Here's an interesting tidbit:
To date, the ships have executed just one missile launch that was not a test. In a mission code-named Operation Burnt Frost, the guided missile cruiser USS Lake Erie sailed out into the Pacific and on Feb. 20, 2008, launched a strike that blew apart a disabled U.S. spy satellite that was tumbling in orbit at more than 17,000 mph about 130 miles above the Earth.
The actual target, Navy leaders said, was a spot on the satellite the size of a postage stamp. And the missile, traveling at about 30,000 mph, hit it directly, destroying the satellite's onboard tank of about 1,000 pounds of toxic hydrazine fuel. Officials had been worried about possible injuries, including from the hazardous fuel, if the satellite came down in a populated area.
For Navy leaders, it was a decisive moment, proving publicly that the sensors, radars and missiles could successfully hit an object under real-time, threatening circumstances...
To date, the ships have executed just one missile launch that was not a test. In a mission code-named Operation Burnt Frost, the guided missile cruiser USS Lake Erie sailed out into the Pacific and on Feb. 20, 2008, launched a strike that blew apart a disabled U.S. spy satellite that was tumbling in orbit at more than 17,000 mph about 130 miles above the Earth.
The actual target, Navy leaders said, was a spot on the satellite the size of a postage stamp. And the missile, traveling at about 30,000 mph, hit it directly, destroying the satellite's onboard tank of about 1,000 pounds of toxic hydrazine fuel. Officials had been worried about possible injuries, including from the hazardous fuel, if the satellite came down in a populated area.
For Navy leaders, it was a decisive moment, proving publicly that the sensors, radars and missiles could successfully hit an object under real-time, threatening circumstances...
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