The DoD said it's currently at 60,000 feet, but it is maneuverable. I don't think we should yet (see my prior post), but it can be shot down.kalm wrote: ↑Fri Feb 03, 2023 12:17 pmCan we shoot down something 100,000 miles up?BDKJMU wrote: ↑Thu Feb 02, 2023 9:47 pm What the hell are they waiting for? Blow that Chicom ballon over Montana out the sky.
https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/nation ... -rcna68879
There's also another visible, high-altitude balloon over the Kansas City area that the NWS says isn't theirs. Discovered today.
edit: In 1985, we shot down a decommissioned satellite with an F-15 as a test. It was at an altitude of 385+ miles (2,035,704 feet).
I imagine we have significantly better capabilities almost 40 years later.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/ASM-135_ASATOn 13 September 1985, Maj. Wilbert D. "Doug" Pearson, flying the "Celestial Eagle" F-15A 76-0084 launched an ASM-135 ASAT about 320 kilometres (200 mi) west of Vandenberg Air Force Base and destroyed the Solwind P78-1 satellite flying at an altitude of 555 kilometres (345 mi). Prior to the launch, the F-15 — flying at Mach 1.22 — executed a 3.8 g0 (37 m/s2) zoom climb at an angle of 65 degrees. The ASM-135 ASAT was automatically launched at 11,600 metres (38,100 ft) while the F-15 was flying at Mach 0.934 (992.2 km/h; 616.5 mph).[8] The 14 kilograms (30 lb) MHV collided with the 910 kilograms (2,000 lb) Solwind P78-1 satellite at closing velocity of 24,000 kilometres per hour (15,000 mph; 6.7 km/s).