Syzdekistan

News reports state that tonight’s spy satellite shootdown may be delayed due to rough seas affecting the area where the US Navy cruiser Lake Erie. Here is a Pacific ocean wave height map from Weather Underground.

It’s good to see that the ballistic missile defense tests need perfect and contrived conditions for there to be success. Here is a list of previous SM-3 tests and the results of the tests.

Here is a video of a simulation of the effects of the shootdown. Notice that the particles remaining of the satellite and continue on in roughly the orbit of the undamaged satellite. Some of their momentum has been reduced by the impact of the weapon:

Of course, criticism of the given rationale of the test shootdown to save innocent people, continues.
Finally, the public relations effort by the Pentagon continues to amaze the public (link):

Q: On the missile launch itself, a lot of critics of missile defense will seize on a failure to hit the satellite as missile defense is flawed, and this is like a manhood test for missile defense in general… Is this a prove-out again of that concept?

MR. MORRELL: There have been many successful missile defense tests to date, which lead us to believe that the system works, and that we should be building upon it. So we are taking this step, as General Cartwright made abundantly clear last week, not to test our anti-satellite capabilities. We did that in 1985. Been there, done that…

Q: Pardon me if we’ve gone over this, but if we’ve already taken down a satellite, why not use the same techniques that we did in 1985?

MR. MORRELL: Listen, you’re talking — this — I majored in English and — I majored in government and English. I’m not familiar with how we take down satellites.

This is the Press Secretary for the Pentagon, Geoff Morrell. Good grief.

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