Satellite unlikely to pose danger to humans

By Andrea Shalal-Esa

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A disabled U.S. spy satellite is likely to break into small pieces when it falls to Earth within weeks, posing little danger to humans, U.S. government officials and space experts said on Monday.

Most, if any, debris that survives the intense heat of re-entry would likely fall into the oceans, which cover more than 70 percent of the Earth, White House National Security Council spokesman Gordon Johndroe said.

But he said the U.S. government was monitoring the satellite's descent from orbit and examining different options to "mitigate any damage."

The U.S. military could potentially use a missile to destroy the minivan-sized satellite in space, but one senior U.S. defense official said that was unlikely for several reasons, including concern about creating space debris as China did when it shot down one of its satellites last year.

"Given that 75 percent of the Earth is covered in water and much of the land is uninhabited, the likely percentage of this satellite or any debris falling into a populated area is very small," Johndroe said.

Pentagon spokesman Bryan Whitman said more than 17,000 man-made objects re-entered the Earth's atmosphere over the past 50 years without major incident.

"We are monitoring it ... we take our obligations seriously with respect to the use of space," Whitman said, noting the satellite was expected to return to earth "over the next several weeks ... late February, early March."

SATELLITE LAUNCHED IN 2006