wmartin@ALMSA-1.ARPA (Will Martin -- AMXAL-RI) (11/07/85)
Does anyone have any info on just WHY the functioning "Solwind" satellite was chosen as the ASAT test target, as opposed to some other, really non-functioning piece of space junk or dead satellite? I can think of several hypotheses: 1) They really needed to use a functioning machine as the target to give definite evidence that the attack succeeded, and really destroyed the target object. Hitting an inert object couldn't be observed, and they would have no evidence that the test actually succeeded. And they had to use a publicly-known and generally-detectable satellite as the target instead of a malfunctioning military spy satellite or the like so that a) they didn't have to officially acknowledge the existence of any such military satellites, and b) so the Soviets could monitor Solwind's signals (and be given the frequency and telemetry data openly and freely, which couldn't be done with a military satellite as the target object) and thus they would know for sure the US had a functioning ASAT when those signals ceased. 2) The orbit that Solwind was in was one the ASAT could reach, and there wasn't anything else reachable to attack. (Or again, as above, nothing we would openly acknowledge as being ours that could be reached.) 3) Somebody just really made a big mistake. Maybe "Solwind" was listed on some master list as being "expired" or "past its lifetime", and the fact that it was still providing useful data was just not known by the people making the decision, or they were given false data due to error or conspiracy/subversion? 4) Solwind had some kind of sensors on board (and still operating) that helped the test in some way -- it detected and relayed some form of useful info back to its controllers up until the impact/destruction. Any one or more of these theories have any basis in fact? Expert commentary solicited! It would help in understanding this if it were known what other satellites were in similar or equivalent orbits to Solwind. Or was it unique for some reason? I wonder what would have happened if they had used a for-real Soviet satellite as the test target...? They could have picked any particularily annoying Soviet "secret" satellite, and then claim that it was *ours*, sent up to be used as a target. Then blasted it. The Soviets, not acknowledging that it was theirs in the first place, couldn't have complained about it! Hmmm... Maybe a dangerous game there... Anyway, for argument's sake, lets ignore the anti-ASAT arguments for a bit and just base this on an assumption that it *had* to be tested on *something* up there. What else could have been used besides Solwind? Would it have been worth the cost to launch a satellite just to be a test target? Compare that cost with the projected return from the rest of Solwind's lifespan; what would be most cost-effective? Will
carroll@uiucdcsb.CS.UIUC.EDU (11/13/85)
No real information, but knowing our government, SolWind was probably just listed as "dead", and no one bothered to check. It was operating past it's "official" lifetime, and for someone from the Pentagon, something functioning even that long was probably so out of the norm that it would never occur to the military mind that it might still work. Mr. Sarcasm