Very few Earth orbiting satellites have atomic power plants aboard. For one, they usually don't have a useful life (which is measured by how much station keeping fuel is onboard) long enough to utilize it. And second, solar panels are much cheaper and easier. Nuke plants are for long duration missions to the outer solar system where there isn't enough sun-light to power a spacecraft's electronics. If this one DID have a atomic power plant, that makes the decision to knock it down and make sure it landed in the ocean that much better right?
You need to get this straight, theres a snowballs hell in chance we can hit it! and if we do it will rain nuclear debris all over some 3rd world country that we have exploited to cover up some covert oppression of the indigenous people for the profit of all giant US multinational corporations!
A better guess other than nuclear payload is that the thing simply contained classified material that they didn't want in the wrong hands and it also gave a chance to prove Team Atomic wrong.
But of course! We all forgot Big Brother is reading teh BBS as fast as we can type, monitoring our every move. They figure by raising all of our collective moods at once by having all of us laughing at Team Atomic it will stimulate a buying spree which will in turn stimulate our economy and produce a massive influx of consumer purchasing which will save our economy from the pending recession! It's all part of the government's plan, not to worry. :up:
Ok,, Again where have you been, what PENDING recession? don't you watch CNN or read the NYT? we are in a full blown recession! As I am typing this everyone except the rich is already in foreclosure. We are being evicted, the homeless are living in the empty houses, our cars are being repossessed and it is only a matter of time until the debtor prisons are finished so we can start imprisoning the dead beats! We have to have the illegal immigration because no self respecting American would be caught dead actually working...
You are probably correct in that very few are atomic powered but they don't contain atomic power plants per se. They are radio thermo generators. They are just thermocouples that get their heat from Plutonium or other similar radio isotopes that are plated onto the "wafers/plates".
You're right. The government has completely brainwashed you using a rarely before seen combination of Linda Coulter and CNN!! That coke commercial during the super bowl with the Rajin Cajun and the other dood? Just a distraction for the underlying subliminal message.
Speaking of tin foil hats, other than the government, who tracks stuff like satellites falling out of orbit? If they couldn't hit it, what's to stop them saying they did? Most of this debris just burns up on reentry anyway, doesn't it? And it's not like they are claiming they disintegrated the thing.
The USAF tracks "space traffic". Believe me, if the NAVY missed, the air force would let everyone know about it. Since the intercept occured over Northern Canada and it was in a semi-poplar orbit, I'm sure at least a few amature astronomers got to watch and hopefully photograph it.
It would have fallen harmlessly into the ocean. The only reason it was shot it down is because we are in a bigger dick contest with China. Has anyone seem pictures of this satellite; it has big-ass solar panels. There goes the whole nuke argument.
