By EILEEN SULLIVAN
Associated Press

WASHINGTON - A large U.S. spy satellite has lost power and could hit the Earth in late February or early March, government officials said Saturday.

The satellite, which no longer can be controlled, could contain hazardous materials, and it is unknown where on the planet it might come down, they said. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because the information is classified as secret. It was not clear how long ago the satellite lost power, or under what circumstances.

"Appropriate government agencies are monitoring the situation," said Gordon Johndroe, a spokesman for the National Security Council, when asked about the situation after it was disclosed by other officials. "Numerous satellites over the years have come out of orbit and fallen harmlessly. We are looking at potential options to mitigate any possible damage this satellite may cause."

He would not comment on whether it is possible for the satellite to perhaps be shot down by a missile. He said it would be inappropriate to discuss any specifics at this time.

A senior government official said that lawmakers and other nations are being kept apprised of the situation.

The spacecraft contains hydrazine - which is rocket fuel - according to a government official who was not authorized to speak publicly but spoke on condition of anonymity. Hydrazine, a colorless liquid with an ammonia-like odor, is a toxic chemical and can cause harm to anyone who contacts it.

Such an uncontrolled re-entry could risk exposure of U.S. secrets, said John Pike, a defense and intelligence expert. Spy satellites typically are disposed of through a controlled re-entry into the ocean so that no one else can access the spacecraft, he said.

Pike also said it's not likely the threat from the satellite could be eliminated by shooting it down with a missile, because that would create debris that would then re-enter the atmosphere and burn up or hit the ground.

Pike, director of the defense research group GlobalSecurity.org, estimated that the spacecraft weighs about 20,000 pounds and is the size of a small bus. He said the satellite would create 10 times less debris than the Columbia space shuttle crash in 2003. Satellites have natural decay periods, and it's possible this one died as long as a year ago and is just now getting ready to re-enter the atmosphere, he said.

Jeffrey Richelson, a senior fellow with the National Security Archive, said the spacecraft likely is a photo reconnaissance satellite. Such eyes in the sky are used to gather visual information from space about adversarial governments and terror groups, including construction at suspected nuclear sites or militant training camps. The satellites also can be used to survey damage from hurricanes, fires and other natural disasters.

The largest uncontrolled re-entry by a NASA spacecraft was Skylab, the 78-ton abandoned space station that fell from orbit in 1979. Its debris dropped harmlessly into the Indian Ocean and across a remote section of western Australia.

In 2000, NASA engineers successfully directed a safe de-orbit of the 17-ton Compton Gamma Ray Observatory, using rockets aboard the satellite to bring it down in a remote part of the Pacific Ocean.

In 2002, officials believe debris from a 7,000-pound science satellite smacked into the Earth's atmosphere and rained down over the Persian Gulf, a few thousand miles from where they first predicted it would plummet.

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me@rescam.org

Forgot all about this bird until seeing the joint Pentagon/NASA briefing a few minutes ago. Looks like they are going to shoot it down.

Anyone else catch this contradiction: in the beginning of the briefing they said that their main concern was the hydrazine tanks making it through entry, but later said that there was no concern about the "secret" components making it through entry.

Hmm. Tanks of gas can survive entry, while hardened (and redundant) components can't? LOL.

I'd say that another (probably the main) component to the decision to blow it up is to demonstrate that we have the capability of shooting down satellites -- especially to China.

The Pentagon is probably pissed at NASA for the failure of this bird, but is looking forward to blowing it up. The Navy is probably really looking forward to trying out one of their toys as well.

Nothing wrong with any of it, of course...

Anyone else catch this contradiction:

I'd say that another (probably the main) component to the decision to blow it up is to demonstrate that we have the capability of shooting down satellites -- especially to China.

That's what I was thinking. Oh it was so wrong for China to do it... but hypocrisy and government, etc.

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me@rescam.org

That's what I was thinking. Oh it was so wrong for China to do it... but hypocrisy and government, etc.

All Governments are the same then!
I must admit though that when I first heard about the Satellite falling to Earth, whilst there is a huge chance it would land in one of the seas I would have been amazed if they had just left things to chance.

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All the Progress cargo ships are loaded with trash and burn up in the atmosphere after leaving the International Space Station. What's the difference?
Tullio

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All the Progress cargo ships are loaded with trash and burn up in the atmosphere after leaving the International Space Station. What's the difference?
Tullio

It's a deliberate and planned reentry into uninhabited areas (ocean). The Spy satellite is unpowered and out of control and there is no way to direct it to a safe reentry point.

Not to say that they aren't trying to send a message, but there is a big difference between hitting something at 140nm (the US 173) and the Chinese strike at 500nm. All of the US 173 debris will be down in a month, the Chinese debris will be there for several lifetimes.

It seems hard to try to aim at something going almost eight km/sec and destroy it by impact. That's worse than disintegrating a bullet with another bullet. Maybe the destructive missile could carry a bomb and video cameras, approach the satellite, get alongside it (maybe touching it) and then explode. But that would require small rockets for steering and synchronizing velocities.

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I saw this on the news few minutes ago, it's gonna (well if it's gonna) to drop somewhere near my area which is Poland (central Europe)

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aliens ain't farmers

I saw this on the news few minutes ago, it's gonna (well if it's gonna) to drop somewhere near my area which is Poland (central Europe)

You're probably safe.

