Blue Collar Scientist

USS Lake Erie launches a missile at USA 193. See more at the Department of Defense website.

The DoD has a press release stating that at 10:26 PM EST (6:26 Alaska time), the USS Lake Erie fired a missile that hit the errant National Reconnaissance Office satellite known as USA 193. The missile had no warhead, which supports the DoD’s assertion that they are concerned about an intact hydrazine tank re-entry, and not with preventing classified technology falling into unfriendly hands.

The DoD states that confirmation should be available within 24 hours that the hydrazine was released harmlessly in space. This will be apparent from the decay rate of the satellite’s orbit; with about the same surface area, but much less mass, the orbit will decay noticeably more rapidly than if the hydrazine had not been released.

This provides yet another confirmation of the government’s story that amateur observers can make: Assuming that the satellite is largely intact and still visible, in the event the hydrazine has been released, the satellite should show up later, and on a track that is more westerly, than predictions with the current elements indicate. However, there isn’t much time - the bulk of the orbiting material is expected to re-enter within two days. Heavens Above is still providing easy-to-use predictions on the satellite’s visibility.

UPDATE: DoD says that nothing bigger than a football survived - so much for that! Also, I replaced the picture of USA 193’s launch, to a picture of the launch of the missile that hit it, from the DoD website.

I was interviewed a few days ago by a local radio journalist who was asking whether the interception would be visible from southcentral Alaska. My polished and very educational answer was edited down to a succinct “No, it won’t” for airing. The interest seems to have been generated by the occasional visibility of missiles fired from Kodiak Island, but the ships doing this work were too far to the south and west in the Pacific Ocean, and the satellite much too low, for the interception to be visible.