Spy Satellite Destroyed – US Navy to Shot Down the Malfunctioning Satellite (video)

Written by Marko on February 21, 2008

Few days ago HomeboyAstronomy wrote how Pentagon is going to shoot down malfunctioning spy satellite. Pentagon decided to shoot the spy satellite down with a tactic missile because it contains very toxic fuel, hydrazine. According to US Navy, the spy satellite was successfully destroyed at 5:30 am. EET above the Pacific ocean.

The idea of destroying the toxic satellite with a tactic missile is to prevent the accidents caused by the falling satellite. US Navy used a special system, called Aegis, which is developed for the defense of ballistic missiles. Small pieces of the satellite, caused by the explosion, are expected to fall into atmosphere during the next few days.

USA 193 satellite was launched in December 2006, but it never worked well. By the end of January 2008 United States announced that the satellite is going to fall in few months. Even though the risks caused by the explosion were expected minimal, United States wanted to wait until the space shuttle Atlantis has landed safely.

Last year China shot down one of its satellites as a missile test. The result was that the explosion left much debris orbiting the planet, which is a risk for other satellites and space flights. In case of USA 193 there is no risk because the spy satellite was orbiting on low level. In case of China, the satellite was orbiting in 800 kilometers where the thousands of dangerous pieces of the satellite will orbit the planetduring dozens of years.

Read more about the spy satellite news in Navy site.

If you enjoyed this post, then make sure you subscribe to our daily RSS Feed or Email Newsletter. This article was written by Marko Pyhajarvi and its original location is in HomeboyAstronomy.Com astronomy blog. For more great astronomy articles, please visit HomeboyAstronomy.Com!