posted February 12, 2008 12:54 PM         

Damn! Would be the first thing I would think of doing on picking up an object from space.

http://www.defensenews.com/story.php?F=3341298

U.S. Spy Satellite Could Fall to Earth in March

By MICHAEL HOFFMAN

A spy satellite about the size of a minivan weighing roughly two to four tons is scheduled to come crashing down to Earth as early as late February or as late as April, U.S. officials said Jan. 29.

“Appropriate government agencies are monitoring the situation,” said Gordon Johndroe, a spokesman for the National Security Council. “Numerous satellites over the years have come out of orbit and fallen harmlessly. We are looking at potential options to mitigate any possible damage this satellite may cause.”

Johndroe wouldn’t release any further details about the satellite, but Jonathan McDowell, an astronomer at the Harvar-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, said it was likely an imagery satellite built by Lockheed Martin launched into orbit a little over a year ago aboard a Delta II rocket. The communications equipment on the satellite failed after it reached orbit and officials on the ground lost control over it.

Since then the satellite has been orbiting the Earth at a rate of 18,000 miles per hour. Amateur space enthusiasts have joined officials tracking the satellite as it has become one of the brighter objects in the sky after it started to glow since it began to enter the Earth’s atmosphere, McDowell said.

It’s not uncommon for satellites to re-enter the atmosphere. One falls out of orbit every two weeks, but almost all disintegrate before hitting the earth. However, McDowell said this satellite might be dense enough to survive the reentry and a few charred pieces could strike the ground or splash into the ocean.
If a piece of the satellite does reach the ground, it could be covered in hydrazine fuel. The fuel is toxic and corrosive, but does not pose a major threat like the Russian satellite that failed and landed in Canada in 1978.

The Russian satellite was used to monitor U.S. Navy ships and was run by a nuclear reactor. The radiological properties survived the reentry necessitating an expensive clean up, McDowell said.
It’s unlikely the Lockheed Martin satellite will land over ground since most of the Earth is covered in water, but McDowell compared the chemical threat of the satellite parts to merely a personal computer hitting the earth.

“We don’t just throw away computers because they are full of nasty stuff that you don’t want to ingest,” McDowell said. “But with this almost all the fuel will dissipate in the Earth’s atmosphere so if you pick it up just don’t lick the space debris.”