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Ranking the top threats in space
March 31st, 2009 | National Space Symposium | Posted by Michael Hoffman
A panel of officials with representatives from the Air Force, industry and even a former astronaut were asked what they see as the largest threat to U.S. space assets. Here are their answers:
Col. Dusty Tyson, chief of the Air Force’s Space Control Division
“Not knowing what everything is on orbit scares me. I am still interested in knowing what everything is at least at the geosynchronous level.”
Richard Dalbello, vice president of Intelsat General Corporation
“A focused cyber attack could be severely disabling. Not necessarily now but the technology that will evolve over the next decade…We have a lot of stuff in space that needs to be protected.”
Donald R. McMonagle, former astronaut and manager of NASA’s Launch Integration Space Shuttle Program
“Orbital debris. There were times when we had to bring astronauts back inside the space station because of fears of collisions from space debris. If there was an impact that would cause catastrophic damage.”
Tags: Air Force, Intelsat General Corporation, NASA, satellite, space, threat