This photo shows the U.S. Navy SM-3 missile, the type that shot down a U.S. spy satellite on 20 February 2008. Click on the world map, courtesy of the Washington Post, to see the track of this satellite's debris after it was hit--to learn more, see Spy Satellite's Downing Shows a New U.S. Weapon Capability. The SM-3 struck the satellite at an altitude of 240 km (150 mi); for comparison, earlier this year China shot down its own weather satellite at an altitude of 870 km (540 mi). From Physics Research for 1 March 2008 shows the debris field from the Chinese satellite.
