▲A missile launched from a U.S. navy ship hit an out-of-control spy satellite Wednesday.
▲"The missile has been launched and (it was) a successful intercept," the Pentagon said.
▲The more detailed results of the action is not available currently.
A missile launched from a U.S. navy ship in the North Pacific hit an out-of-control spy satellite late Wednesday, CNN reported.
"The missile has been launched and (it was) a successful intercept," a Pentagon source was quoted by CNN as saying. It happened around 10:30 p.m. EST on Wednesday (0330 GMT on Thursday)when the satellite flied 130 miles (about 210 km) over the Pacific.
The more detailed results of the action is not available currently.
Although the dying satellite is the target, the Pentagon hopes the missile can hit exactly the tank carrying toxical fuels aboard the spacecraft. The tank is circular with a radius of 20 inches (about 50 cm). It will take a day or two to know whether the tank has been destroyed.
With the weather over Pacific improving, U.S. military finally gave the shoot-down order. A modified SM-3 missile was fired from the cruiser USS Lake Erie, attempting to hit the bus-size satellite, according to the Pentagon action plan released earlier.
The satellite, called USA 193,was launched Dec. 14, 2006. Shortly after it reached orbit, ground controllers lost contact with it. Left alone, the satellite would be expected to hit Earth during the first week of March. Approximately 1,134 kg of satellite mass will survive re-entry, including 453 kg of propellant fuel hydrazine, a hazardous material, in the tank, according to the Pentagon.
Therefore, President George W. Bush decided to take action to mitigate the risk to human lives by shooting down the errant satellite.
"The likelihood of the satellite falling in a populated area is small. Nevertheless, if it did fall in a populated area, there was the possibility of death or injury to human beings," said James Jeffrey, deputy national security advisor at a Pentagon briefing last week.
In late January, the U.S. government notified other nations that the satellite was unresponsive and would make an uncontrolledre-entry in late February or early March without intercept.
The U.S. satellite shoot-down plan spurred significant concerns around the world. The U.S. military and government officials have stressed at several news briefings that the mission isn't designed to test U.S. anti-satellite capabilities.
Source: Xinhua
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