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U.S. Set Date to Shoot Down Satellite
February 19, 2008 07:00 PM
by
findingDulcinea Staff
The Pentagon warns ships to avoid an area in the Pacific during the early hours of Thursday, Feb. 21, when the Navy is set to destroy the U.S. spy satellite.
30-Second Summary
CNN reports that the satellite’s destruction might be postponed. "We have to make the notification, but it's possible the conditions won't be ideal, or that everything won't be ready,” an unnamed Pentagon official told the news network.
U.S. officials have stated that the satellite has to be shot down to prevent it spreading its toxic hydrazine fuel on re-entry.
State Department spokesman Sean McCormack told reporters on Feb. 16, "Our role is to reassure nations around the world as to the nature of what we are tying to do. It's an attempt to try to protect populations on the ground."
However, some commentators have expressed doubts about the plan. A writer for Wired says that on Jan. 29, Air Force Gen. Gene Renuart "downplayed" the risk of hydrazine fuel in an interview with the Associated Press.
America has abstained from anti-satellite tests for over 20 years. This latest development follows China’s shooting down one of its satellites last year in a missile test, an action that drew U.S. and Russian condemnation.
Putting the Pentagon’s coming action into that context, “The ramifications of the operation are diplomatic as well as military and scientific,” writes the International Herald Tribune.
According to Gary Payton, a senior Pentagon official, the Chinese have been trying to intimidate the United States. He concluded that “space is no longer a sanctuary; it is a contested domain.”
The Economist says that should the two countries enter a protracted struggle for dominance in space it could deteriorate into a costly arms race, from which the United States has the most to lose.
U.S. officials have stated that the satellite has to be shot down to prevent it spreading its toxic hydrazine fuel on re-entry.
State Department spokesman Sean McCormack told reporters on Feb. 16, "Our role is to reassure nations around the world as to the nature of what we are tying to do. It's an attempt to try to protect populations on the ground."
However, some commentators have expressed doubts about the plan. A writer for Wired says that on Jan. 29, Air Force Gen. Gene Renuart "downplayed" the risk of hydrazine fuel in an interview with the Associated Press.
America has abstained from anti-satellite tests for over 20 years. This latest development follows China’s shooting down one of its satellites last year in a missile test, an action that drew U.S. and Russian condemnation.
Putting the Pentagon’s coming action into that context, “The ramifications of the operation are diplomatic as well as military and scientific,” writes the International Herald Tribune.
According to Gary Payton, a senior Pentagon official, the Chinese have been trying to intimidate the United States. He concluded that “space is no longer a sanctuary; it is a contested domain.”
The Economist says that should the two countries enter a protracted struggle for dominance in space it could deteriorate into a costly arms race, from which the United States has the most to lose.
Headline Link: ‘U.S. Issues Notice on Downing of Satellite’
CNN reports that the U.S. Navy has issued a “formal notice warning ships and planes to stay clear of a large area of the Pacific Ocean west of Hawaii” for a two and a half hour period that begins Thursday at 2:30 a.m. Greenwich Mean Time.
Source: CNN
Background: China shoots down satellite; alternative risk assessment
The Pentagon announced plans to shoot down the faulty spy satellite on Feb. 14. “The operation will be carried out from a navy ship that will fire a missile modified for the task at the 2,200 kilogram satellite, which will resemble hitting a ballistic missile warhead as it begins to re-enter the atmosphere,” writes the International Herald Tribune.
Source: International Herald Tribune
U.S. State Department spokesman Sean McCormack told reporters not to compare this U.S. satellite mission with those of other countries. "This particular action is different than any actions that, for example, the Chinese may have taken in testing an anti-satellite weapon. The missions are quite different and the technical aspects of the missions are quite different," he said.
Source: The Associated Press
China confirmed it used a missile to shoot down one of its satellites. It is the third country to shoot down an object in space, according to a Radio Free Europe report quoted by GlobalSecurity.org. The United States and a number of other countries warned at the time that China’s action could accelerate the space arms race.
