The other concern is hydrazine. The tanks are big and bulky and may survive re-entry.
That one always just sounded like a PR excuse to me. If there was any significant amount of hydrazine left on the satellite, then it would have been burned to help it maintain orbit longer. After all, that's what it was put up there for.
Oh, wait. If we believe the original press release (why not?), then the tanks probably are full after all:
The 5,000-pound National Reconnaissance Office surveillance satellite was pronounced dead just a few hours after it was inserted into orbit, on Dec. 14, 2006.
Previous Topic
Index
