Satellite Roulette

Catch up on the previous story "More Death From Above Expected"

President Bush has ordered the Pentagon to use a Navy missile to destroy a broken U.S. spy satellite that is hurling towards Earth.

The satellite is said to be heading towards Cleveland, Ohio and to minimize the risk to humans from its toxic fuel the military are hoping to intercept it just before it re-enters the atmosphere.

It is the first opperation of its kind undertaken in an effort to minimise the potential harm that may occur to the people in the area where the satellite would crash , the officials said.

Deputy National Security Adviser James Jeffrey, briefing reporters at the Pentagon, did not say when the attempted intercept would be conducted, but the satellite is expected to smash to earth during the first week of March.

"This is all about trying to reduce the danger to human beings," Jeffrey said "we are hoping to deflect most of the debris towards Kentucky and Tennessee which is more acceptable than Ohio .

" Gen. James Cartwright, vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said at the same briefing that the "window of opportunity" for such a shootdown, presumably to be launched from a Navy ship, will open in the next three or four days and last for seven or eight days.

He did not say whether the Pentagon has decided on an exact launch date. Cartwright said this will be an unprecedented effort; he would not say exactly what are the odds of success but as he'll be in a bunker and his pension is safe he isn't too concerned.

He said a Navy missile known as Standard Missile 3 would be fired in an attempt to intercept the satellite just prior to it re-entering Earth's atmosphere. It would be "next to impossible" to hit the satellite after that because of atmospheric disturbances, Cartwright said.

A second goal, he said, is to directly hit the fuel tank in order to minimize the amount of fuel that returns to Earth.

Cartwright also said that if an initial shootdown attempt fails, a decision will be made whether to take a second shot, that decision depends on if it will cost more to lose a few cities or lose one city and a second missile?

Shooting down a satellite is particularly sensitive because of the controversy surrounding China's anti-satellite test last year, when Beijing shot down one of its defunct weather satellites, drawing immediate criticism from the U.S. which means they look more than a little bit hypocritical now.

A key concern at that time was the debris created by Chinese satellite's destruction which killed over 400 of the countries' citizens the exact number isn't known, that will also be a focus now, as the U.S. determines exactly when and under what circumstances to shoot down its errant satellite.

Officials familiar with the situation say about half of the 5,000-pound spacecraft is expected to survive its blazing descent through the atmosphere and will scatter debris , some of it potentially hazardous over several hundred miles.

The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the matter.

Known by its military designation US 193, the satellite was launched in December 2006. It lost power and its central computer failed almost immediately afterward, leaving it uncontrollable.

It carried a sophisticated and secret imaging sensor with potentially damaging data on board if recovered by a foreign state.

The public is asked not to panic and if they do then to do so in an orderly manner.

More Death From Above Expected

If you weren't already concerned about the large meteor, named ZG-7134 that is due to hit Earth on March 21, 2008 then here is something else for you.

A US spy satellite the size of a small bus and weighing about 20,000 pounds or 9,072kg has lost power and is expected to crash to Earth some time in late February or March.

Gordon Johndoe, of the US National Security Council said: " We are looking at potential options to mitigate any possible damage this satellite may cause, we would only try to destroy the satellite with a missile if we thought the level of collateral damage would not be at an acceptable rate to the public. "

The satellite contains the rocket fuel hydrazine. A colourless liquid with an ammonia-like odour, the fuel is a toxic chemical and can cause extreme harm to anyone who comes in contact with it.

The US government is keeping lawmakers and other countries abreast of the situation but the general public will not be informed to avoid unnecessary panic if it does fall in heavily populated areas as the panic would probably cause more deaths than the satellite itself.

John Pike, director of the defense research group GlobalSecurity.org, said:" An uncontrolled re-entry could risk exposure of US secrets. It could be potentially embarrassing if it fell in an unfriendly country. Not that there are many nations unfriendly to the United States, what is there not to love about the # one country in the world ?"

Expert, Jeffrey Richolson of the National Security Archive, said the satellite is probably a photo reconnaissance satellite and that this one died as long as a year ago and is just now getting ready to re-enter the atmosphere. " We have so many up there its hard to keep track, " he added.

In 2002, officials believe debris from a 7,000-pound or 3,175-kg science satellite hit the Earth's atmosphere. It rained down over the Persian Gulf, a few thousand miles from where they first predicted it would crash. Which is pretty good as calculating trajectories is not an exact science.

The largest uncontrolled re-entry by a US space agency (Nasa) craft was Skylab.

The 78-tonne abandoned space station fell from orbit in 1979. Its debris dropped harmlessly into the Indian Ocean and across a remote section of western Australia, the only fatalities were two Kangaroos .