Pentagon to shoot down renegade spy satellite

Good news, everyone! Remember that Alien-infested, out of control satellite we told you about a few weeks ago? Well, the US government has finally put together a plan to avoid the civilization-decimating disaster that would have resulted from its impact with Earth: they're gonna blow it up. That's right -- US officials have confirmed that they're going to use modified SM-3 missiles fired from a cruiser and destroyer off the Northwest coast of Hawaii to take the thing out. The weapons have additional fuel and new software which will allow them to reach the object in orbit, thus blasting it to smithereens. The resulting impact will leave nothing but "space junk," which will endlessly pollute the galaxy until we're wiped out by a reverse "Big Bang" or doomsday device. You may now return to your overpriced latté.

[Anthony @ Feb 14th 2008 3:50PM]

I love the addition to the photo.

Lets hope they do a better job blowing it up than China did with theirs.

[jroc @ Feb 14th 2008 4:05PM]

So why doesn't the pentagon send a predator to take out that alien? It would be more effective than sending a missile. Think pentagon think!

[superfresh @ Feb 14th 2008 4:54PM]

How do I know this isn't a sordid NAB plot to blast Sirius/XM out of the sky?

[Billy @ Feb 14th 2008 5:14PM]

I love how the US got all over China's ass for blowing up their satellite, but now that we're going to do the same thing, hey, ain't no thang, right? Whatever.

[Will @ Feb 14th 2008 9:39PM]

Billy,
My understanding is that this satellite is in a much lower orbit than the Chinese satellite, so much so that it is going to re-enter the atmosphere in a matter of weeks. The debris from this operation (if successful) will not stay in orbit for very long.
If however, you destroy a satellite in a higher orbit where working satellites exist, you risk having other satellites damaged as the debris will stay in [a valuable] orbit much longer.

That is why the Chinese "test" is worthy of more criticism. Although... this still seems to be a bit of oneupmanship based on prior statments that indicated a risk to people on the ground was extremely remote.

[Kaname @ Feb 16th 2008 5:19AM]

@Will
Could it be possible that some of the debris get kicked into a much higher orbit?

[John @ Feb 14th 2008 3:52PM]

is having millions of pieces of debris in orbit really preferable to having it crash?

[Chebwa @ Feb 14th 2008 3:54PM]

Tom Servo is funnier.

[nd @ Feb 14th 2008 4:12PM]

yes.

[Josh L @ Feb 14th 2008 4:13PM]

Yes. Smaller chunks are more likely to burn up completely on re-entry.

Also, the main concern with this whole episode (aside from the obvious concerns of spy satellite tech falling into unfriendly hands) has been that the fuel contained in the satellite is toxic and could be spread over populated areas. If we can get rid of all (or most) of that fuel through combustion, it will allay that fear.

[superfresh @ Feb 14th 2008 4:57PM]

Josh L is right. Didn't you people see the ending of Cloverfield?

[Superprime @ Feb 14th 2008 3:53PM]

Coverup for testing anti-sattelite weaponry?

[bigdoggie @ Feb 14th 2008 4:29PM]

hell yes!

[Robert @ Feb 14th 2008 4:50PM]

That is the first thing that came to my mind too.

[rcappo @ Feb 14th 2008 4:42PM]

Watch China shoot it down tomorrow... They've already tested their anti-satellite missiles once.

[Blaktornado @ Feb 14th 2008 4:52PM]

"Say, why does that U.S. Spy Satellite have some weird Russian markings on it?"

[Keith @ Feb 14th 2008 5:06PM]

Or maybe it will be a surprise attack on North Korea or Iran that no one expected because of this story.

[Corey @ Feb 14th 2008 4:56PM]

OR, watch China shoot down our anti-satellite missile.

[thirteenguy @ Feb 14th 2008 5:13PM]

that's what the first thing came into my mind seeing this news. Hell yes!

[JuggleNuts @ Feb 14th 2008 5:31PM]

Are you for real? We've been able to shoot down satellites since the 80's, probably earlier.

[olsonick @ Feb 14th 2008 3:56PM]

does engadget prefer photoshop or gimp?

[Carbonize @ Feb 14th 2008 4:22PM]

Paint.NET

[Tom Oliveri @ Feb 14th 2008 4:59PM]

helloooooo exif tags!

[Austin @ Feb 14th 2008 3:56PM]

I really think coverage of this story needs to continue; the article image keeps getting better. mabye some little guy on the surface of the earth? one of those little guys that scream at the sight of godzilla? and perhaps you could change the background image to a google earth image of Paris Hilton's house with a bunch of magnets over it to attract the satellite?

[Ian @ Feb 14th 2008 8:29PM]

o please let the magnets be there!!!!

[tbirdman @ Feb 14th 2008 3:57PM]

now we will have to blow up more satellites because space debris took out another one. a never-ending cycle has just begun. on an up-note we will now have a reason to devolope deflector shields.

[tbirdman @ Feb 14th 2008 3:58PM]

now we will have to blow up more satellites because space debris took out another one. a never-ending cycle has just begun. on an up-note we will now have a reason to devolope deflector shields.

[tbirdman @ Feb 14th 2008 3:58PM]

sorry for the double post

[Adam Hanson @ Feb 14th 2008 4:06PM]

Dilemma.. upon realization of a double post, should one assume all who see knows it's an error, or post again to apologize for the double post, thus leading to a triple post?

