Fuel tank was shattered by missile, officials believe
By Nancy A. Youssef | McClatchy Newspapers
* Posted on Thursday, February 21, 2008
WASHINGTON _ The U.S. military has a “high degree of confidence” that a missile fired at a crippled spy satellite struck the satellite's fuel tank that was carrying 1,000 pounds of toxic hydrazine rocket fuel, Pentagon officials said Thursday.
A video released by the military shows a fireball and vapor cloud erupt as the missile strikes the satellite. The military believes the vapor cloud is eveidence that the missile destroyed the tank, releasing the hydrazine, an ammonia-like chemical that can be harmful if inhaled or swallowed. U.S. officials ordered the missile strike on the satellite out of concern the tank would survive re-entry into the Earth's atmosphere and land in a populated area.
“We are not proceeding as if we are going to take another shot,” said Marine Gen. James Cartwright, the vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.
It will still be several days before the military can confirm it struck the tank, Cartwright said, as it studies data and several videos _ including one on the missile.
Debris has already begun falling over both the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, but nothing has reached the Earth’s surface, the military said. The remaining debris will re-enter the atmosphere in the next 40 days.
So far, the military has not seen any debris larger than a football, Cartwright said.
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