News to make your day: GO Navy!!
Photos of Lake Erie test firing SM3 missile
I have been among those eagerly awaiting the shoot down of the errant satellite while still in orbit around the Earth. Today we got the good news, courtesy of the NavyTimes:
The Navy cruiser Lake Erie successfully shot down a malfunctioning spy satellite Wednesday night over the Pacific Ocean.
At 10:26 p.m. EST the Lake Erie fired a Standard Missile-3 at 133 nautical miles over the Pacific Ocean, according to the Pentagon. The SM-3 traveled at approximately 17,000 mph, a Defense Department statement said.
The objective of the shot was to take out the satellite’s fuel tank which contains about 1,000 pounds of hydrazine, a hazardous fuel that could pose a danger to people if it hit land, the DoD release noted.
Think about that-- the US military shot an object from the sky-- in orbit-- from a boat! With apparently, pinpoint accuracy. 17,000 mph! Imagine that before the leadership of one Ronald Reagan, thoughts of such a feat were the stuff of science fiction. Not any more...
President Reagan Addresses the Nation from the oval office on National Security (Strategic Defense Initiative speech) March 23, 1983.
And here's the other point that I find interesting about this whole satellite shoot down matter: the demonstration of capability that reeks of good 'ole fashioned American know-how and ingenuity closely mirroring the MRAP story-- all under the leadership of our new Defense Secretary Gates.
The Lake Erie and two other Navy warships, as well as the missile and other components, were modified in a hurry-up project started in January.
Pretty sweet, eh?
It took the Navy about six weeks to make the necessary modifications to the missiles and radars to “take it to sea with some degree of confidence,” a Navy official said Tuesday at a press briefing.
The Navy had no prior capability to shoot down satellites and had previously “not explored that,” the source added.
I wonder what the North Koreans, the Chicoms, Putin's Russkies, and the lunatic Iranian are thinking today? Nice job sailors!
Comments
CNN reported:
"In 1989, a U.S. fighter jet destroyed an American satellite by firing a modified air-to-air missile into space from an altitude of 80,000 feet. That move adds to evidence the U.S. acted Wednesday strictly to guard against the prospect of a potential disaster, Cartwright said."
1989!!!! That's almost 20 years ago. We have better missiles and better airplanes today. There was no need to involve every service and spend all that money just just to shoot down that satellite.
And what the heck is up with the weather restrictions? If the anti-satellite system can't shoot down a lumbering chunk of junk whose trajectory is know perfectly during a period of inclement weather, we are in a lot of trouble.
Posted by: Just a reader | February 28, 2008 1:50 PM