BeyondGenius.com

The U.S. Navy will likely attempt to shoot down a faulty spy satellite Thursday, the day after the space shuttle Atlantis is scheduled to land. NASA Administrator Michael Griffin said there’s nothing the military can do to make the outcome worse.

“If we miss, nothing changes. If we shoot and barely touch it, the satellite is just barely in orbit” and would still burn up somewhat in the atmosphere, Griffin said. “If we shoot and get a direct hit, that’s a clean kill and we’re in good shape,” he added.

In response to a U.S. plan to shoot down a malfunctioning spy satellite, China has warned against threats to security in outer space.  A Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman, Liu Jianchao, said the Chinese government was highly concerned about the U.S. plan. 

Security analysts have suggested that Beijing could use the planned U.S. interception to justify the Chinese military’s unannounced destruction of a defunct weather satellite in January 2007.