Satellite is weeks away from colliding with World

A large U. S. spy satellite has lost ability and propulsion and could strike the Earth in later February or March, regime officials said Saturday. The satellite, which no longer can be controlled, could carry dangerous materials, and it is unidentified where on the planet it might go downward, they said. The officials spoke on circumstance of anonymity because the data is classified as confidential. "Appropriate regime agencies are monitoring the position," said Gordon Johndroe, a spokesman for the National Security Council. "Numerous satellites over the years have go out of orbit and fallen harmlessly. We are looking at prospective options to mitigate any potential harm this satellite may induce."

He would not note on whether it is potential for the satellite to be possibly shot downward by a projectile. He said it would be improper to discuss any specifics at this moment. The largest uncontrollable re-entry by a NASA spacecraft was Skylab, the 78-ton abandoned place station that drop from orbit in 1979. Its rubble dropped harmlessly into the Indian Ocean and across a distant part of southwestern Australia. In 2000, NASA engineers successfully directed a secure de-orbit of the 17-ton Compton Gamma Ray Observatory, using rockets aboard the satellite to take it downward in a distant region of the Pacific Ocean. In 2002, officials think rubble from a 7,000-pound skill satellite smacked into the Earth's air and rained downward over the Persian Gulf, a few thousand miles from where they first predicted it would plummet.