LightEye
02-22-2008, 11:56 AM
dear friends,
more from rh & mike bara w/dw...
http://www.enterprisemission.com/hdtest.htm
be well, be love.
david
last night, at approximately 10:30 pm eastern time (3:30 am universal), the united states navy shot down a us spy satellite, using a modified sea-launched sm-3 missile. the three-stage, solid-fuel raytheon missile was launched from a ticonderoga-class aegis cruiser, stationed for the intercept some 600 miles west of hawaii. the navy decided to take this rather drastic action because the satellite, dubbed usa-193 for purposes of the shoot down (its real nro designation is apparently classified), contained a fuel cell full of hydrazine, a volatile and potentially hazardous rocket fuel that could cause sickness or even death to humans if they were exposed to it upon re-entry.
by destroying the satellite in space north of hawaii, the hydrazine was harmlessly released in orbit, and the resulting satellite debris scattered harmlessly over the northern pacific ocean and remote areas of canada and west africa, greatly reducing the chances of exposing populated areas to low altitude hydrazine residue.
at least, that was the publicly stated reason.
there was, naturally, a degree of skepticism about this whole plan from the usual cold war suspects. russia, led by president vladimir putin, speculated that this shoot-down proposal is just a convenient excuse for an “off-budget” sdi test. under this scenario, washington was using the obsolete satellite as target practice for a live-fire exercise of new guidance technology developed under the sdi program.
this notion is supported by the fact that the missiles that were used (there were three missiles and three launch windows over the ensuing several days) were launched without explosive warheads. the navy plan actually called for a fully ballistic intercept (at over 22,000 mph). not only that, but the objective was to not just hit the satellite (which was as big as a school bus) but to pierce the spacecraft’s fuel tank specifically. a public demonstration of such technological proficiency undeniably changes the balance of anti-ballistic missile power greatly in favor of the us.
by using the hydrazine contamination as an excuse, this technological demonstration was conducted without the international diplomatic complications that a similar -- though fully acknowledged -- sdi test would bring. congress has always opposed any deployment or testing of sdi hardware, preferring (for reasons we find unfathomable) to leave the us naked in the event of a ballistic missile attack.
more from rh & mike bara w/dw...
http://www.enterprisemission.com/hdtest.htm
be well, be love.
david
last night, at approximately 10:30 pm eastern time (3:30 am universal), the united states navy shot down a us spy satellite, using a modified sea-launched sm-3 missile. the three-stage, solid-fuel raytheon missile was launched from a ticonderoga-class aegis cruiser, stationed for the intercept some 600 miles west of hawaii. the navy decided to take this rather drastic action because the satellite, dubbed usa-193 for purposes of the shoot down (its real nro designation is apparently classified), contained a fuel cell full of hydrazine, a volatile and potentially hazardous rocket fuel that could cause sickness or even death to humans if they were exposed to it upon re-entry.
by destroying the satellite in space north of hawaii, the hydrazine was harmlessly released in orbit, and the resulting satellite debris scattered harmlessly over the northern pacific ocean and remote areas of canada and west africa, greatly reducing the chances of exposing populated areas to low altitude hydrazine residue.
at least, that was the publicly stated reason.
there was, naturally, a degree of skepticism about this whole plan from the usual cold war suspects. russia, led by president vladimir putin, speculated that this shoot-down proposal is just a convenient excuse for an “off-budget” sdi test. under this scenario, washington was using the obsolete satellite as target practice for a live-fire exercise of new guidance technology developed under the sdi program.
this notion is supported by the fact that the missiles that were used (there were three missiles and three launch windows over the ensuing several days) were launched without explosive warheads. the navy plan actually called for a fully ballistic intercept (at over 22,000 mph). not only that, but the objective was to not just hit the satellite (which was as big as a school bus) but to pierce the spacecraft’s fuel tank specifically. a public demonstration of such technological proficiency undeniably changes the balance of anti-ballistic missile power greatly in favor of the us.
by using the hydrazine contamination as an excuse, this technological demonstration was conducted without the international diplomatic complications that a similar -- though fully acknowledged -- sdi test would bring. congress has always opposed any deployment or testing of sdi hardware, preferring (for reasons we find unfathomable) to leave the us naked in the event of a ballistic missile attack.