Satellite debris lights up the sky

Dawn Parras Post Falls, Idaho — Thu, 21 Feb 2008 19:08:43 GMT

It was absolute ideal conditions to view the entire eclipse from here...

Satellite debris lights up the sky

Nicole, San Antonio, Texas — Thu, 21 Feb 2008 19:24:56 GMT

I live in San Antonio, Texas, and last night around 10:40 I thought I was seeing Jupiter?, I'm not sure, my husband said we could see a planet last night during the eclipse. But the red star-like thing I saw was kind of twinkling, then turned orange and disappeared. I kept watching trying to prove to my husband that I had seen something (still thinking it was a planet) and I saw a real quick one, more orange than anything, then poof, gone. When we went inside I saw on CNN that the satellite had been destroyed just a few minutes ago. I think I was seeing the wreckage coming down.
I don't know what I saw, but I know I saw something. Did anyone else see something last night? And from where?

Satellite debris lights up the sky

Marilyn, St. Paul, Minnesota — Thu, 21 Feb 2008 19:32:00 GMT

My 10 year old daughter looked out her bedroom window last night after she went to bed around 9:20 CST and this morning told me she saw a rocket in the sky and that it was really scary. She had no prior knowledge of the satellite issue. I immediately thought of the satellite, flicked on the tv and checked the internet and indeed it was blown up right around that same time. Is it possible that she would have seen debris here in St. Paul Minnesota? She said it looked like a rocket because it had flames trailing it. She even said that the noise is what made her get up and look. She isn't one to make things up.

Thanks,
Marilyn

Satellite debris lights up the sky

Ken Brown — Thu, 21 Feb 2008 19:38:06 GMT

Nicole, unfortunately Corpus Christi (TX) was total cloud cover last night...

Satellite debris lights up the sky

DJG, Marquette, MI — Thu, 21 Feb 2008 19:40:29 GMT

Great night to see both the lunar eclipse and objects streaking across the sky. I was on the phone and said to the person on there that I was seeing quite a few streaks across the sky and I am in Northern Michigan! I was in -10 degree weather in a sleeping bag and enjoyed every minute of it.

Satellite debris lights up the sky

EB, Longwood FL — Thu, 21 Feb 2008 19:48:22 GMT

I saw the eclipse from central florida. It was a wondrous site!

Satellite debris lights up the sky

Ron Swander Portage Michigan — Thu, 21 Feb 2008 19:53:50 GMT

I went outside to watch the eclipse at 10:00 ET in Portage Mi. and then went back out about quarter to 11:00 ET and was watching the eclipse when I thought I saw a meteorite falling. At the time I didnt know that they were shooting down the satellite. Now I realize that I saw part of the satellite falling.

Satellite debris lights up the sky

M Overlund, Eugene, Oregon — Thu, 21 Feb 2008 21:01:08 GMT

I saw the eclipse (first one I've ever seen), it started around 6pm PST or so and it was really interesting, there were rumors of clouds and rain but I had a completely clear view through the whole thing. Unfortunately didn't see any debris from the satellite but wasn't looking either. Anyone in Oregon see any debris?

Satellite debris lights up the sky

Rich Alberrt, Sacramento, CA — Thu, 21 Feb 2008 21:08:54 GMT

My wife and I were watching the lunar eclipse in Sacramento at 7:25 pm PST and then turned to the east and began walking along a dark pathway. At 7:30 pm (10:30 EST) we both saw what looked like a large fireball beginning at about 30 degrees above the eastern horizon, and ending at about 10 degrees. Neither of us had seen a fireball that large before. And the other interesting thing was that it appeared green. We both immediately assumed it was debris from the satellite falling through the earths atmosphere. We were surprised this morning to find very little mention of sightings by others in this area.

Satellite debris lights up the sky

KF, Millbrook, Alabama — Thu, 21 Feb 2008 21:19:22 GMT

I told my daughter to walk outside and take a look at the lunar eclipse. She came bak in telling me that she saw a bright shooting star. I am now wandering if she saw part of the satellite that was shot down. I wish I would have stayed outside a little longer now!

Satellite debris lights up the sky

Jim Marchildon, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada — Thu, 21 Feb 2008 21:28:58 GMT

As I was taking a quick glance at the moon near the beginning of the eclipse (which was pretty impressive and the skies were mostly clear here), I spotted what I initially thought was a "shooting star", but didn't quite look the same as your run of the mill meteor. I saw other smaller streaks of light falling away from the main fireball and that's when I realized that I might have been seeing the debris from the satellite re-entering the atmosphere. What a fluke that I looked right at that exact time!

