[meteorite-list] Fw: U.S. To Shoot Down Defunct Spy Satellite

[Sterling K. Webb]

Forwarding this to The List for:
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Kelly Beatty" <kbeatty at skyandtelescope.com>
To: "Sterling K. Webb" <sterling_k_webb at sbcglobal.net>
Sent: Friday, February 15, 2008 2:57 PM
Subject: RE: [meteorite-list] U.S. To Shoot Down Defunct Spy Satellite


Sterling...

I'm sending you this directly because for some reason my posts to the 
meteorite list aren't going through.

>     Rob pointed out that only a very small percentage of the
> debris will  be directed into potentially dangerous orbits, but
> a "small percentage" of 100,000 is still a respectable number.

*none* of the debris will survive more than a few weeks. that's because 
while, conceivably, the fragments' apogees will change a bit, the perigees 
will not. and the perigees are already so low that fairly rapid decay is 
assured. all else being equal, breaking up the satellite will actually 
hasten reentry because virtually all the resulting pieces will have higher 
area/mass ratios that the intact satellite did.


clear skies,

Kelly Beatty
Executive Editor
SKY & TELESCOPE
617-864-7360 x2148
SkyandTelescope.com