nose of a 737 (or was it a 747?)

Seems that method is out of favor recently and sea-based assets have taken the lead.

I'm sure they possibly considered that also I.

Originally Posted by Texpat

They wanted to test (and demonstrate) a defensive capability.

It was an opportune moment to do that and get rid of a rogue satellite....

I want to know why the Ruskies are flying their old bomber planes close to Scotland... Bastards.. Should send the Tartan Army over there for a piss-up...

Originally Posted by rawlins

I want to know why the Ruskies are flying their old bomber planes close to Scotland

Are they? Hadn't heard but must be some reason. Any details?

Putin trying to reassert military might upon his departure. Sort of a nostalgia trip.

I want to know why the Ruskies are flying their old bomber planes close to Scotland... Bastards.. Should send the Tartan Army over there for a piss-up...

Like this one:

Sent home in shame, British commandos stripped naked for crass stunt in a foreign bar

By MATTHEW HICKLEY and ALLAN HALL
4th March 2008

Eight British Commandos have been flown home in disgrace for stripping naked and engaging in appalling behaviour in a Norwegian bar during an Arctic training exercise.

The men disgusted onlookers in the town of Harstad with a drunken game of "naked bar".

After whipping off their clothes, they urinated on each other - splashing other customers and furniture - before slurring insults and abuse.

Furious senior officers ordered the soldiers, from the Army's 59 Independent Commando Squadron Royal Engineers, back home to face disciplinary action.

The shameful case has been widely covered by the Norwegian media.

They highlighted local people complaining that they were fed up with yobbish behaviour by British troops, whom they accused of displaying a "nasty edge" compared with soldiers from other countries.

The incident happened on Wednesday night, after the eight soldiers had been honing their Arctic warfare skills alongside Royal Marines.

They were part of Exercise Octans, an annual exercise involving thousands of personnel from more than a dozen Nato countries.

The engineers, based at Barnstaple, north Devon, have passed the gruelling all-arms commando course, enabling them to wear the commando green beret and serve with the Marines on operations.

Local media reports said the men had been drinking before they arrived at the Sfinx Bar in Harstad, the nearest town to the exercise area.

They began "bothering" female customers, before shouting "naked bar!" and stripping off.

"Naked Bar" is a popular drinking game in many units across the British armed forces.

The rules are simple - participants immediately remove all clothing - and the game is usually tolerated among high-spirited troops when it is played well away from the public gaze.

In this case, however, the soldiers began urinating on one of their party who had slumped drunkenly to the floor, splashing urine over the bar's furniture and other customers.

Local police were called, and handed spot fines of £500 to each of the men before handing them over to the Royal Military Police.

Harstad police spokesman Gair Pedersen said: "They were drunk and there was a problem in the bar but we are quite used to dealing with British soldiers like this." Norway's biggest newspaper, Aftenposten, quoted locals as saying the soldiers had been "bothering" female customers.


Sent home in shame, the British commandos who stripped naked for crass stunt in a foreign bar | the Daily Mail

Sounds/looks awfully gay to me.

^^Happened last week... saw an interview with one of the Russian pilots saying it was 'just a game'... Russian 'mock' elections and flexing their muscles a bit are to do with it....

^Looks like a normal night out for lager lout rugby types to me....

Thanks for that rawlins. Interesting.

Originally Posted by Boon Mee

can all thank the greatest American President in modern times - Ronald Reagan for Star Wars

Funny, I thought it was George Lucas


BTW, Thailand is developing its own ant-satellite technology...

^ Shhh! It's supposed to be top-secret...