Washington: A US warship is moving into position to try to shoot down a defunct US spy satellite as early as Wednesday before it tumbles into the Earth s atmosphere, Pentagon officials said. Armed with two specially modified interceptor missiles, the USS Lake Erie has been tasked to intercept the satellite over the Pacific, the officials said yesterday, adding that the Aegis cruiser is already in waters off Hawaii.

The USS Decatur, a guided missile destroyer, is carrying a third interceptor missile in case the first two attempts fail, defense officials said. Another destroyer, the USS Russell, was still in port yesterday.

"I m confident they ll be able to do something," said a senior Navy official. "Once the weapon goes into track, then I think it s a done deal."

The window for the intercept has been open since Sunday, but the Pentagon has waited for the space shuttle Atlantis to land first at the end of its current mission to the International Space Station. That is scheduled to occur at around 9:05 am (local time) today.

"Touchdown of the Atlantis opens the window of opportunity for the US military to shoot down that rapidly decaying US intelligence satellite," said Geoff Morrell, the Pentagon press secretary.

A notice to airmen posted Friday on a Pentagon website advised of the closure of a wide span of the northern Pacific beginning 0800 IST Thursday to 1100 IST.

Another notice posted yesterday advised of a closure 24 hours later of the same area for the same length of time.

Federal Aviation Administration spokeswoman Laura Brown said Friday s notice was a "draft" used in an exercise to prepare for the satellite shoot down and should not have been posted.

Source : PTI