According to CNN sometime this evening its expected that NASA (or the Navy actually – thanks Mr. Zambo
) will shoot down USA 193, the out of control spy satellite. Until then you can track the satelliete’s progress using Heavens Above’s Decaying Spy Satellite page. The picture above shows the satellite’s current location at 3:40 Pacific Time. I guess its just proof that you really can find anything online.
There is also a total lunar eclipse tonight that is visible for most of the United States unless you have clouds like we do in Northern California.
Joe
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NASA did not shoot it down, but they did get the space shuttle on the ground in a hurry before the Navy did. The Navy launched a missle used to intercept other missles and hit the dead satellite. It was a non-explosive missle, meaning it was intended to break the spy satellite apart due to the force of impact alone. Although it was a confirmed hit (pretty impressive since the satellite was moving at 17,000 mph and 150 miles up), it will not be known if the satellite’s fuel tank was destroyed, as intended, until later. The pieces from both objects are expected to fall and mostly burn up in the Earth’s atmosphere starting immediately. This is different from the Chinese satellite that was destroyed last year in a higher orbit. Those pieces added to a growing catalog of dangerous objects orbiting the planet. NASA tracks as many of these objects as possible to reduce the risks for the shuttle and International Space Station. SpatSat, a spattula that got away from an ealier space station, was tracked for a decade before it finally reentered the atmosphere. Orbiting at 25 times the speed of sound even a paint chip can be deadly.
We live in interesting times, don’t we?