Pentagon: Confident satellite fuel tank hit
WASHINGTON (AP) - February 25, 2008 In its most definitive statement yet on the outcome of last
Wednesday's shootdown over the Pacific, the Pentagon said that
based on debris analysis it is clear that the Navy missile
destroyed the fuel tank, "reducing, if not eliminating, the risk
to people on Earth from the hazardous chemical."
The tank had 1,000 pounds of hydrazine, a toxic substance that
U.S. government officials believed posed a potential health hazard
to humans if the satellite had descended to Earth on its own.
Pentagon officials had said almost immediately after the
shootdown that it appeared the tank had been hit squarely, but they
carried out further analysis before reaching a final conclusion.
"By all accounts this was a successful mission," Gen. James
Cartwright, vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said in the
Pentagon statement Monday. "From the debris analysis, we have a
high degree of confidence the satellite's fuel tank was destroyed
and the hydrazine has been dissipated."
The Pentagon statement said a space operations center at
Vandenberg Air Force Base, Calif., is tracking fewer than 3,000
pieces of debris, all smaller than a football.
