In Space News
The Associated Press reports the Pentagon to shoot down broken spy satellite
WASHINGTON – The Pentagon is planning to shoot down a broken spy satellite expected to hit the Earth in early March, The Associated Press has learned.
U.S. officials said Thursday that the option preferred by the Bush administration will be to fire missiles from a U.S. Navy cruiser, and shoot down the satellite before it enters Earth’s atmosphere.
The cruiser is part of the “doesn’t actually work” missile defense system, so the satellite is probably going to hit North America, if the current tracking is correct, in rather large flaming chunks with a lot of hydrazine available to make things sicken and die which will be good news for the Shrubbery after the media get done reporting. No doubt the possible death and destruction will prove to have prevented another terrorist plot.
In other news, the BBC reports South Korea to send ‘kimchi’ to space. Kimchi consumed in a closed environment like the space station should certainly test the effectiveness of the air filtration system, both pre- and post-consumption. I’m fairly certain this violates laws about space-based weapons.
6 comments
Target practice.
Let’s hope they hit what they intend to hit and don’t have a dud missile end up in Russia or China.
I think the kimchi in space is a much more exciting topic.
We are pretty sure they will miss with the missle shot and I imagine it is only being done so on the rare chance that they succeed Bush will get to flaunt his new “missile defense system”.
Actually, the missile should hit its target since it isn’t controlled or guided and is on a completely plotted course. You can do the ballistics on a calculator and could probably achieve lock on with an air-to-air missile with radar guidance. As you know we have some pretty good radars in place in the Northern Pacific. It is, however, still a PR stunt.
I have no fond memories of kimchi or its affects on my digestive tract. It’s a good thing I’m too old to be an astronaut because cleaning up the space station would be a bit of a problem were I involved in any way.
What’s the problem with kimchi? I go out to the local Korean grocery and bring home big bins full of the stuff every week. Kimchi’ed radishes, kimchi’ed carrots, kimchi’ed seaweed, kimchi’ed cucumbers, and of course what most Westerners think of as kimchi, kimchi’ed cabbage mostly in the “summer” (fresh) configuration because the stuff in jars (“winter” kimchi) is too strong. “Kimchi” is a process, not a product.
Actually, when I flying in that part of the world, cabbage was the only thing that was fermented, and it was done at home in special crockery. Today you can get it in stores, but in the “olden days” it was at home, from a street vendor, or in a restaurant.
The large local Korean population down here [Osan is a regular destination for the Air Force from here] make their own, and they stick to cabbage. It may be a regional preference.