Taking Aim at the Spy Satellite

Feb. 20, 2008 — -- Now that the space shuttle Atlantis has landed safely and is out of the way, the Navy will take aim this week at a crippled satellite that is hurtling toward Earth.

If a missile launched by the Navy succeeds in taking out the bus-sized satellite as streaks across the sky 150 miles up, it will be one of the longest shots ever.

ABCNEWS has learned the first window to launch a missile at the satellite begins at 9:30 p.m. ET Wednesday. The FAA sent an advisory warning to ships and planes to stay clear of a large area of the Pacific Ocean west of Hawaii. They may not actually pull the trigger, however, until Thursday night.

The Aegis cruiser USS Lake Erie is already at sea, hundreds of miles west of the Hawaiian Islands. As the primary ship in the mission, it is carrying two missiles, one of which will be used in the shoot down. The destroyer USS Decatur is en route to join the Lake Erie with another backup missile. The USS Russell will remain in its home port of Pearl Harbor, assisting with tracking.

Pentagon officials had always expressed a high degree of confidence that the satellite, known as USA-193, could be brought down on the first try. Gen. James Cartright suggested last week that there was an 80 to 90 percent chance of scoring a bull's eye.

The Pentagon won't provide advance warning of the shootdown attempt, but within an hour of an interception the Department of Defense will issue a statement announcing the launch, Pentagon Press Secretary Geoff Morrell said Tuesday.

According to Morrell, Defense Secretary Robert Gates will make the final launch decision. Gates leaves Wednesday night for a trip to India, Indonesia and Australia and is prepared to make the decision from the road.

"The president has made a decision about how he wants to deal with the threat -- the potential threat posed by this dying satellite and the hydrazine it carries in its tank. Now, with that decision made, the secretary is the one who will decide if and when to pull the trigger -- pardon the term -- on the missile launch," Morrell told reporters.

First, however, NASA had to get Atlantis and its crew safely back on the ground. Officials never feared that the shuttle would be hit by a missile, but instead that the debris resulting from a direct hit could cause problems.