Shooting down satellites and shit

[Gigfc]

US plans to shoot down broken satellite - Yahoo! News



I'm horny.

[Zippygoose]

"This is the first time we've used a tactical missile to engage a spacecraft."

Yes yes yes.

If at any point in my life my job is to say the above quote to a group of reporters, I win.

[Borzak]

I see the reason for doing it. I'm not buying they are doing it because of the fuel. I'm guessing whatever is on that spy satellite we really don't want someone else picking it up if large chunks survice.

Good for us.

[Cybsled]

Maybe there is nuclear material in it, and they are hoping to destroy the evidence so the Russians dont find out ;p

[Menoz]

Or maybe they're shooting down so that when it unexpectedly drops out of space it doesn't, you know, kill anyone.

[CyrusReij]

Wasn't this the one that was supposed to land in North America? Or is that another one?

[Lowk]

A long time ago in a galaxy far far away....

Ronald Regan invented Star Wars.

[Chips]

Im gonna buy a metal tube, pour some acid on it and sell it on ebay for $5000 as part of the satellite.

[Heavens_Myst]

I don't buy the hydrazine line either, seems like an unarmored satellite couldn't survive reentry. I think they just want a reason to shoot a missile into space to blow shit up. And I'm all for finding reasons to do that.

[Malakriss]

Atmospheric friction is created intentionally to slow down the shuttle on reentry, rather than wasting a ton of fuel to do it. Objects like a satellite in a failing orbit can do reentry with little problem, going a lot faster than expected, and landing wherever the hell gravity wants.

Now if they could ensure it landed in Iran I'm sure they'd say fuck it and wait gleefully, but since they can't direct the satellite or predict the reentry path it's obvious they won't risk a giant metal meteor come down in a major city.

[Twobit Whore]

You'd have to be naive if you think they are doing this to avoid potential fuel contamination. They are doing it to ensure no traces of secret technology fall (no pun intended) into the wrong hands. That's it.

[Blide]

I think the other reason they're shooting it down is to prove they can actually shoot down a satellite which I don't think the US has actually ever done before. China shot one down last year and the United States condemned them for it, but by claiming they're preventing contamination, they don't look like hypocrites to the uninformed public. A missile test while destroying classified equipment would be killing two birds with one stone.

Should also mention that it would likely be a hell of a lot cheaper to clean up the potential contamination than it would be to actually shoot the satellite down.

[Tolanin]

i wanna know how blowing it up prevents contamination at all it still falls to earth.

[Blide]

Originally Posted by Tolanin

i wanna know how blowing it up prevents contamination at all it still falls to earth.

The plan is to have missile hit the fuel tank so the fuel will remain in space while all the debris will fall back to Earth.

[Tolanin]

Originally Posted by Blide

The plan is to have missile hit the fuel tank so the fuel will remain in space while all the debris will fall back to Earth.

thats a retarded plan tho sadly not at all surprising.