Source: GlobalSecurity.org
On Jan. 28, Dr. Ruediger Jehn, a space debris analyst at the European Space Agency, told the BBC that the presence of hydrazine in the satellite reduced the danger it posed to people on Earth. "This could reduce the risk of it crashing into the Earth. When the velocity of the satellite is reduced during entry into the denser layers of the atmosphere, the satellite will get very, very hot. The hydrazine will probably cause it to explode and it will be broken up into many, many pieces," Dr. Jehn said.
Source: The BBC
On Feb. 15, U.S. defense officials offered to assist countries with the cleaning up of any debris that may be created when the satellite re-enters the atmosphere.
Source: The Guardian
Reaction: The U.S. reaction to the Chinese test
China shot a missile to take down an aging satellite in January 2007. "The U.S. believes China's development and testing of such weapons is inconsistent with the spirit of cooperation that both countries aspire to in the civil space area," a National Security Council spokesman said a week later. The United States also complained about falling debris.
Source: The Washington Post
Analysis: An arms race in space?
“With many officials now pushing for more ambitious defensive capabilities, the skeptics point out that Washington also has the most to lose in a potential space arms race,” writes U.S. News & World Report.
Source: U.S. News & World Report
The American military, and much of the U.S. economy, depends on satellites. But America no longer holds a monopoly on the use of space. Experts have called America’s reliance on space technology a “fatal weakness,” The Economist reports. The newsmagazine weighs the possibility of a space arms race ensuing from China and the United States’ actions.
Source: The Economist
The Chinese may have shot down their own satellite to show America they can challenge its pre-eminence in space, The Economist writes. The magazine argues that these countries had better work out a treaty regulating the use of space before they descend into a costly and ruinous arms race. However, an agreement seems unlikely to be reached as the United States has been reluctant to discuss a space weapons ban.
Source: The Economist
Reference: Hydrazine
According to the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry, hydrazines are “clear, colorless liquids with an ammonia-like odor” and are “highly reactive and easily catch fire.” In its FAQ for hydrazines, the agency reports that “breathing hydrazines for short periods may cause coughing and irritation of the throat and lungs, convulsions, tremors, or seizures. Breathing hydrazines for long periods may cause liver and kidney damage, as well as serious effects on reproductive organs. Eating or drinking small amounts of hydrazines may cause nausea, vomiting, uncontrolled shaking, inflammation of the nerves, drowsiness, or coma.”
Source: Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention offers an overview of hydrazine, including its toxicological profile, the pocket safety guide to chemical hazards on hydrazine from the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, and information on how people can protect themselves from such chemicals.
Source: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
Related Topics: Skepticm and the satellite test
Discovery News explains that shooting down the satellite is “all in the timing.” It also reports that even though several pieces of space debris, including “an ammonia tank once used aboard the International Space Station” and “the second stage of a Delta rocket that put an Italian radar imager into orbit in December” have fallen to earth this week, the satellite USA 193 “poses a particular risk.”
Source: Discovery News
Wired writer Jeffrey Lewis offers the United States advice about shooting down the satellite: “DON’T FREAKING DO IT.” Lewis reviews what he calls the “hey, why not?” logic that he thinks the Bush Administration is pursuing in their satellite plans. He also looks at why the Pentagon made the decision to shoot down the satellite, despite the fact that U.S. General Gene Reneurt downplayed the risk of hydrazine on Jan. 30.
Source: Wired
The New York Times reviews some other possible reasons America may have for shooting down the satellite, including the desire to prevent other nations from salvaging the craft’s “secret technology.” The Times also writes, “The administration would have a lot more credibility if it wasn’t also planning to oppose the latest Russian-Chinese draft treaty to ban weapons in space. The United States, as the nation most dependent on satellites, should be working to ban all anti-satellite weapons.”
Source: The New York Times
Time magazine questions whether the shoot-down is necessary, reporting that the decision was probably influenced by other factors: “The firing will allow the U.S. to test its fledgling anti-missile system, as well as signaling to other nations Washington's ability to down satellites 23 years after it conducted its last such test of that capability. One more bonus of blowing the thing up in space: it eliminates any danger of the top-secret technologies on board falling into the wrong hands should the satellite land in Iran, North Korea, or China.”
Source: Time
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