Missile strikes ailing U.S. spy satellite

update A missile fired from a Navy ship struck an ailing U.S. spy satellite Wednesday night and probably succeeded in destroying a toxic fuel tank on board.

The SM-3 missile was fired from the USS Lake Erie in the Pacific at about 7:26 PST and collided with the satellite about 130 miles above the ocean, the Pentagon said in a statement.

"Due to the relatively low altitude of the satellite at the time of the engagement, debris will begin to reenter the earth's atmosphere immediately," the statement said. "Nearly all of the debris will burn up on reentry within 24-48 hours and the remaining debris should reenter within 40 days."

"Confirmation that the fuel tank has been fragmented should be available within 24 hours," it added.

However, the Associated Press cited an unnamed defense official close to the situation who said officials monitoring the operation saw what appeared to be an explosion, apparently from the fuel tank.

The Pentagon announced last week that President Bush had decided the Navy would try to shoot down the satellite before it re-entered the Earth's atmosphere because its fuel tank contained approximately 1,000 pounds of hazardous hydrazine.

However, some countries had expressed doubts about the operation, with some such as Russia characterizing the operation as little more than a thinly veiled arms test.

[Commander_Spock]

AYE, AYE SCOTTY!....

HOW ABOUT BEAMING SOME PICTURES OF THIS MISSILE STRIKE LIVE BACK TO PLANET EARTH VIA IBM'S LOTUS SAMETIME "VIDEO" CONFERENCING!

ALSO, THE GUT FEELING IS THAT THE US NAVY IS RUNNING OS/2 WARP LIKE THE RUSSIAN FEDERATION DOES FOR THEIR SATELLITE LAUNCH PROGRAMS.

END OF TRANSMISSION.....

COMMANDER_SPOCK

[Fareed17]

Missle Strikes Satellite

Job Well Done, pending damage assessment.

[Fareed17]

Missle Strikes Satellite

Pending Damage Assessment.

[MyRightEye]

"some such as Russia"... Umm, yeah, and most Americans!!

What on earth do they take us for?? Oh, that's right, SHEEPLE...

[sigzero]

Heh

I know they used to. I set something up at one point using OS/2. I
hope they have migrated off of that by now as that was a good 10
years ago.

[Commander_Spock]

Logical Teachings,Thinking and Solutions!

Why would it not be IBM and their OS/2 Warp when IBM was there when Britain needed them to help with the U2's that were landing in London. Follow the logic teachings like the Russian Space Federation have done.

See: "(RUS) Astronauts Training Complex" and "(RUS) Program and firmware set for servicing of the carrier rockets" here:

http://en.ecomstation.ru/solutions/

[anon8mizer]

What about my Sushi?

Is it safe to eat now?

[The_Decider]

If it was too dangerous to allow for re-entry

Then why in the hell did they launch it in the first place? Isn't that very irresponsible and reckless?

What would have happened if an explosion during launch happened?

Why don't people ask the obvious questions?