Wednesday, February 20, 2008

The Hydrazine Bomb

The crashing satellite:

Experts continue to debate the threat posed by a device containing 1,000 pounds of hydrazine that could crash almost anywhere in the world, and China and other nations remain unpersuaded that shooting it down is wise, with Russia saying there’s not “enough arguments” in favor.


Wikipedia:

Hydrazine is highly toxic and dangerously unstable, especially in the anhydrous form. Symptoms of acute exposure to high levels of hydrazine in humans may include irritation of the eyes, nose, and throat, dizziness, headache, nausea, pulmonary edema, seizures, coma, and it can also damage the liver, kidneys, and central nervous system. The liquid is corrosive and may produce dermatitis from skin contact in humans and animals. Effects to the lungs, liver, spleen, and thyroid have been reported in animals chronically exposed to hydrazine via inhalation. Increased incidences of lung, nasal cavity, and liver tumors have been observed in rodents exposed to hydrazine.[


Digg!

3 comments:

Bpaul said...

And lord knows what it does to ecosystems -- does it load up and stay around like mercury? Dunno... but can't be good.

Mark Prime (tpm/Confession Zero) said...

There's that danger and the more sinister idea that the US is only doing this to prove its technoweaponry is better than Chinas or Russias... Hubris will, and, from what I've heard, has successfully hit its mark and down "it" (whatever that may be) comes.

LT said...

That part cracks me up. You don's get to study inbound missiles for five weeks. What would it prove?