Gen. James Cartwright says the Navy was successful in its effort to shoot down an inoperable spy satellite. The shooting down of the satelite will cost up to $60 million.
The fuel tank probably would have survived re-entry if the satellite had fallen to Earth on its own. It could have dispersed harmful or even potentially deadly fumes over an area the size of two football fields. Hydrazine is similar to chlorine or ammonia in that it affects the lungs and breathing tissue.
The Chinese military destroyed an aging weather satellite last year, prompting questions about whether the United States is merely flexing its muscle to show an economic and military rival that it can destroy satellites, too.
James Jeffrey, deputy national security adviser, denied such allegations this week. "This is all about trying to reduce the danger to human beings," he said.
But Beijing appears to have doubts.
"China is continuing to closely follow the possible harm caused by the U.S. action to outer space security and relevant countries," Foreign Ministry spokesman Liu Jianchao said Thursday.
* * * * * * *Tags:spysatelitechinarocketinterceptmissileorbitUSSlakeerieexplosion
Pretty cool what we can do with technology these days, But with our government there is probably either a huge ufo coming our way independence day style or a Asteroid deep impact style coming. ..
