Ok, so tonight's space night here at Blogdiggidy. I'm watching the lunar eclipse, eating an orange and just finished reading the story about how the Navy has to shoot down a spy satellite that needs an alignment or something.This appears to be a pretty big deal. It's funny how the most interesting part is buried midway down the story. Ya know, about how if the Navy doesn't shoot it down, "it can tumble to Earth and -- possibly -- release a cloud of toxic gas." Love it. You know Aerosmith's I Don't Want to Miss a Thing is playing in my head now.
Here's more, "'The United States plans to spend up to $60 million to try to destroy the satellite even though there is only a remote possibility the satellite could fall to Earth, survive re-entry and spew toxic gas in a populated area,' said James Jeffrey, deputy national security adviser." It's also interesting to note that folks think the U.S. is doing this just to show off. China shot down a weather satellite and we want them to know we're cool enough to do it too.
Ok, so back to this remote possibility thing. I want to hear "snowball's chance in hell" and this guy gives me, "remote possibility." That makes me nervous. What kind of gas? Where would it spew? Would it be any worse than what the power plant is belching out down the street from me?
1 comment:
Much worse than your run-of-the-mill powerplant.
According to Wikipedia, "contact to the fuel inside this bugger cause: irritation of the eyes, nose, and throat, dizziness, headache, nausea, pulmonary edema, seizures, coma in humans. Acute exposure can also damage the liver, kidneys, and central nervous system. The liquid is corrosive and may produce dermatitis from skin contact in humans and animals. Effects to the lungs, liver, spleen, and thyroid have been reported in animals chronically exposed to hydrazine via inhalation. Increased incidences of lung, nasal cavity, and liver tumors have been observed in rodents exposed to hydrazine"
Any questions left?
Post a Comment