The Examiner February 20, 2008
Top-scecret spy satellite's orbit unstable, Pentagon briefing says
BALTIMORE - The top-secret spy satellite the U.S. military plans to shoot down has an unstable, erratic orbit, so it’s impossible to say where parts of the satellite might rain down to Earth, the Pentagon says.
“We can’t say where it will come down because it’s not controlled,” said Lt. Col. Karen Finn, a Pentagon spokeswoman. “We can’t steer it down like we do with other satellites. It’s unstable, in an erratic orbit. If it was in a stable orbit, we’d be able to predict it.”
But safeguarding the satellite’s secret imaging sensor is a prime consideration.
“We are worried about something showing up on eBay,” said John Pike, director of the defense research group GlobalSecurity.org. Breaking up the satellite’s pieces lessens the chance that sensitive U.S. technology could wind up in Chinese hands, he added.
“What they have to be worried about is that a souvenir collector is going to find some piece, put it on eBay and the Chinese buy it,” Pike said.
The disabled satellite is expected to hit the Earth the first week of March, Pentagon officials said. The Navy would likely shoot it down as it enters the atmosphere, using a special missile modified for the task.
About half of the 5,000-pound spacecraft is expected to survive its blazing descent through the atmosphere and will scatter debris — some of it potentially hazardous — over several hundred miles, the Pentagon said.
The satellite’s thrusters, intended to position it in space, would have been used to down the satellite over an ocean or otherwise safe re-entry path.
The thrusters contain about 1,000 pounds of the toxic rocket fuel hydrazine, which can cause cancer.
Known by its military designation US 193, the satellite was launched in December 2006. It lost power and its central computer failed almost immediately afterward, leaving it uncontrollable.
Though no date has been released for a shoot-down, the window of opportunity opens after the space shuttle lands, planned for early this morning.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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