----- Original Message ----- From: "Robin van Spaandonk" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
To: <vortex-l@eskimo.com> Sent: Friday, February 22, 2008 5:37 PM Subject: Re: [Vo]:Parksie gets it wrong yet again
In reply to Stephen A. Lawrence's message of Fri, 22 Feb 2008 16:48:17 -0500:
Hi, [snip]
I haven't been following the list lately (bad Steve) so maybe someone (Jones?) has already covered this, but the question of *WHY* the U.S. chose to shoot down that satellite is an interesting one.
The satellite was dead, unresponsive to any commands, unsteerable. It did not have an aerodynamic shape, so its interaction with the atmosphere was unpredictable. It is was not a meteor, so might not burn up totally and nasty chuncks could have fallen on cities, creating all manner of problems. The Aegis system is well developed and does not carry atomic warheads. Its mission is to protect a fleet at sea by shooting down any threat from horizon to horizon. It has routinly shot down test missiles for years. It is no 'news' to the armed forces of the world. The only question was the altitude range of the on board missiles.
Mike Carrell
