Shooting Spacecraft
Almost exactly a year ago, the Chinese tested (or demonstrated) an anti-satellite weapon by destroying an old weather satellite. This was a bad thing. The debris cloud it produced is a huge hazard to spacecraft (both manned and unmanned) to say nothing of the political implications. With the energies and velocities involved in space, hitting an object just the size of a fleck of paint carries similar destructive power to a hand-grenade. But space is large, so just how bad can a single broken-apart satellite be? It's wonderfully illustrated in this movie courtesy of STK-generated videos of CSSI.
(it may be necessary to right-click and select "zoom->full screen" to see it properly, sorry!)
Ever since this test, despite being widely criticized by the US I have little doubt the USAF has been itching to have a go at their own in-orbit tests of various toys. And it's possible, not necessarily likely, but possible they will get their chance. I have my suspicions.
Yesterday, the US announced a spy satellite has "lost power and propulsion" and is expected to crash to Earth some time in the next 2 months. Naturally, that's not something the US military is going to be happy about. The satellite weighs in at approx 9 tonnes, so it's hardly a snowflake. If it were to come down in a populated area, the results could be highly undesirable. If it came down in an unpopulated area, the results could still be undesirable - should a rival state get their hands on the US it "would risk exposure of US secrets". Oh, the horror.
My own suspicions are that they'll wait until they have a more accurate prediction about where it will come down. If it's over the pacific, they won't care. If it's over land, I suspect they will make an ASAT test of their own - and only admit to it if it works.
I'm hoping for the wet landing, myself.
(it may be necessary to right-click and select "zoom->full screen" to see it properly, sorry!)
Ever since this test, despite being widely criticized by the US I have little doubt the USAF has been itching to have a go at their own in-orbit tests of various toys. And it's possible, not necessarily likely, but possible they will get their chance. I have my suspicions.
Yesterday, the US announced a spy satellite has "lost power and propulsion" and is expected to crash to Earth some time in the next 2 months. Naturally, that's not something the US military is going to be happy about. The satellite weighs in at approx 9 tonnes, so it's hardly a snowflake. If it were to come down in a populated area, the results could be highly undesirable. If it came down in an unpopulated area, the results could still be undesirable - should a rival state get their hands on the US it "would risk exposure of US secrets". Oh, the horror.
My own suspicions are that they'll wait until they have a more accurate prediction about where it will come down. If it's over the pacific, they won't care. If it's over land, I suspect they will make an ASAT test of their own - and only admit to it if it works.
I'm hoping for the wet landing, myself.