[Brian @ Feb 14th 2008 4:21PM]

Triple post, ftw!

[Killerchronic @ Feb 14th 2008 4:02PM]

aliens and missles w00t :D

if all else fails, blow it up! lol

[Nothiding Nuthin @ Feb 14th 2008 4:03PM]

As conjectured elsewhere, they probably just want to make REAL sure (probably after tons of lab testing) that the supersecret sensor that's DEEP inside that big satellite gets burned up in the atmosphere.

Leave it whole and risk it getting all the way to the gorund.

[Ender Wiggin @ Feb 14th 2008 4:06PM]

This article:
http://www.reuters.com/article/topNews/idUSN1447206620080214
seems to imply that they are using the weapons to nudge the satellite away from human populations. I'm a tad confused about what exactly they plan to do.

Multiple small chunks might be considered preferable because the small chunks are more likely to vaporize in the Earth's atmosphere upon reentry. That's my guess at least.

The Reuters article said that they were not very concerned about the actual satellite hitting humans but rather with the fuel in the satellite leaking out. Apparently the fuel is poisonous.

[Lacking Belief @ Feb 14th 2008 4:09PM]

> ...fuel...

Lol!

Yeah, we all know that applying a few thousand re-entrydegrees to rocket fuel just changes it into a hard solid.

[Ender Wiggin @ Feb 14th 2008 4:09PM]

Man, that last comment was supposed to be in response to John. Here, I'll go fix it and...

Wait... I can't edit comments....

[CraigJ @ Feb 14th 2008 4:12PM]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hydrazine

Hydrazine is highly toxic and dangerously unstable, especially in the anhydrous form. Symptoms of acute exposure to high levels of hydrazine in humans may include irritation of the eyes, nose, and throat, dizziness, headache, nausea, pulmonary edema, seizures, coma, and it can also damage the liver, kidneys, and central nervous system. The liquid is corrosive and may produce dermatitis from skin contact in humans and animals. Effects to the lungs, liver, spleen, and thyroid have been reported in animals chronically exposed to hydrazine via inhalation. Increased incidences of lung, nasal cavity, and liver tumors have been observed in rodents exposed to hydrazine.

Been used since WW II as rocket fuel...

[Darkest Daze @ Feb 14th 2008 4:17PM]

So, it has the same side effects as most prescription drugs.

[elbrando @ Feb 14th 2008 5:01PM]

Wow, what a crappy system this is! My response above was posted to Adam Hanson in the tbirdman double posting above. I'm not even sure this will appear under my incorrectly posted post. Wow.

OK, I'm done commenting about posts. Sorry for your wasted time.

[elbrando @ Feb 14th 2008 4:58PM]

Or add a post commenting on double posting etiquette only to have another post about that post.

That, of course, is where it will end. No one would dare post about a post commenting about a post that pointed out the etiquette of double posting. Of course not.

[MikeLong @ Feb 14th 2008 4:10PM]

The missles have upgraded software?




Can they play doom?

[Isindil @ Feb 14th 2008 4:15PM]

My reliable sources tell me that they're capable of Crysis on ultra high while practically playing around with the omega hard (is that really what it's called?) bots thanks to its superior AI.

[MikeLong @ Feb 14th 2008 4:19PM]

Hmmm...interesting....

[Carbonize @ Feb 14th 2008 4:25PM]

Don't know about playing Doom but they can certainly spell it.




Given the failure rate of the laser guided bombs America used in the previous Gulf War is it advisable to launch missile into orbit and pray they don't screw up and take out the International Space Station?

[Tom Oliveri @ Feb 14th 2008 5:00PM]

hahaha! classic!

[OSnix*-geek @ Feb 14th 2008 5:42PM]

Yes it was written by M$, now how do you feel? That's what I think everytime I think about SYNC..... the worst idea evAr.

If you don't trust your software maker not to kill you, when even running a nav software or something in your car.... than you know something is wrong.

[Chris @ Feb 14th 2008 4:11PM]

I love engadget's sense of humor :) no wonder I read it every day (non-sarcasm here)

[martin @ Feb 14th 2008 4:13PM]

oh no! a missle malfuncted and hit iran. ah well, win some lose some.

[Brent @ Feb 14th 2008 4:13PM]

Satellites fall out of the sky on a somewhat regular basis as far as I understood. I must say I think there are ulterior motives to this. Either just testing space weaponry or there's something on that satellite they don't want anyone to know about. Then again, I'm not really much of a conspiracy nut, so maybe it's exactly what they say it is. I am a little surprised that they have weapons capable of reaching a satellite. I always thought we weren't supposed to do that. Also, is it just me or might it make sense to put some sort of auto-destruct on these things in the future so we don't have to spend millions launching missiles? What's a pound of C4 cost?

[Blowme Away @ Feb 14th 2008 4:16PM]

The Norden Bombsight had autodestruct.

[Josh L @ Feb 14th 2008 4:19PM]

The whole reason the satellite is going to crash in the first place (keep your conspiracy theories to yourselves, thanks) is that there was a malfunction of some sort that kept the orbital correction systems from working. If something caused those systems to malfunction, it's not too big of a stretch to imagine that an auto-destruct system might malfunction too under the same circumstances.

Besides, the US has got gobs of missiles just sitting around waiting to blow stuff up. It'd be a shame to have them go to waste ;)