I watched it on a local TV here. Thank God for the prompt interception! Otherwise, it would have caused a havoc because of the deadly hydrazine in it. However, there was furore over the destruction in Russia and China because it shows the ability of the U.S to destroy satellites at high altitudes and these countries fear that their satellites too came under risk from US attack.
First of all China blew a satellite not to long ago and second off the US blew a satellite out of space in 1989. They used a fighter at 80,000 feet and launched a modified missile at the satellite and killed it. The original thought was the US was trying to show China it was just as capable as them at blowing a satellite out of space but they used the 1989 example to show that they were truly concerned about the fuel and weren't in any kind of pissing war with china.
I hardly follow news either. Only reason I ever knew about that 1989 satellite is they were talking about it to calm down China about this satellite. I was 5 years old in 1989 so I certainly wouldn't have known about it plus that was the cold war so you know it wouldn't have been on the news anyway.
I havent seen a video but heard about it. i don't know much about it but why are they calling the thing toxic and whatnot? that was their main excuse for blowing it up...seems like an awful waste of money...god knows how much the satelite was, then 60 mill for the missle that hit it...wouldnt any (toxic) stuff be cheaper to clean up after it hit?
Wow interesting; I didn't even know about this. Why'd it get blown up? And was it a Chinese satellite?
Well the problem is this satellite was uncontrollable. It lost all controls shortly after it entered orbit. Problem is it has 1000 pounds of extremely toxic fuel aboard it. The main concern was the tank would survive reentry then hit earth and it would explode sending a toxic fuel cloud up. I forget the name of the fuel but it is in the news reports. Important thing is the effects it has on the body. Basically it will suffocate you. It irritates and inflames the lungs. Bad shit. Suffocation ain't a way to go especially if it is something you have no control over. You can't control inflaming lungs.
Yeah, it was a Chinese spy satellite loaded w/ dangerous rocket fuel and headed for New Jersey. So we nuked it before it was any real threat.