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Missile Launched To Hit Satellite

By Associated Press

Did the missile hit its target? Update 10:50 p.m. Missile Launched To Hit Satellite

Published: Wed, February 20, 2008 - 10:43 pm

Update 10:50 p.m.
WASHINGTON (AP) -- A missile launched from a Navy ship struck a dying U.S. spy satellite passing 130 miles over the Pacific on Wednesday, the Pentagon said.

It was not clear whether the operation succeeded in its main goal of destroying a tank aboard the satellite that carried a toxic fuel that U.S. officials said could pose a hazard to humans if it landed in a populated area.

"Confirmation that the fuel tank has been fragmented should be available within 24 hours," the Pentagon said in a written statement.

The USS Lake Erie, armed with an SM-3 missile designed to knock down incoming missiles _ not orbiting satellites _ launched the attack at 10:26 p.m. EST, according to the Pentagon. It hit the satellite as the spacecraft traveled at more than 17,000 mph.

Because the satellite was orbiting at a relatively low altitude at the time it was hit by the missile, debris will begin to re-enter the Earth's atmosphere immediately, the Pentagon statement said.

"Nearly all of the debris will burn up on re-entry within 24-48 hours and the remaining debris should re-enter within 40 days," it said.

The use of the Navy missile amounted to an unprecedented use of components of the Pentagon's missile defense system, designed to shoot down hostile ballistic missiles in flight _ not kill satellites.

The operation was so extraordinary, with such intense international publicity and political ramifications, that Defense Secretary Robert Gates _ not a military commander _ was to make the final decision to pull the trigger.

The government organized hazardous materials teams, under the code name "Burnt Frost," to be flown to the site of any dangerous or otherwise sensitive debris that might land in the United States or elsewhere.

Also, six federal response groups that are positioned across the country by the Federal Emergency Management Agency have been alerted but not activated, FEMA spokesman James McIntyre said. "These are purely precautionary and preparedness actions only," he said.

Update 10:30 p.m.
According to CNN, the Pentagon says the Navy shot down an inoperable spy satellite before it crashed to earth.

9:45 p.m.
PENTAGON (AP) - The Pentagon says it could know in the next day
or so if the fuel tank on a dying spy satellite was destroyed when
the satellite was hit by a missile launched from a Navy ship.
Two officials say the launch -- from a vessel in the Pacific --
successfully hit the spacecraft. The USS Lake Erie, armed with a
missile designed to knock down incoming missiles -- not orbiting
satellites -- launched the attack at 10:26 p.m. Eastern. The
Pentagon says the missile hit the satellite as the spacecraft
traveled at more than 17,000 miles per hour.
The goal in this first-of-its-kind mission for the Navy was not
just to hit the satellite but to obliterate the tank, which was
carrying 1,000 pounds of a toxic fuel called hydrazine.
Officials have said the fuel would pose a threat if the tank
landed in a populated area. They said the odds of that were small,
but wanted to take no chances. The satellite also carried sensitive
material.