Discovery Channel special: Satellite Shootdown

Bill Nichols · 07-19-08, 08:36 AM

Discovery's "Military Channel" is showing a special on the U.S. Navy's February shootdown of a top-secret spy satellite.

Showtimes are:

Jul 20, 8:00 pm & 11 pm (US Eastern)
Jul 21, 3:00 am
Jul 23, 9:00 pm
Jul 24, 12:00 am, 4:00 am, & 5:00 pm
Jul 26, 12:00 pm & 5:00 pm
Jul 30, 2:00 pm

More details at the Discovery Channel website:

http://military.discovery.com/tv/sat...shootdown.html

(BTW, I don't get Military Channel, so if anyone is able to record this for me, I'll be very grateful!)

Sailor Steve · 07-19-08, 08:39 AM

Cool!

Now if I just had fancy-schmancy TV I could watch it.

rifleman13 · 07-19-08, 08:52 AM

I hope they show it soon here in SE Asia!

It's just awesome to see something shot down from space!

UnderseaLcpl · 07-19-08, 09:50 AM

Just before showtime, the Discovery channel satellite is accidentally blown up by the U.S. Marine Corps' attempt at a similar weapon. Then, just for fun, the satellite hits a miraculously uncrashed V-22 Osprey on the way down.

SUBMAN1 · 07-19-08, 01:44 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by UnderseaLcpl

Just before showtime, the Discovery channel satellite is accidentally blown up by the U.S. Marine Corps' attempt at a similar weapon. Then, just for fun, the satellite hits a miraculously uncrashed V-22 Osprey on the way down.

Hey man - the Ospreys are proving themselves big time! You're giving them a bad rap when they are having better time on line than helicopters now!

http://news.cnet.com/8301-10784_3-9845473-7.html

-S

UnderseaLcpl · 07-19-08, 04:25 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SUBMAN1

Hey man - the Ospreys are proving themselves big time! You're giving them a bad rap when they are having better time on line than helicopters now!

-S

Oh I know. I was actually a proponent of it it back when everyone still hated it. That doesn't exclude it from me making fun of it though.

moose1am · 07-20-08, 03:08 AM

I always thought that the osprey concept was good. They carry more cargo, they go faster and farther than the other helicopters they are replacing.

Any helicopter is subject to crashing.

Hopefully they have all the kinks worked out on the Ospreys now.

I just wish that those making military hardware would not charge the tax payers (US military) so high of a price. The prices we pay for maintaining our defense is pretty high. But we can't afford not to have the best military in the world.

I hope that we maintain and improve our ability to shoot enemy missiles out of the sky. Some day we may have to defend this country from Nuclear War head tipped ballistic missile and I hope we are successful at that.

My fear is that the Chinese can now shoot down our satellites. We now need to build satellites that can defend themselves form Chinese missiles somehow. Either they an shoot back at an incoming missile or move out of it's way somehow.

But our GPS Satellites are vulnerable and our entire military won't know where they are if the GPS satellites get shot down and put out of operation.

What good will guide precision ammo be without a gps signal to guide it onto the targets?

Quote:

Originally Posted by SUBMAN1

Quote:

Originally Posted by UnderseaLcpl

Just before showtime, the Discovery channel satellite is accidentally blown up by the U.S. Marine Corps' attempt at a similar weapon. Then, just for fun, the satellite hits a miraculously uncrashed V-22 Osprey on the way down.

Hey man - the Ospreys are proving themselves big time! You're giving them a bad rap when they are having better time on line than helicopters now!

http://news.cnet.com/8301-10784_3-9845473-7.html

-S

Bill Nichols · 07-20-08, 09:23 AM

Wow! This topic went off-subject after only 3 posts!

Thanks to Moose1am to bring it back in line.

Platapus · 07-20-08, 11:25 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by moose1am

But our GPS Satellites are vulnerable and our entire military won't know where they are if the GPS satellites get shot down and put out of operation.

GPS sure is handy. However I hope that our military is not putting themselves in a position of mission failure if GPS goes out. Putting all our eggs in that fragile basket is not good stratgery.

GPS should be our first choice, but we need other backup choices for when (not if) GPS goes down. I understand there is a new technology called "maps". It is a hardcopy representation of the area of interest. Pretty promising technology I think.

Having our weapon systems locked into GPS as well as the ability to move our troops is a vulnerability that needs to be mitigated with backup plans.

Bill Nichols · 07-22-08, 05:31 PM

So, has anybody seen this Discovery special, yet? Inquiring minds want to know...

FIREWALL · 07-22-08, 06:02 PM

D.B. Cooper couldn't have Hijacked this thread any better Bill. :rotfl:

ASWnut101 · 07-22-08, 08:07 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bill Nichols

So, has anybody seen this Discovery special, yet? Inquiring minds want to know...

It was alright. What would you like to know?

Sockeye · 07-23-08, 10:25 AM

I agree: the program was alright. I knew it wouldn't go into extreme detail, but I thought it was well-paced and didn't waste much time with peripheral non-matters.

The most interesting thing I found in the hour was the retooling of the Aegis system so that it could actually intercept the satellite, and pinpoint the fuel tank specifically for a kinetic hit. This had to be done in a matter of weeks (was it six?), so the people at Raytheon, etc had their work cut out for them. The ship's crew who would be launching the missile also had to train for the assigned mission; others will know more about their "standard" training than I do, but for a specific event you need specific training.

It was also good to see the immense pride all involved had in the project, whether the crewmen aboard ship or the Aegis programmers. Everyone wanted to be extremely precise about not only hitting the satellite, but where the debris would re-enter after deorbitting. The program goes into the political considerations of shooting down the dead satellite in the shadow of an apparentally "willy-nilly" Chinese demonstration.

