Satellite Questions, Finally

The New York Times does some fact-checking:

"An Errant Satellite is Gone, But Questions Linger"

Rep. Ed Markey: “The geopolitical fallout of this intercept could be far greater than any chemical fallout that would have resulted from the wayward satellite. The Bush administration’s decision to use a missile to destroy the satellite based on a questionable ‘safety’ justification poses a great danger of signaling an ‘open season’ for other nations to test weapons for use against our satellites."

Andrew Revkin also did a bit of research on the chemistry, which should have been done (by someone besides me) when this story first broke. His findings are published on one of the Times blogs, not the actual print edition. Better late and net-only than never I guess:

"If it was, in fact, about limiting toxic peril, I’m not quite sure what drove that concern. (...) Hydrazines easily evaporate to the air, where they are broken down by reactions within minutes or hours."

Think we'll get any official response to these questions? Me neither.