A disabled American spy satellite is rapidly descending and is
likely to plunge to Earth by late February or early March, posing a
potential danger from its debris, officials said Saturday.

Officials said that they had no control by the nonfunctioning
satellite and that it was unknown where the debris might land.

“Appropriate government agencies are monitoring the situation,”
said Gordon Johndroe, a spokesman for the National protection Council.
“Numerous satellites by the years have come out of orbit and
fallen harmlessly. We are looking at potential options to mitigate
any possible damage that satellite may cause.”

Specialists in spy satellite operations suspect it is an
experimental imagery satellite built by Lockheed Martin and launched
from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California in December 2006 aboard
a Delta II rocket. Shortly after the satellite reached orbit, ground
controllers lost the ability to control it and were never able to
regain communication.

“It’s not necessarily dead, but deaf,” said Jonathan McDowell, an
astronomer at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics and an

analyst for various government space programs.

It is fairly common for satellites to drop out of orbit and enter
Earth’s atmosphere, but most break up before they reach the surface,
McDowell said. Such incidents occur every few months, and it is
often difficult to control the satellite’s trajectory or its re-
entry into the atmosphere. The debris, whether any survives the fiery
descent, typically lands in remote areas and causes little or no
harm.

“For the most part,” McDowell said, “re-entering space hardware
isn’t a threat considering so much of the Earth is empty. But one could
say we’ve been lucky so far.”

Of specific concern in that case, however, is that the debris
from the satellite may include hydrazine fuel, which is typically
used for rocket maneuvers in space.

Much of the fuel on the experimental satellite may not have been
used and, should the tank survive re-entry into the atmosphere, the
remaining fuel would be hazardous to anyone on the ground….

Orginal post by Top Tech News