Gizmodo: Space Wars

Inside Video of Operation "Blow Up a Satellite": Heart Pounding Action...With Missiles!

Sean Fallon — Wed, 21 May 2008 21:30:00 EDT

Remember how the Navy fired a missile at that spy satellite a few months ago and made it go boom in one shot? Not surprisingly, they were quite proud of their accomplishment—which is why they have compiled footage of their exploits in a series of tense behind-the-scenes moments. The video after the break even shows the missile leaving the ship on its way to a victorious rendezvous with the pesky satellite. It is a definite must-see for any fan of explosions and the work that goes into making those explosions happen.

[Wired]

Operation 'Blow Up a Satellite' Update: We Have a Direct Hit

Adam Frucci — Thu, 21 Feb 2008 00:10:20 EST

A quick update on the satellite story that we reported about earlier this evening: it looks like the weather cleared enough for them to fire, and they hit the satellite as intended. It only took one shot, and it hit a target moving at about 17,000 miles per hour. Impressive. They still need a day to confirm that the pesky fuel tank was destroyed. As soon as video and photos surface we'll be sure to post them here, so keep checking back. [NY Times]

The Military's Satellite-Exploding Fireworks Show is Imminent, Expensive

Adam Frucci — Wed, 20 Feb 2008 16:20:00 EST

Remember how I told you that the Pentagon had plans to blow up an errant spy satellite with a missile? Well, it's happening, and it might just be happening tonight if the weather clears up. Blowin' stuff up, hot diggity damn! The downside? This operation in glorified fireworks is gonna cost taxpayers somewhere in the neighborhood of $50 million. That makes it less fun sounding, doesn't it?

Yes, with each missile costing around $10 million and two or three shots possibly necessary, this isn't a cheap process. So why is the Pentagon dropping this much money on something that, in all likelihood, would mostly burn up on reentry and land in the middle of the ocean?

Well, for one, this thing has 1,000 pounds of Hydrazine rocket fuel on board, which isn't anything you'd want landing in your front yard. According to the EPA, "exposure to high levels of hydrazine may [induce] irritation of the eyes, nose, and throat, dizziness, headache, nausea, pulmonary edema, seizures, and coma in humans." Hilariously enough, Hydrazine is also found in second-hand cigarette smoke, just not quite as much as would explode in your face if you were in the wrong place at the wrong time when this satellite fell.

But wouldn't all that rocket fuel burn up on reentry? You'd think it'd be the first to go, right? I mean, I'm certainly no rocket scientist, but that makes sense to me. So what other reasons could there be for spending so much coin on this operation?

Well, this is actually a pretty sweet opportunity for the military to test out its sea-based strategic missile defense system. Popular Science does a great job breaking down exactly what this test is going to entail. So essentially, this whole thing is either a way to save our environment from 1,000 pounds of toxic rocket fuel or an excuse to test out the militaries blowing-stuff-up program.

In any case, there will be explosions, and we will find video of said explosions right when it happens. Our priorities are straight. Stay tuned.

Pentagon to Shoot Dead Spy Satellite Down with a Missile

Adam Frucci — Thu, 14 Feb 2008 17:40:38 EST

That busted spy satellite that was going to fall to Earth and hopefully not kill anyone? Well, the Pentagon has decided to not just assume it'd land in an ocean somewhere, and they will take matters into their own hands. That's right: they're going to blow the thing right out of the sky.

The plan is to launch a missile from a Navy ship sometime in early March, smashing the thing to smithereens before it has a chance to enter the atmosphere. While you might think that they're just trying to make sure that the satellite doesn't land on an orphanage or something, in reality they're probably doing this so somebody like China doesn't get their hands on it. It is a spy satellite, after all, not just something beaming pay-per-view boxing down to you.

Hopefully the feds will be kind enough to shoot video or take pictures of the process so we can at least check out what shooting a satellite down with a missile would look like. Do it for the kids, Pentagon. [NY Times]