Photo courtesy of AP. A missile launches from the guided-missile cruiser USS Lake Erie. It wasn't this missile, but today, one like it did the near impossible.I hope this story didn't pass you by, because the achievement, even in today's hi tech soup, is impressive indeed.
Today, the US Military shot down a satellite. From a ship... at sea.
Think about this... here's a satellite about the size of a bus, hurtling through space at around 20,000kph. It's 210km up... in space.
Someone on an Aegis Class cruiser pushed a button, and a missile launched from the ship. A few minutes later, it scored a direct hit and blew that satellite out of the sky.
Do you have the faintest concept of how hard that was. Let me put it in perspective for you. Imagine taking a rubber band sling shot and firing a ball bearing at a Mercedes driving along a road 20km away at 16okph, and so precisely aiming it that you hit the key hole on the driver's door, exactly as intended.
Stunning.
Of course, they still can't find Osama but hey... a hit is a hit.
3 comments:
I say... "Nice Shot!"
Of course the difference between a satellite and Osama, is that the satellite doesn't provide additional propoganda should your poll ratings start to fall...
And it probably wasn't a politician who planned and tried to control it all, just some good old military personnel with common sence.
Osama is probably not as mathematically predictable either. Nevertheless, even if I'm not as predictable as a satellite, I wouldn't want to be the target.
Wow, the rubber band analogy really puts it in perspective, doesn't it? That's quite a hit.
As for Osama: the issue is not hitting him, it's finding him. Now, if we can just manipulate him into orbiting the earth at 20,000kmh, we're golden!
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