Satellite debris lights up the sky

Jody Cook Bellaire, OH — Thu, 21 Feb 2008 22:25:01 GMT

what kind of satelite was it that our Navy shot down? My son asked me, but I didn't know the answer. Thanks!

Satellite debris lights up the sky

Chris House — Thu, 21 Feb 2008 23:03:47 GMT

I was able to watch the Lunar Eclipse from The Twin Cities metro region in Minnesota.

It was very cold here, making for a crystal clear sky - watching the moon slowly become covered up, then watching it change to a reddish orange as the diffracted light from our atmosphere hit the lunar surface was incredible.

As for the reader from Texas who wondered if she saw the explosion of the spy satellite - very unlikely. Even though the impact took place ~120 miles up, there's little if any chance that it would have been above your horizon.

I was checking from my more Northern location, and didn't see anything. No surprise about that though - if the people in Edmonton, Canada couldn't see it, then even Minnesota was likely out of the viewing range - Texas would probably be completely eliminated.

Satellite debris lights up the sky

Larry Shilkoff, Simi Valley, CA — Thu, 21 Feb 2008 23:33:44 GMT

If the satellite was carrying hydrazine, which is hypergolic (it can't burn without the presence of oxygen), and the satellite was in space, then what was the oxidizer that caused the fireball?

Satellite debris lights up the sky

Preston, Ogden, Utah — Thu, 21 Feb 2008 23:56:57 GMT

The sky was much too cloudy in Northern Utah to see anything.

Satellite debris lights up the sky

Phil, Newark, California — Fri, 22 Feb 2008 03:33:32 GMT

Hydrazine, besides being hypergolic, can also be used as a mono-propellant--it can burn WITHOUT an oxidizer, although this is less efficient than using nitrogen tetra-oxide as an oxidizer, as larger spacecraft do (such as Soyuz, the Shuttle, and Apollo). However, it eliminates the need for separate oxidizer tanks and pumps, so it can be worthwhile for smaller spacecraft.

Satellite debris lights up the sky

Joseph, Hallsville, Texas — Fri, 22 Feb 2008 03:50:11 GMT

Yeah the day before the satelite was shot down the space station and Atlantis were due for a pass over Texas, and i saw them. They were two distinct dots of orange light very close together. Then , suddenly, they just dissappeared. I guess this was when they passed into the shadow of the Earth. The staellite's destruction, however, was only visible from the northeastern parts of the US, ( Oregon, Washington, etc) , and Canada, so i highly doubt anyone in Texas saw the explosion, unless a wormhole appeared and the other end was near the satellite.... I was sad that the eclipse was blocked from my view by overcast clouds in my area.

Satellite debris lights up the sky

JJ — Fri, 22 Feb 2008 04:13:03 GMT

Hypergolic means that the burning starts without any external ignition source.

Satellite debris lights up the sky

Delmar Fairchild, Barron, Wis — Fri, 22 Feb 2008 04:18:05 GMT

A full moon makes one feel cold. Being in below zero weather drives that feeling home. Then, the turning of the full moon orange gave an additional feeling of dread and consternation.
A very creepy site of which we had a perfectly crystal clear view.
Just makes you feel so small and insecure. It is no wonder people in the past would weep and cry out in alarm and dismay when the heavens changed before their eyes.
By the way, my 11 year old son thought it was "cool".

Satellite debris lights up the sky

Kathy, Kodiak AK — Fri, 22 Feb 2008 06:06:19 GMT

I live up in Kodiak, Alaska, and unfortunatly I couldn't witness the spectacular display of the lunar eclipse. I was bummed, but I am thankful that some people posted a myriad of photos of the eclipse.

Satellite debris lights up the sky

Andy — Fri, 22 Feb 2008 06:11:45 GMT

Saw the eclipse under nice clear skies up here in Fort McMurray, 5 hours drive north of Edmonton. Didn't see any satellite debris though.

Satellite debris lights up the sky

Ron, Houston, TX — Fri, 22 Feb 2008 06:28:17 GMT

re: "If the satellite was carrying hydrazine, which is hypergolic (it can't burn without the presence of oxygen), and the satellite was in space, then what was the oxidizer that caused the fireball?"

