The Satellite Was Hit

We are going to share the data with the Chinese?!?!?!

Link to article

reply to post by loam


It would have "landed" roughly around March 6th. This satellite was visible to the naked eye, and was being tracked by militaries and scientists around the world. It's not fake, and it's no longer there. We did hit it.


reply to post by jsobecky


First of all, who said we can't??? I'm pretty sure NOBODY that has any real knowledge of our capabilities has said that.

Second of all, China's satellite was a weather satellite. Weather satellites are in geosynchronous orbit. That means THEY DON'T MOVE! Also, it was fully functioning, meaning it had quite a heat signature. Our satellite had no heat signature...more on this later. Also (again), it wasn't tumbling eratically. Ours was tumbling very eratically, as friction with the atmosphere and its inability to keep its orientation (no power) caused it to begin tumbling. This was independently verified by someone with expertise on the subject in another thread (I believe his name was Vic). Also (yet again), they weren't trying to hit a specific part of it, while we were trying to hit the fuel tank. I'm not saying also again, so I'll just list a few more things that are wrong with your comment. We fired our missile from a sea-going vessel, which bobs up and down and lists side to side (and front to back) a LOT. I know, as I was in the navy a while back. China shot its missile from the very steady ground.

Hitting a satellite 500 miles up that isn't moving and emits heat is MUCH easier than hitting the moon, which we've done several times. How many times has China done it?

Originally posted by dno117
1. IF a satellite where to fall from space and crash into earth, would there be anything left of value? I would assume it would become a pile of useless wreckage from such an impact, along with the stress of re-entering the earths atmosphere, but I don't know this for sure?

Yes. There would likely be enough "intact" pieces that it is definitely worth shooting it down, even at the risk of embarassment and/or world outcry. From what I've heard, the optical sensors and other equipment on this bird were extremely advanced. Our government wouldn't be doing such a good job of protecting us if it handed that stuff over to whoever found it, would they?

Originally posted by RussianScientists
reply to post by dno117

 

Lets face it, out in space it is very cold and if the satellite was out there, reintree of the satellite could have started to warm it up; also the cargo on board could have been leaving a "very good heat signature" if you know what I mean. But lets face it..... any heat seeking missle should have been able to strike it as long as it could get out in front of it as the satellite zoomed towards it. All other missiles would have been worthless most likely.

This is so riddled with flat-out WRONG information it's rediculous. First of all, as mentioned above, the satellite was D-E-A-D and had been so for over a year. In the cold of space for that long, it was giving off no heat signature worth mentioning. No heat-seeking missile in the world would find it. It was still 150 miles up. While several hundred passes through the edge of the atmosphere were enough to set the satellite into a tumble, not much heat was produced (the energy was converted mainly into kinetic energy sans thermal energy).

There is a type of missile that would do very well in this situation, despite your claim. Have you heard of radar? Satellites give off HUGE radar signatures, even our "top secret" military satellites. Radar is the method we used. Go back to school for a bit before you make yourself look stupid yet again.

[edit on 24-2-2008 by QuantumRule]

When i was a child my grandparents had pictures of rocket launches covering their walls. That and aerial pictures of an island.

The house was littered with seashells, and other things you would expect from island life.

When i got older I finally figured out that "Kwaj" was a reference that the family used for a place: Kwajaline (sp?).

My grandfather worked on the coolant systems in the missile silo's. There was no TV, so people had other hobbie's. My uncles, being rambunctious boys, liked the go carts, etc. My grandfather had a "hi fi" stereo that could make your ears bleed (what else could you listen to Lawrence Welk on?).

Most families on the island, however, were into film. They used to all gather for the big shows: missile launches. They would all show up with their camera's to film the missile launches from the base.

One time the camera's for the military failed. So they asked the civilians if they would mind sharing their film. Turns out the civilians had better film than the military. After that civilians were not allowed to film or photograph any launches.

My mom and uncle were talking yesterday and he mentioned this satellite being shot down. They thought it was funny that it was all over the news. they both SWEAR that when they were on the island our military used to shoot stuff down "all the time".

My grandfather was always quiet about his military service, so I didn't get too many stories about it or his subsequent civil service. But my mom and uncles are pretty good sources for general stuff. I enjoy hearing about their life on "Kwaj".

But I am intrigued by their assertion that we used to shoot stuff down "all the time" back in the mid 60's.

Breaking News

AP: Pentagon says analysis of spy satellite debris shows last week's shootdown hit the craft's fuel tank and destroyed its toxic fuel.

reply to post by QuantumRule

Second of all, China's satellite was a weather satellite. Weather satellites are in geosynchronous orbit. That means THEY DON'T MOVE! Also, it was fully functioning, meaning it had quite a heat signature. Our satellite had no heat signature...more on this later. Also (again), it wasn't tumbling eratically. Ours was tumbling very eratically, as friction with the atmosphere and its inability to keep its orientation (no power) caused it to begin tumbling. This was independently verified by someone with expertise on the subject in another thread (I believe his name was Vic). Also (yet again), they weren't trying to hit a specific part of it, while we were trying to hit the fuel tank. I'm not saying also again, so I'll just list a few more things that are wrong with your comment. We fired our missile from a sea-going vessel, which bobs up and down and lists side to side (and front to back) a LOT. I know, as I was in the navy a while back. China shot its missile from the very steady ground.

Hitting a satellite 500 miles up that isn't moving and emits heat is MUCH easier than hitting the moon, which we've done several times. How many times has China done it?

Just injecting some info, You cannot have a satellite in Geo-sync orbit while it's at an altitude of 537 miles. Arthur C Clarke (the father of Geo-Syncronous satellites) postulated this back in the 50's I think, to be Geo-Syncronous the altitude of the orbit must be 22187 miles above mean sea level on Earth. I do agree with most of the rest. Chinese satellite was reported to be 537 miles above Earth in Low Earth orbit which means the bits and pieces of the (whether it really was a weather satellite) will remain in orbit for many years, not days like USA 193.