So last month, we shot down a satellite that was a ‘threat’ because of the toxic fuel on board.  Lets take a look at what an amazing feat this was by comparing it to when we were trying to shoot down Iraqi scud missiles during the Gulf War.

Comparison of Shooting Down Iraqi Scud Missiles in 1991 vs. USA-193 Spy Satellite in 2008

                                         Gulf War                                                   Spy Satellite USA-193

Target                             Iraqi Scud                                                  Spy Satellite

Target Speed                Mach 1                                                        Mach 23

Intercept Missile          MIM-104 Patriot Missile                           SM-3 Surface to Air Missile

Interceptor Speed        Mach 5                                                        Mach 7.8

Type of Intercept          Proximity Fuse Detonation                      ‘Hit-to-Kill’ kinetic warhead

Target Size                    40 x 3 ft.                                                       15 x 8 ft.

Target Range                44 mi                                                           130 mi

Successful Hit Ratio   10 to 51%                                                   100%

Let me get this straight.  In 1991, we had a difficult time shooting down a huge Iraqi missile creeping along at mach 1, when all we had to do was get a really fast missile close to it and blow a proximity fuse.  Now we can score a direct hit on a relatively small and amazingly fast moving satellite 130 miles away.  And the frozen hydrazine fuel ignites in a great big fireball in the vacuum of space from being hit with a kinetic warhead (i.e. no explosive).  Wow.  The advance in technology truly is incredible.

in•cred•i•ble
Pronunciation: \(ˌ)in-ˈkre-də-bəl\
Function: adjective
Etymology: Middle English, from Latin incredibilis, from in- + credibilis credible
Date: 15th century
1 : too extraordinary and improbable to be believed <making incredible claims>

Update 04/20/08:  A Russian TMA-11 Soyuz Space Capsule coming back from the International Space Station landed a mere 260 miles off course and arrived 20 minutes later than scheduled.  A Russian Mission Control spokesman said it was "a highly unusual distance given how precisely engineers plan for such landings."  So congrats to the Russians on their precision landing!

Data came from the following web sites:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SM-3

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scud_missile

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USA_193

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Patriot_missile

http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/2002-10-21-iraq-missiles_x.htm

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,351796,00.html