Satellite Shoot Down
On February 21, 2008, an SM-3 missile was fired from the Ticonderoga class missile cruiser USS Lake Erie and intercepted the NRO satellite, USA 193, about 133 nautical miles above the Pacific Ocean. The satellite was travelling with a velocity of about 17,500 mpg. The impact velocity was about 22,000 mph. The Department of Defense expressed a “high degree of confidence” that the fuel tank was hit and destroyed mitigating and chance of the hydrazine fuel tank rupturing during reentry.
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Picture Source: orbitcast.com |
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