USA193 "The Doomed Spy Satellite"
INTRODUCTION
Soon after launch in December 2007, the super-secret US Spy Satellite "USA193" stopped working. It is out of control in a low-earth orbit and is doomed to fall to the Earth, probably during March 2008.
There are two big problems!Â
One, it has a great big fuel tank, full of possibly frozen hydrazine fuel, some of which may survive reentry. This stuff is toxic.Â
Two, needless to say, it's carrying some sensitive imaging technologies...
Call to Action! Mid February 2008, the US President orders that the satellite be...uh..."shot down" with an ASAT missile fired from a Navy cruiser. This will break it into smaller pieces, hopefully solving the two problems.
WHAT I HAVE HEARD
- According to media reports, USA193 is "as large as a schoolbus."
- According to another report, it has a 40-inch tank of hydrazine.
- The Navy would like to shoot it when its altitude is about 240 km, but it could be brought down later. They're for sure waiting until after Feb 20 '08, when the Atlantis, in orbit after visiting the ISS, is scheduled to land.
CAUTION
This add-on is **not** intended to be taken seriously!
 It CAN NOT be used for predicting anything with certainty. As such, it has the following handicaps:- Satellite ephemeris is inaccurate;
- The date of likely shoot down is probably off by a week or two;
- The appearance of the satellite is a complete fantasy.Â
OBJECTIVE
The value of this add-on is to explore the possible actions of the various fragments after the satellite is hit by a kinetic (non-exploding) warhead from below.