Also, the program gave brief information on orbital mechanics that probably won't be outside the grasp of most viewers. Basically, if a viewer understands that orbitting objects move faster when closer to a body than when further away, they'll be okay. No words like "apogee/apoapsis" or "perigee/periapsis" that I detected; the only technical rendezvous term I caught was about terminal phase. It touched on the matter of time windows when the satellite would be close to perigee while also illuminated by the sun and reflecting thermal energy for the Aegis missile's seeker since the satellite itself was dead; the fact that the Earth rotates, etc. Equatorial inclinations were eluded to but not explained, as the Aegis-carrying ship began immediately travelling to a secondary launch-point after the first hit in case a backup shot was necessary.

Basically, I would give it... call it 6.5 out of 10. It's worth watching and wastes very little time, the interviews are good although brief, but I could always go with more detail even though I do feel that the amount of detail presented in the one-hour running was chosen wisely and presented clearly.

07-19-08, 08:36 AM	#1
Bill Nichols Master of Defense Join Date: Mar 2000 Posts: 1,502 Downloads: 125 Uploads: 0	Discovery Channel special: Satellite Shootdown Discovery's "Military Channel" is showing a special on the U.S. Navy's February shootdown of a top-secret spy satellite. Showtimes are: Jul 20, 8:00 pm & 11 pm (US Eastern) Jul 21, 3:00 am Jul 23, 9:00 pm Jul 24, 12:00 am, 4:00 am, & 5:00 pm Jul 26, 12:00 pm & 5:00 pm Jul 30, 2:00 pm More details at the Discovery Channel website: http://military.discovery.com/tv/sat...shootdown.html (BTW, I don't get Military Channel, so if anyone is able to record this for me, I'll be very grateful!) __________________ My Dangerous Waters website: Last edited by Bill Nichols; 07-19-08 at 09:03 AM.

07-19-08, 08:39 AM	#2
Sailor Steve Eternal Patrol Join Date: Nov 2002 Location: High in the mountains of Utah Posts: 50,369 Downloads: 745 Uploads: 249	Cool! Now if I just had fancy-schmancy TV I could watch it. __________________ “Never do anything you can't take back.” —Rocky Russo

07-19-08, 09:50 AM	#4
UnderseaLcpl Silent Hunter Join Date: May 2008 Location: Storming the beaches! Posts: 4,254 Downloads: 0 Uploads: 0	Just before showtime, the Discovery channel satellite is accidentally blown up by the U.S. Marine Corps' attempt at a similar weapon. Then, just for fun, the satellite hits a miraculously uncrashed V-22 Osprey on the way down. __________________ I stole this sig from Task Force

07-20-08, 09:23 AM	#8
Bill Nichols Master of Defense Join Date: Mar 2000 Posts: 1,502 Downloads: 125 Uploads: 0	Wow! This topic went off-subject after only 3 posts! Thanks to Moose1am to bring it back in line. __________________ My Dangerous Waters website:

07-22-08, 05:31 PM	#10
Bill Nichols Master of Defense Join Date: Mar 2000 Posts: 1,502 Downloads: 125 Uploads: 0	So, has anybody seen this Discovery special, yet? Inquiring minds want to know... __________________ My Dangerous Waters website:

07-19-08, 08:52 AM	#3
rifleman13 Grey Wolf Join Date: May 2008 Location: Depth-charged to Kingdom Come Posts: 927 Downloads: 28 Uploads: 0	I hope they show it soon here in SE Asia! It's just awesome to see something shot down from space!

07-22-08, 06:02 PM	#11
FIREWALL Eternal Patrol Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: CATALINA IS. SO . CAL USA Posts: 10,108 Downloads: 511 Uploads: 0	D.B. Cooper couldn't have Hijacked this thread any better Bill. :rotfl: __________________ RIP FIREWALL I Play GWX. Silent Hunter Who ???

07-23-08, 10:25 AM	#13
Sockeye Machinist's Mate Join Date: Apr 2005 Location: Toronto, Canada Posts: 127 Downloads: 46 Uploads: 0	I agree: the program was alright. I knew it wouldn't go into extreme detail, but I thought it was well-paced and didn't waste much time with peripheral non-matters. The most interesting thing I found in the hour was the retooling of the Aegis system so that it could actually intercept the satellite, and pinpoint the fuel tank specifically for a kinetic hit. This had to be done in a matter of weeks (was it six?), so the people at Raytheon, etc had their work cut out for them. The ship's crew who would be launching the missile also had to train for the assigned mission; others will know more about their "standard" training than I do, but for a specific event you need specific training. It was also good to see the immense pride all involved had in the project, whether the crewmen aboard ship or the Aegis programmers. Everyone wanted to be extremely precise about not only hitting the satellite, but where the debris would re-enter after deorbitting. The program goes into the political considerations of shooting down the dead satellite in the shadow of an apparentally "willy-nilly" Chinese demonstration. Also, the program gave brief information on orbital mechanics that probably won't be outside the grasp of most viewers. Basically, if a viewer understands that orbitting objects move faster when closer to a body than when further away, they'll be okay. No words like "apogee/apoapsis" or "perigee/periapsis" that I detected; the only technical rendezvous term I caught was about terminal phase. It touched on the matter of time windows when the satellite would be close to perigee while also illuminated by the sun and reflecting thermal energy for the Aegis missile's seeker since the satellite itself was dead; the fact that the Earth rotates, etc. Equatorial inclinations were eluded to but not explained, as the Aegis-carrying ship began immediately travelling to a secondary launch-point after the first hit in case a backup shot was necessary. Basically, I would give it... call it 6.5 out of 10. It's worth watching and wastes very little time, the interviews are good although brief, but I could always go with more detail even though I do feel that the amount of detail presented in the one-hour running was chosen wisely and presented clearly.