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WASHINGTON-The United States will have the chance to shoot down a disabled U.S. spy satellite from next Wednesday, after the space shuttle Atlantis ends its current mission, a U.S. general said on Friday."The window will open when the shuttle is on the ground," said Army Lt. Gen. Carter Ham, director of operations for the Pentagon's Joint Staff."All those who have a vested interest in this will then apply their best judgment as to when the best opportunity is to intercept the satellite," he told reporters.The Pentagon said on Thursday the Navy would try to shoot down the satellite before it enters the atmosphere, using a modified tactical missile from a ship in the Pacific, to avert a potentially deadly leak of toxic gas from its fuel tank.Each missile costs about $10 million but the U.S. government did not yet have an estimate of the cost of the shootdown operation, Ham said.The space shuttle is scheduled to land on Wednesday at 9:06 a.m EST at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida.Ham said the opportunity to shoot down the satellite would last until early March.Some space experts have criticized the decision to shoot down the satellite, saying the risk of it causing any damage on the ground was remote...To read more go to:
As in the days of Noah....
