can anybody tell me if this is true, 10 points?

Question

The Chinese shot down their own satellite over California as a test in conjunction with the U.S. Air Force, with a new missile called the Stermgumweht (German missile). It landed somewhere in the Mojave desert, but it could be seen from about 200 miles, so thats what u probably saw.

Answer 1

On January 11, 2007 The People's Republic of China shot down their own orbitng satellite, far above the majority of the United States satellites, using a Chinese missile. It was done by China, over the Pacific. The United States, or any other countries were not involved in any way or form. By doing so, China has become the third nation to have the capability to shoot down objects in space. The US also has a missle which can shoot down satellites, but it's altitude is not as high. Russia has missles to shoot down satellites, but it also has "suicide satellites", fake, dummy probes designed to collide with another space satellite. Many countries are rumored to have missles of this kind, but this is not confirmed. Many nations are known to have programs, or previously had programs to design this kind of missle.

I hope this helps. Also go to www.time.com, or flip the pages of this week's issue. There's a handy article about it, plus a diagram showing almost every single nation in the world, and their space capabilities.

Answer 2

That's a wrong assumption. If you have a missile to shoot on your own satellite, your satellite must be directly overhead your own sky to hit it. Geographically, China and the U.S. are on the opposite sides of the globe. How can a missile fired from China hit a satellite that is directly above the U.S. skies?. That's very stupid to think about. Even the U.S. missile technology still doesn't have that capability. The only way for a Chinese missile to hit a satellite directly above the California sky, is to launch the missile from a Chinese ship cruising in California waters.

Furthermore, weather satellites are located in what is called geo-synchronous orbit. What this means is that such satellite exactly follows the earth's rotation, so that the satellite appears to be stationary and directly overhead at all times, with respect to a fixed point of reference on the earth's surface. Have you ever noticed that when you install a satellite dish to receive satellite TV broadcasts, the satellite dish is always pointed at a fixed position in the sky?. That's because the satellite remains at that specific spot of the sky at all times.

Therefore, a weather satellite that is directly above China will always remain above China, even as the earth rotates on its axis, and can never be above California.

Answer 3

It's true that the Chinese shot down one of their own satellites. However, everything else in your statement is wrong.

It was not shot down over California. It was not done in conjunction with the U.S. Air Force. It was with downed with a Chinese KT-2 missile, not German. It did not come down in the Mojave desert.

Answer 4

This article didn't say what country the satellite was over when it was shot down, but it said it was 537 miles above the Earth. So the satellite wasn't in any country's airspace. I would think that whatever was left of the satellite (after it was hit by the missle) probably would have disintegrated well before it got close enough to the Earth for anyone to see it.

Answer 5

Yeah, if I 'm not mistaken I did hear something about that. They were test firing the missile and decided to use their old satellite as a target. I don't think it was in conjunction with the Air Force, but I could me misinformed on that part.

Oh, for anyone that thinks that the US and Russia do not have warheads in space are mistaken. The 12 or so each designed to 'ward off' incoming asteroids are still alive and well in project Icarus (also known as project Herculie's in the movie "Meteor". )
Russia also maintains theirs in space as well. They can be easily turned by computer from the ground. Don't let anyone kid you. Our defenses are being closely monitored from the ground and from the skys.

Answer 6

China's satellite shootdown involved one of their own outdated weather sats and took place over the Sea of Japan (I think).

This action had nothing to do with the US and is, in fact, believed to have been intended to show the US and the world that China has the capability to remove from play any satellite over their territory (as in US surveillance sats).

What fell in the California desert I have no idea. I don't do California.

Answer 7

only part is correct.

China shot a satellite out of orbit with a missle. This has got the US riled as the US is worried that it's spy satellites could be in trouble. If a time came that China felt it would be advantageous to knock them out of the sky.

This satellite belonged to china, it was not in conhuction with US air force, and it wasn't in Mohave Desert

Answer 8

It's extremely difficult to believe they would have planned to shoot down a satellite so that it would fall in the continental US since the pieces could be analyzed by US intelligence agencies and provide them with useful information about the state of China's space program.

Countries normally take great measures to keep such information from falling into the hands of their enemies. It makes no sense at all that China would deliver that information into our hands on purpose.

Answer 9

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- China last week successfully used a missile to destroy an orbiting satellite, U.S. government officials told CNN on Thursday, in a test that could undermine relations with the West and pose a threat to satellites important to the U.S. military.
According to a spokesman for the National Security Council, the ground-based, medium-range ballistic missile knocked an old Chinese weather satellite from its orbit about 537 miles above Earth. The missile carried a "kill vehicle" and destroyed the satellite by ramming it.
The test took place on January 11. (Watch why the U.S. has protested the missile strike )
Aviation Week and Space Technology first reported the test: "Details emerging from space sources indicate that the Chinese Feng Yun 1C (FY-1C) polar orbit weather satellite launched in 1999 was attacked by an asat (anti-satellite) system launched from or near the Xichang Space Center."
A U.S. official, who would not agree to be identified, said the event was the first successful test of the missile after three failures.
The official said that U.S. "space tracking sensors" confirmed that the satellite is no longer in orbit and that the collision produced "hundreds of pieces of debris," that also are being tracked.
The United States logged a formal diplomatic protest.
"We are aware of it and we are concerned, and we made it known," White House spokesman Tony Snow said.
Several U.S. allies, including Canada and Australia, have also registered protests, and the Japanese government said it was worrisome.
"Naturally, we are concerned about it from the viewpoint of security as well as peaceful use of space," said Yashuhisa Shiozaki, chief cabinet secretary. He said Japan has asked the Chinese government for an explanation.
Britain has complained about lack of consultation before the test and potential damage from the debris it left behind, The Associated Press reported.
The United States has been able to bring down satellites with missiles since the mid-1980s, according to a history of ASAT programs posted on the Union of Concerned Scientists Web site. In its own test, the U.S. military knocked a satellite out of orbit in 1985.
Under a space policy authorized by President Bush in August, the United States asserts a right to "freedom of action in space" and says it will "deter others from either impeding those rights or developing capabilities intended to do so."
The policy includes the right to "deny, if necessary, adversaries the use of space capabilities hostile to U.S. national interests."
Low Earth-orbit satellites have become indispensable for U.S. military communications, GPS navigation for smart bombs and troops, and for real-time surveillance. The Chinese test highlights the satellites' vulnerability.
"If we, for instance, got into a conflict over Taiwan, one of the first things they'd probably do would be to shoot down all of our lower Earth-orbit spy satellites, putting out our eyes," said John Pike of globalsecurity.org, a Web site that compiles information on worldwide security issues.
"The thing that is surprising and disturbing is that [the Chinese] have chosen this moment to demonstrate a military capability that can only be aimed at the United States," he said.
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No where did it say where the pieces landed, there were 100's of them ...they tracked them
true enough? I did a google

Answer 10

Not true. They shot it down over China....no co-op with U.S. Debris field is still in orbit. Not sure of the missile type...pretty sure it's Chinese make.