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U.S. to shoot down falling satellite

The National Security Council said Thursday that President Bush has asked the Pentagon to come up with a plan to destroy the satellite while it's still aloft.

Jon Skillings Editorial director
Jon Skillings is an editorial director at CNET, where he's worked since 2000. A born browser of dictionaries, he honed his language skills as a US Army linguist (Polish and German) before diving into editing for tech publications -- including at PC Week and the IDG News Service -- back when the web was just getting under way, and even a little before. For CNET, he's written on topics from GPS, AI and 5G to James Bond, aircraft, astronauts, brass instruments and music streaming services.
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Jon Skillings

The classified satellite that is expecting to come crashing to Earth in the next few weeks will now be used for target practice. The National Security Council said Thursday that President Bush has asked the Pentagon to come up with a plan to destroy the satellite while it's still aloft. Many observers say a shoot-down is unnecessary because such objects falling to Earth typically burn up when re-entering the atmosphere or, if they make it through, would miss any habitation by a wide margin. Speculation holds that the spacecraft must be part of a new generation of spy satellite.

Read more on The Washington Post: "U.S. Plans to Shoot Down Broken Spy Satellite"