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USA 193 Shootdown Set For Feb 21, 03:30 UTC
An anonymous reader writes "Amateur satellite watcher Ted Molczan notes that a "Notice to Airmen" (NOTAM) has been issued announcing restricted airspace for February 21, between 02:30 and 05:00 UTC, in a region near Hawaii. Stricken satellite USA 193, which the US has announced plans to shoot down, will pass over this area at about 03:30. Interestingly, this is during the totality of Wednesday's lunar eclipse, which may or may not make debris easier to observe."
... they're going to use a pop bottle to do the deed.
A super secret sat is not responding for unknown reasons. This requires a shootdown which just happens to occur during a lunar eclipse.
Wow, who gets the movie rights for this one?
Yep, I never spell check.
More incorrect spellings can be found he
50's called. They want their missiles back.
Disappointing. We need to LASER it.
The ill-tempered sea bass have a limited range, sorry.
This post may or may not be a way to tell you that may or may not is a totally ambigious statement. Some people may or may not notice this. I may or may not be modded Offtopic but I can also be modded +1 Funny or +1 Insightfull. However, this may or may not be the case.
Knowledge is power. Knowledge shared is power lost.
Actually, the classified hardware/software will burn up on reentry. Their more concerned about the full tank of hydrazine that would survive a normal reentry and create a hazardous materials nightmare near a populated area. Since they suspect it is going to come down near Hawaii, I'd love to see some sort of Taco Bell stunt where TB gives away free tacos if the satellite lands in a volcano during the eclipse.
:(){
That this is just a response to China's ASAT test of January last year?
China: you see, we can blow up your satellites!!
USA: aha! We can blow up your satellites too!!
General public: Why are they blowing up satellites?
How we know is more important than what we know.
No doubt goats will be slaughtered, wiccans consulted, and pentagrams drawn all in the hope that our missile intercept technology will actually work in a non-staged event.
Have gnu, will travel.
We have all retired to ASR.
But I've got a giant container of Jiffy-Pop popcorn on that satelite! How am I supposed to pop it now, and embarrass the traiterous professor?
I'll think of something...
"If we let things terrify us, life will not be worth living."
- Seneca
What will they blame this on? Since they have already used "a ship dropped it's anchor on the wire" for the Middle East Internet blackout, so here's some good excuses for our classic government:
Or some ways to cover the whole thing up:
So, is anyone planning on getting this on tape? I'd love a DivX video of the launch
Fixed
I'm surprised we didn't outsource this to China.
I really hope the weapons officer who gets to push the missile-firing button says: "ASSIMILATE THIS!!!"
I thought I was pretty clear about that. I'm just saying the idea of shooting a satellite down with a rocket is cool. I'm not saying it'll work or anything.
In the land of the blind, the one-eyed man is kinky.
If I was a trillionare, I would buy TWO of them.
wow, the USA is powerful after all - they can arrange for the ecplise to happen on a day of their choosing. amazing.
Max.
...Putin commands the satellite to shoot down you, your family, your close friends, your distant acquaintances, your neighbor's pet rabbit and the kid who called him "stuck-up" in third grade. This is ?
Maybe it's the senility, but I can't recall a time when the average Slashdotter was an expert in the mechanics involved in shooting down a wayward satellite.
Hydrazine+lunar eclipse=zombies!
Les Miserables Volume 1 now up with my reading of
The Russians didn't drop old reactor cores into the ocean. They merely took a wrong turn on the way to ecologically responsible long-term storage facilities. Darn that Mapquest and its outdated Siberian directions. It was an honest mistake, Comrade.
512 MB RAM, 20 GB disk, 200 GB transfer, five datacenters. $19.95/month.