Satellites Brace for Space Storm

[Frederick Burroughs]

AP story explains the real reason for the latest showdown with Iraq; Satellite
damage from a brush with the lion's tail, the Leonid meteor storm. America's
satellite fleet, born under a bad sign, will be sprinkled with high velocity
fairy dust in the wake of Comet Tempel-Tuttle. Communications satellites
and GPS face the highest risk. The latest Persian Gulf skirmish is mentioned
a couple times.

Apparently the loss of UN monitors and star-crossed destiny was too
much for US security interests. With the loss of satellite services a remote
possibility, reestablishment of UN monitoring was paramount.

Residents of Baghdad will look at the starry display as a chilling reminder
of who controls their destiny.
 

Satellites Brace for Space Storm
By Paul Recer
AP Science Writer
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/WPlate/1998-11/15/221l-111598-idx.html