TBO.com - TBO is Tampa Bay Online

Satellite's Tank Destroyed

ADVERTISEMENT

The Washington Post

Published: February 26, 2008

WASHINGTON - The missile that took down a disabled spy satellite last week almost certainly destroyed a tank filled with potentially harmful hydrazine fuel, the Pentagon said Monday.

"By all accounts this was a successful mission," Gen. James Cartwright, vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said in a statement. "From the debris analysis, we have a high degree of confidence the satellite's fuel tank was destroyed and the hydrazine has been dissipated."

The conclusion was based on a study of the debris field, the statement said. The Pentagon also has video shot from the missile warhead as it approached the satellite, McClatchy Newspapers reported, but that video is not being released.

Soon after the satellite was hit, the Pentagon made available a video taken from a different vantage point showing an explosion as the anti-ballistic missile struck the descending satellite.

The 5,000-pound satellite was struck by a Standard Missile-3, launched from a Navy cruiser in the north Pacific, as it orbited about 150 miles above Earth.

The Washington Post

Share this:

Loading Comments...

Email Print

ADVERTISEMENT