They don't even have a probable date for re-entry, much less a target zone. Some of the variables involved:

o Current height of the atmosphere (varies based on warming/cooling from sun)
o Satellite orientation (tumbling/broadside to atmosphere)
o Drag co-effecient

Navy to try to take out errant U.S. spy satellite

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me@rescam.org

Navy to try to take out errant U.S. spy satellite

'key wordin' try ;)

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BOINC Wiki . . .

Science Status Page . . .

International agreement

<quotes:>

Ambassador Christina Rocca announced today that should debris from the satellite fall on foreign territory, the U.S. government will compensate the countries in question.

The move is consistent with America's ratification of a 1972 treaty that requires states to assume responsibility for damages caused by space objects

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BOINC Wiki . . .

Science Status Page . . .

<CONSPIRACY_THEORY>

It wasn't really a spy satellite to begin with. It was put up there as a target from day one. They just wanted to shoot at something. The whole "spy satellite" and "dangerous hydrazine" is just a cover story.

</CONSPIRACY_THEORY>

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/7254540.stm

BBC NEWS
US missile hits 'toxic satellite'
The US has successfully struck a disabled spy satellite with a missile fired from a warship in waters west of Hawaii, military officials say.

Military operatives had only a 10-second window to hit the satellite - USA 193 - which lost control shortly after it was launched in December 2006.

Officials said they were worried fuel on board could pose a threat to humans.

But Russia suspects the operation was a cover to test anti-satellite technology under the US missile defence programme.

The US denies the operation was a response to an anti-satellite test carried out by China last year, which prompted fears of a space arms race.

Precision needed

The BBC's Jonathan Beale in Washington says this operation was hugely ambitious - like trying to fire a missile through the eye of a needle.

The operation went ahead hours after the space shuttle Atlantis landed, removing it as a safety issue for the military.


BROKEN SATELLITE
Owner: National Reconnaissance Office
Mission: Classified
Launched: 14 Dec 2006
Weight: 2,300 kg (5,000lbs)
1,134kg (2,500lbs) could survive re-entry
Carrying hydrazine thruster fuel

The satellite - believed by some commentators to be a radar imaging reconnaissance satellite - was passing about 130 miles (210km) over the Pacific.

Earlier the military said it would use an SM-3 missile fired from the cruiser USS Lake Erie, which is posted on the western side of Hawaii along with the destroyers USS Decatur and USS Russell.

But it is not yet known how successful the operation was - the missile needs to pierce the bus-sized satellite's fuel tank, containing more than 450kg (1,000lbs) of toxic hydrazine, which would otherwise be expected to survive re-entry.

The Pentagon said confirmation that the fuel tank has been hit should be available within 24 hours.

US officials said without an attempt to destroy the fuel tank, and with the satellite's thermal control system gone, the fuel would now be frozen solid, allowing the tank to resist the heat of re-entry.

If the tank were to land intact, it could leak toxic gas over a wide area - harming or kill humans if inhaled, officials had warned.

Debris

Officials expect that over 50% of the debris will fall to Earth within the first 15 hours after the strike - or within its first two revolutions of Earth.

Left to its own devices, about half of the spacecraft would have been expected to survive the blazing descent through the atmosphere, scattering debris in a defined "corridor" which runs across the Earth's surface.

Professor Richard Crowther, a space debris expert with the Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC), said that if struck with the missile, about 25% of USA 193 is likely to survive the fall to Earth.

"The smaller the debris is the more likely you are to get burn-through. So if you fragment something before re-entry, less mass will survive to hit the Earth," he told BBC News.

Russian suspicion

But Russia's defence ministry has effectively branded the US operation a cover for testing an anti-satellite weapon.

The Russian defence ministry argued that various countries' spacecraft had crashed to Earth in the past, with many using toxic fuel on board, but that this had never before merited "extraordinary measures".

Last year, China carried out a test using a ground-based ballistic missile to destroy a satellite in space, prompting international alarm and fears of a space arms race.

On Tuesday, a US State Department spokesman stressed that the action was meant to protect people from the hazardous fuel and was not a weapons test.

The US government has also denied claims that the main aim of the operation was to destroy secret components on USA 193.

Officials say classified parts would be burned up in the atmosphere and, in any case, that would not be a reason for shooting down the satellite.

SATELLITE DESTRUCTION PLAN
1 SM-3 missile launched from a US Navy cruiser in Pacific Ocean
2 The three-stage missile heads for collision location, where the relative "closing" speed will be 10km/s (22,000mph)
3 Satellite reaches desired altitude of 240km (130 nautical miles), close to edge of atmosphere
4 Missile makes contact and breaks fuel tank, freeing hydrazine into space
5 Debris scattered over hundreds of kilometres

Paul.Rincon-INTERNET@bbc.co.uk

Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/1/hi/sci/tech/7254540.stm

Published: 2008/02/21 04:54:45 GMT

© BBC MMVIII

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I heard, on a local radio station, while in the basement walking and eating lunch, that the satellite was blown such that no piece was bigger than a football. That was at about 10:02 AM EST.

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