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Tuesday, November 10, 2009

Photo: Is Spy Satellite's Toxic Fuel Risk Real?


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A handout picture from the U.S. Navy shows an SM-3 missile being launched from the U.S.S. Lake Erie near Hawaii on December 11, 2003, as part of a ballistic missile test.

The Navy cruiser is currently waiting in the North Pacific for a window to launch on SM-3 that will target an uncontrolled U.S. spy satellite before the school bus-size object crash lands on Earth. Officials say the move is necessary to prevent the satellite's fuel tank from releasing toxic hydrazine gas on impact.

Photograph courtesy AP Photo/U.S. Navy