USS Lake Erie – MARK INDIA
At the end of a very long day/night for YHS (that has stretched into the bright new dawn…):
American Forces Press Service
WASHINGTON, Feb. 20, 2008 – A network of land-, air-, sea- and spaced-based sensors confirms that the U.S. military intercepted a non-functioning National Reconnaissance Office satellite which was in its final orbits before entering the earth’s atmosphere.
At approximately 10:26 p.m. EST today, a U.S. Navy AEGIS warship, the USS Lake Erie (CG-70), fired a single modified tactical Standard Missile-3 (SM-3) hitting the satellite approximately 247 kilometers (133 nautical miles) over the Pacific Ocean as it traveled in space at more than 17,000 mph. USS Decatur (DDG-73) and USS Russell (DDG-59) were also part of the task force.
The objective was to rupture the fuel tank to dissipate the approximately 1,000 pounds (453 kg) of hydrazine, a hazardous fuel which could pose a danger to people on earth, before it entered into earth’s atmosphere. Confirmation that the fuel tank has been fragmented should be available within 24 hours.
Due to the relatively low altitude of the satellite at the time of the engagement, debris will begin to re-enter the earth’s atmosphere immediately. Nearly all of the debris will burn up on reentry within 24-48 hours and the remaining debris should re-enter within 40 days.
Bravo Zulu to Lake Erie, Decatur, Russell and the legion of operators, engineers and rocket scientists afloat and ashore who have been crunching on this project since before Christmas. You made history today (OK, last night)…
Somehow I get the feeling you were intimately involved in this event, SJS. And you may well have run into my SN2 in the very recent past, as well.
BZ.
🙂 I knew you’d catch the jab sooner or later…
And, as we would more appropriately say from the surface bound realm “SPLASH ONE!”
In true context, “Mark India” merely being a relatively timed event…not indicative of success or failure, just when the TOF should put the weapon at the intercept point.
Well done SJS, thank you for the hours and sweat.
You make sure all those good folks you work with understand they have made their country very proud today, and we thank them very much for it.
What those above said, and that’s some Good Shootin!
Just got back in my stateroom from watching LAKE ERIE return from sea and have two things to say:
First, on behalf of the Captain and crew of RUSSELL, thanks for the props.
And second, if our paths ever cross, SJS, I bet we can share some stories.
Chris
Chris:
As small as the community is, am sure our paths will cross, esp. if you happen out Dahlgren or DC-way sometime soon. 🙂
BTW, BZ to RUSSELL for hosting SECDEF’s visit onbd; having had a few DV parties in my day can well appreciate the effort that went into the preparation and execution on top of all the other taskings going on.
-SJS
I could offer a few choice comments on DV events, but they’re probably better saved for a more…private…forum. This one was actually a pleasure, though. A well-trained crew with pride in service and a desire to strut their stuff goes a long way towards smoothing the seas.
Yankee, could you see a broom lashed to her mast?
I didn’t notice one….