Larry,
The hydrazine would have used the same oxidizer that it used in the thruster engines. Because the thrusters operate in space, an oxidizer has to be included as part of the fuel system. Hydrazine (or unsymmetrical dimethylhydrazine) is only hypergolic (ignites on contact with an oxidizer) if used in concert with a separate oxidizer. If the thrusters on the satellite indeed used hydrazine as the fuel in a hypergolic system, then the oxidizer (nitrogen tetroxide, liquid oxygen?) would have been on board too. Since a separate oxidizer has not been mentioned in any of the reports, then the hydrazine may have been used as a monopropellant in a decomposing exothermic reaction...which brings us back to your question. I'm inclined to think it was the kinetic energy released in the high-speed collision vaporizing the hydrazine (and lots of other stuff) that caused the fireball in addition to (perhaps) the hydrazine actually reacting with some oxidizer. Follow the links in wikipedia on hydrazine and monopropellants for more. Fascinating stuff. Here's a link to a company that makes monopropellant thrusters... http://cs.space.eads.net/sp/SpacecraftPropulsion/MonopropellantThrusters.html

Satellite debris lights up the sky

Tom — Fri, 22 Feb 2008 06:32:09 GMT

Larry, hydrazine is usually "oxidized" by nitric acid; simply mix the two, and they ignite. No atmospheric oxygen necessary. There were most likely two tanks, once for the hydrazine, one for the nitric acid.

Satellite debris lights up the sky

Terry, Cannon Falls, Minnesota — Fri, 22 Feb 2008 09:21:19 GMT

I missed the eclipse, but went out to watch the crossing of the soon to be doomed spy sat at 6:36pm. Just as it was about to come into view I saw a shooting star that came just prior to the sat at the same point in the sky. As it disipated the sat instantly came into view and crossed with incredible brightness. I have seen the Space station cross many times and this was as bright if not brighter. Just thought it was ood that something streaked by the sat from what seemed to be the same angle from my point of view.

Satellite debris lights up the sky

Olgilvy Humper — Fri, 22 Feb 2008 12:18:14 GMT

I witnessed both the satellite debris falling through the atmosphere and the lunar eclipse. It was between 7-8 pm in Bellevue Washington, a suburb of Seattle. The debris was more compelling I felt. By the way, I assume this was an opportunity to showcase our superior anti satellite missile capabilities. Hydrazine isn't that dangerous. The Chinese tested an anti satellite weapon less than a year ago. This was a arms race.

Satellite debris lights up the sky

Geren Nichols — Fri, 22 Feb 2008 12:26:46 GMT

Hydrazine reacts in the presence of only hydrazine to nitrogen and hydrogen. It has been used as a single fuel rocket propellent for 60+ years.
It 'burns' quite well in the absence of oxygen.

Satellite debris lights up the sky

elle freem townsville qld australia — Fri, 22 Feb 2008 13:47:30 GMT

I am in Australia and it is Friday night here. I went outside at about 7.30ish to put some rubbish in the bin. I saw a starlike object crossing the sky ... very quickly. At first I thought it was a plane but it was moving too quickly it then broke up into two pieces which followed the same path for about 15 or 20 seconds and then burned up...

Satellite debris lights up the sky

Betty Agnew, Virginia Beach, Virginia — Fri, 22 Feb 2008 14:20:03 GMT

In Virginia Beach, it was way too cloudy to see anything... :(

Satellite debris lights up the sky

Bill Melchiorre, Flowery Branch, GA — Fri, 22 Feb 2008 14:27:31 GMT

I would like to thank all professors & scientists who volunteer their time.
My wife, son & I had a wonderfull time watching the eclipse at the Elachee Nature Science Center 55 mi NE of Atlanta Wednesday night.
With their time and telescopes they showed us not just the eclipse but, Saturn, Rofolus, Serrius, Mars and the constellations. We had a joyous and memorable experience.

Satellite debris lights up the sky

Lynda McKenney, Samoa, California — Fri, 22 Feb 2008 15:15:57 GMT

My family and I were watching the eclipse in Samoa, California at around 7:45. After my family went home, I went back out to watch more. It started clouding up so I started back in the house when a clearing occurred. I saw what I thought was a shooting star. I realize now it must have been the satilite.

Satellite debris lights up the sky

Joseph Piatt, Tillamook, Oregon — Fri, 22 Feb 2008 15:25:26 GMT

The satellite debris was visible in Tillamook, Oregon. Fortunately I work nights, and was outside to see it. I was a little confused, at first, until I remembered reading about the planned missile launch last week. I do believe the debris was almost as pretty as the eclipse.

Satellite debris lights up the sky

Austin Bob — Fri, 22 Feb 2008 15:57:41 GMT

Larry: Oxidizer was probably nitrogen tetroxide - also on the satellite.

