I found this SCARY!

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http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080215/ap_ ... tellite_26

Does anyone else?

I think the real reason they want to shoot it down is because of the chance, however small that any of the classified imaging technology might survive a normal fall to earth, and land somewhere out of their reach.

it sounds like its not dangerous and they just want practice shooting to satelites. XDD

"The Pentagon plans to shoot down a disabled US spy satellite before it enters the atmosphere to prevent a potentially deadly leak of toxic gas from the vehicle's fuel tank, officials said."

http://www.stuff.co.nz/4402830a12.html
read that for more information.

F.Y.I the missle they are using is a standard explosive missile... NOT NUCLEAR.

The missile will be equipped with multiple safety systems and should it miss it can self destruct its self in space.

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erm... the US and the USSR were shooting down satellites since the 70's its not anything new.


F-15's were fitted with a 2-stage missile they fired from 80k ft and it would go and take out a satellite.


I think they just want to test their new RAILGUN

The sky just may be falling--a hydraheaded topic

Hartzofspace, this is indeed scary. The political and scientific ramifications are not to be taken lightly. Star Wars target practice. And then there is the issue of the fuel tank, full of a propellent called hydrazine, a toxic chemical which is described below:

"Hydrazine is highly toxic and dangerously unstable, especially in the anhydrous form. Symptoms of acute exposure to high levels of hydrazine in humans may include irritation of the eyes, nose, and throat, dizziness, headache, nausea, pulmonary edema, seizures, coma, and it can also damage the liver, kidneys, and central nervous system. The liquid is corrosive and may produce dermatitis from skin contact in humans and animals. Effects to the lungs, liver, spleen, and thyroid have been reported in animals chronically exposed to hydrazine via inhalation. Increased incidences of lung, nasal cavity, and liver tumors have been observed in rodents exposed to hydrazine."[16]

Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hydrazine"


These problems have happend before, and repeated instances do not make it any easier to feel piece of mind.

They said in the news that if they missed it can crash in the place i live! :D (or something like that)
That would be fun. :]

//that's odd, i don't feel any less safe o.o' who cares. XD//

oh...bus-sized you say? Must be an old Keyhole KH11...what I wonder is if the metal would vaporize, why wouldn't the fuel...I mean...it's supposed to burn, right?...

I believe the thing they're launching towards it doesn't have any explosives on it. It's supposed to ram into the satellite hard enough to break it into pieces.

Also, hydrazine doesn't "burn" in the same way we think of ordinary fuels burning in air. Instead it's used in a chemical reaction that creates large volumes of gas. I don't know the chemistry well enough, but it's conceivable that if the fuel tank survived intact that the hydrazine would still be there.

The sky is falling part 2 topic

The satellite has been destroyed and pieces no bigger than a football are falling towards the earth.

I am going to wear my hard hat outside. Even a small pea sized piece could give you a nasty boink on the head.

Is it pure hydrazine that is being used, or a hydrazine derivative? Regardless, the hype around it's toxicity is ridiculous. Yes, it is toxic, but it is also extremely volatile. If the fuel tank broke up during re-entry, you'd never see any of the hydrazine. Even if it didn't break up, the contamination would be localized. Due to the volatility, it would not pose a long-term threat to the environment. Basically, if it lands in your back yard, don't be an idiot by playing with the stuff.

In short, it's a cover-story. More likely reasons range from the classified data/tech previous mentioned here, to a political statement.

Interestingly enough, wikipedia says that "At least one human is known to have died from exposure to hydrazine hydrate." Only one?

Source:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hydrazine

derives above statement from

http://www.inchem.org/documents/ehc/ehc/ehc68.htm