Falling Spy Satellite

A U.S. spy satellite which contains about 1,000 pounds of the fuel hydrazine lost power and communications shortly after launch on December 14, 2006. It could not maintain orbit and was expected to fall to Earth in March of 2008. Because of potentially toxic fuel hydrazine in its tanks, the U.S. military shot down the satellite February 20, 2008.

1. Satellite number: USA 193
2. Designated NROL-21
3. Weight: 5,015 lbs.
4. About as big as a bus
5. Carrying 1,000 lbs. of hydrazine

1. Shootdown location: southwest of Hawaii
2. Shootdown altitude: 149 miles
3. Speed at shootdown: 22,783 mph
4. Ships firing: USS Lake Erie, USS Decatur
5. Missiles used: Lockheed's Aegis system
6. Time: 10:30 PM EST

1. Common rocket fuel element
2. Also found in tobacco smoke, pesticides, photo chemicals, dyes
3. Carcinogen
4. Toxic even at low levels
5. Toxic effects: skin burns, breathing problems, dizziness, blindness, headache, nausea, coma

1. The odds of being struck by a piece of falling space debris is 1/1,000,000,000,000

• Topix: Falling Spy Satellite
• Google News: Falling Spy Satellite
• CNN: Military: Satellite's downing worked as planned (February 25, 2008)
• USATODAY.com: Pentagon: No Danger From Downed Satellite (February 23, 2008)
  • "Whitman said there were no indications of danger posed by falling debris, some of which already has re-entered the atmosphere. Gen. James Cartwright, vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said on Thursday that they had detected no debris larger than a football, and Whitman said that as of Friday that statement remained true."

• New York Times: "An Errant Satellite Is Gone, but Questions Linger" (February 22, 2008)
• FOXNews.com: Satellite-Debris Recovery Team Ready for Action (February 22, 2008)
• New York Times: "Missile Strikes a Spy Satellite Falling From Its Orbit" (February 21, 2008)
• YouTube: US Shoots Down Failed Spy Satellite (Time 0:59)
• FOXNews.com: Navy Shoots Down Wayward Satellite (February 21, 2008)
• YouTube: FEMA rescue teams around country for satellite shootdown (Time 2:54)
• The Sydney Morning Herald: Rogue Satellite Faces a Violent End (February 20, 2008)
  • "To be fired from a US warship in the North Pacific Ocean, the missile is expected to collide with the satellite at a combined speed of 35,000 kmh. It is hoped it will smash the satellite apart, rupturing the fuel tank and letting its hydrazine spill into space."
• Philadelphia Inquirer: "Moorestown's Lockheed has role in satellite shooting" (February 19, 2008)
• Engadget: Disabled spy satellite photographed over Japan (February 19, 2008)
• The Sydney Morning Herald: Australia Prepares for Falling Satellite (February 18, 2008)
• International Herald Tribune: Missile-ready China warns U.S. against plan to destroy spy satellite (February 18, 2008)
• CNN: Sources: Navy to shoot down failed satellite Thursday (February 18, 2008)
• BBC NEWS: US Spy Satellite Plan 'A Cover' (February 17, 2008)
• The Washington Times: "Satellite shoot-down shows missile muscle" (February 15, 2008)
• MSNBC: Q& - Destroying a broken spy satellite (February 14, 2008)
• FoxNews.com: Pentagon Plans to Shoot Down Failing Satellite (February 13, 2008)
  • John Pike, defense and intelligence expert: "To have our most sophisticated radar intelligence satellite — have big pieces of it fall into [Chinese or Russian] hands — would not be our preferred outcome."
• New York Times: "Satellite Spotters Glimpse Secrets, and Tell Them" (February 5, 2008)
• New York Times: "U.S. Spy Satellite Is Said to Be Falling From Orbit" (January 26, 2008)
  • NSA Spokesman Gordon Johndroe: "Appropriate government agencies are monitoring the situation...We are looking at potential options to mitigate any possible damage this satellite may cause."
• BBC News: Satellite could plummet to Earth (January 26, 2008)
  • The satellite, about which no specific details were given, has lost power and propulsion.