Satellite debris lights up the sky

Jessa, Cottondale, Florida — Fri, 22 Feb 2008 16:33:54 GMT

I was watching the eclipse from my front porch, and early into it I saw a rather large "shooting star". I figure it was more likely to be a stray piece of the debris. The night was clear and lovely for viewing the sky in Northwest Florida.

Satellite debris lights up the sky

Michael Crouse, Bandon OR — Fri, 22 Feb 2008 16:51:09 GMT

My wife and I went out to see the eclipse, Wed. night. Just as we arrived at the overlook, she was looking directly south, she saw what she thought was a shooting star. Later when we arrived back home, we aw on the news that the satellite had been shot down. On reflectin, we believe that the shooting star she witnessed was mostly likely a bit of the debris from the shootdown.

Satellite debris lights up the sky

Dan, Lexington, KY — Fri, 22 Feb 2008 17:01:06 GMT

Regarding hydrazine:
Hypergolic means it will spontaneously ignite without a spark -- doesn't have anything to do with oxygen presence. Two hydrazine derivatives called DMH and UDMH are hypergolic when mixed with nitrogen tetroxide. Regular hydrazine "burns" without oxygen or any other oxidizer to form ammonia gas and nitrogen gas. It isn't hypergolic; it needs a catalyst to "burn" controllably. Regular hydrazine -- not DMH or UDMH -- is what's commonly used in satellite thrusters. Any "fireball" was likely the warhead from the SM-3 missile or debris burning as it fell through the atmosphere.

BTW, full overcast in Lexington, KY -- no satellite debris or lunar eclipse visible here.

Satellite debris lights up the sky

Laura Banuelos-Aguirre W.Covina Calif. — Fri, 22 Feb 2008 17:24:07 GMT

The eclipse was very clear and magnificent.WOW

Satellite debris lights up the sky

Bob Rogers Fort Worth texas — Fri, 22 Feb 2008 17:34:13 GMT

I watched the eclipse from Fort Worth .We were fortunate that the moon was at about 50 to 60 degrees and light contamination did not interfere.I was disapointed that our school age kids were not aware of what brings about the eclipse.Too busy with TAKS studies I guess.

Satellite debris lights up the sky

Curt, Houston — Fri, 22 Feb 2008 18:26:47 GMT

Larry, hydrazine is chemically unstable and can decompose upon shock or contact with certain metals. A lot of heat is released when this happens. Actually, I believe that no oxidizer is typically used with hydrazine as a propellent on these satellites.

"Fireball" may not be the right term, but I think the missille impact could clearly cause a hydrazine explosion.

Satellite debris lights up the sky

Guy S. Newell — Fri, 22 Feb 2008 20:02:24 GMT

The point to the Chinese is that we just shot down a satellite with a mass-produced missle that was deployed twenty years ago. Launched from a ship at sea using standard tracking hardware also deployed twenty years ago. Message: you're still more than twenty years behind.

Satellite debris lights up the sky

Jean Langford M. — Sat, 23 Feb 2008 03:48:17 GMT

Message: If we can hit a bullit with a bullit.....What else Ya Got? It was a kinetic hit....no war head....Ohhh yea....a big explosion...if there was "ANY" fuel on board it went on empact.....Bear in mind we landed a satalite probe on a astoroid in the Kiber Belt, a billion miles beyond Neptune...using Ion drive to get there....what else ya got?

Satellite debris lights up the sky

rick fry halifax nova scotia — Sat, 23 Feb 2008 22:33:05 GMT

All I can say is way the go USA....great shot

Satellite debris lights up the sky

Mark Hartwell, London, Ontario — Sun, 24 Feb 2008 11:44:17 GMT

In London Ontario, I saw about 15 parallel contrails from satellite debrise, moving from north west to south east in approx. the same time that the satellite was supposed to appear over London Ontario. Probably in a 10 degree spread, but all parallel. The skies were crystal clear, but presently nobody in Ontario has reported it.

Satellite debris lights up the sky

JC, Fairbanks, AK — Sun, 24 Feb 2008 22:52:43 GMT

The lunar eclipse was a bummer here in FBX,AK; virtually within seconds of moonrise clouds slammed shut over the moon and it stayed that way until long after totality was over.

There's alot of smoke and mirrors surrounding this so-called "shootdown" , folks. First, one of Newton's Laws guarantees that nothing was in fact 'shot down' at all. It was simply broken up. Second, this act was 50% political statement, 50% message to the Chinese, and 0% safety related. It had *very little* to do with hydrazine, whatever-golic it is..... and it only replaced one miniscule threat (hydrazine) with another (debris which will now fall all over the place; and no NOT all of it can be guaranteed to 'burn up' in the atmosphere. Third, to me this was a blatant waste of $50-60 million that could have been spent much more productively. Yeah, the missile was already bought and paid for, but now we have to go buy another one and reset everything. What a deal for a country so deep in hock to these very chinese the that if they decided to pull the economic plug on us we'd be in real trouble.. no missiles involved. Finally, while it was the chinese who set the precedent, this act simply continues a damaging and potentially dangerous pattern of behavior. This IS the way arms races start. Its also a way to end up with earth-orbital space so full of junk we can't even go there (e.g. even now, the shuttles and the space station have been hit by small debris several times. The chinese added tens of thousands more pieces with their similarly foolish act last year.)

By putting forth such a silly cover story, the people involved in this merely look stupid, to me....

Satellite debris lights up the sky

Frank, Dallas, TX — Mon, 25 Feb 2008 15:38:00 GMT

All these people that thought they saw shooting stars nowhere near the debris field probably really did see shooting stars and not satelitte debris - they are quite easy and not uncommon to see during an eclipse or new moon.

I'm more curious as to why everyone heaped scorn on the Chinese for shooting down one of their satelittes but people don't mind when we shoot down one of ours...

Satellite debris lights up the sky

John S., Maryland — Mon, 25 Feb 2008 18:20:29 GMT

Why are some some nitwits so defensive out there?

There was no point to the Chinese. We have been destroying satellites since the '80's (ASAT tests and treaties), most of the space debris in space was caused by us and most everybody knows this; certainly the Chinese and definetily not the defensive lamebrains.

What they should see, and learn, is how we test a new weapons system, fill the space with debris and all the lamebrains are thankfull and cheering. Whereas when the Chinese finally catch up with us, they get villified and our generals are talking about developing bombers than can strike deep within China!

Satellite debris lights up the sky

Deb S. NPR Florida — Mon, 25 Feb 2008 20:57:50 GMT

I watched periodically through the intermittent cloud cover from west central Florida just NW of Tampa. I was able to glimpse the eclipse during the occasional passing of the clouds, and also saw what must have been an actual shooting star and not debris. It appeared whitish in color, but streaked from south to north between the earth and the moon, dissapearing into the could cover before I could determine its eventual trajectory. I am not sure of the exact time, but it was between 9:30 and 10 PM ET

Satellite debris lights up the sky

Joe Edison New Jersey — Mon, 25 Feb 2008 21:03:10 GMT

Chinese finally catch up with us, they get villified and our generals are talking about developing bombers than can strike deep within China!

Talk about being a moron....We have had bombers that could reach china for 30+ years now. The Chinese shot a sat down that was in a 500mile high orbit...the debris from that will stay up there for 20 years even creating a hazard for the ISS in the years too come. We shot down a sat in Low Earth Orbit that was going to reenter the atmosphere and burn up within a month. No matter what you say 1000lbs of hydrazine on a 4000lb sat would leave most likely on the order of 250lbs falling to the earth and most likely being dispersed in the area the size of a small city/town. Quit bashing on anything and everything our government does anyway personally I feel safe knowing that we have it in our power to intercept an object in space traveling 22,000mph. I bet all you naysayers would not be so critical if that was an incoming North Korean ICBM...

Satellite debris lights up the sky

Frank, Dallas, TX — Mon, 25 Feb 2008 22:39:36 GMT

Boy, mention the Chinese and suddenly words like nitwit and moron get lobbed about... something about "them" brings out the irrationals.

Is it a fact that the debris cloud from our shootdown will be harmless to anything else that is also in a low orbit? I don't think that's been definitively answered by anyone in authority.

Satellite debris lights up the sky

JC, Fairbanks, AK — Thu, 28 Feb 2008 01:47:15 GMT

I'm with you Frank of Dallas. Kind of wish they'd get 'weeded out' sometimes, but one of the things I appreciate about this 'forum' is that I get to read what other people think (even if I *do* think it's irrational). The name-calling I could do without though....

Now, G'me your lunch-money JS.

Satellite debris lights up the sky

Angie London Kentucky — Sat, 14 Feb 2009 07:40:42 GMT

Around 10 something last night on February 13, 2009, there was a loud boom heard throughout our county. I live in Kentucky. The police did not know whether it was a plane or train crash or something else. But then they found that it was some of the debris that had fallen from the collision that happened in space on Tuesady. This was very scary. Where ever the impact of the debris happened the sound was heard in a 500 mile radius. I live in the southeastern portion of Ky and the sound was heard from Tennessee, North Carolina and a few other states.
http://www.wkyt.com/home/headlines/39601352.html