Just about any satellite with maneuvering capability could be used as a co-orbital ASAT. Plus, sometimes you don’t need to slam into a satellite to put it out of action. For example, if you obscure the Earth and/or sun sensors, you’ll cause most satellites to trip into survival mode. You can do that with little more than a spray can if you maneuver close enough. The Chinese have demonstrated a good proximity operations capability.

Their current direct ascent ASAT can’t go to MEO or LEO but the same kill vehicle on a bigger booster could.

Not really. It’s a very inefficient use of the energy from a weaponry standpoint, and the planet would see it coming days away. And the launcher would simply be taken out with a nuke.

To me, the most impressive remains the Mars rovers. Five years into a ninety day mission to a harsh environment — and still truckin’. (Well, Opportunity is, anyway’ Spirit’s a hurtin’ puppy but not yet down and out).

A funny thing about journalism — journalists are generalists (I was an aviation & space journalist for several years). The specialist space journalist is a dying breed (Alan Boyle is almost the last man standing). When the generalists write about your particular field, you can see their errors and mistaken assumptions. But when they write about other fields, most people assume the journalists are getting it right. It’s interesting to get a pilot, a doctor, a soldier, and a manufacturer together to talk about what the press writes about their respective professions.

There’s no great conspiracy, just the human capacity for Getting It Wrong given a megaphone.

A few things NASA has done since Apollo:

120+ shuttle launches
Hubble Space Telescope
Compton Gamma Ray Observatory
Chandra X-ray Observatory
Spitzer Space Telescope
Cosmic Background Explorer
Unmanned missions to every planet in the solar system
Mars Exploration Rovers
Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter
Phoenix Mars Lander
Cassini Probe
NEAR Shoemaker
Deep Space 1 & 2
Stardust
Deep Impact
Dawn

I’m not saying NASA isn’t a bureaucracy and doesn’t have waster but given its small share of the US budget, I’d say we get pretty good ROI.

Here is a list of NASA missions for anyone interested:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_NASA_missions

The Moon Is A Harsh Mistress doesn’t say anything about the military value of simply having a base on the moon which, of course, isn’t terribly high.

All three documents referenced (Bloomberg piece, China Committee Report, China Military Power Report) clearly state that in addition to the direct ascent ASAT weapon they tested, the Chinese are developing a co-orbital ASAT weapon. But none of them actually cite any evidence to the fact, other than each other.

Direct ascent and co-orbital ASAT systems are completely different weapons from each other and you cannot simply turn one into the other.

You missed that Chicomm kinetic live test everyone got pissed off about because it destroyed a satellite and left tons of debris in orbit? Whose satillites do you think these things are intended to hit? The Euroweenies? Japan? No, the Chinese are hoping to cripple US satellites when they finally make a move and take us on.

This is one of China’s top priorities because destroying the GPS system and US communications would immediately remove the most important US technical & teactical advantage and allow numbers to make a difference.

You missed that Chicomm kinetic live test everyone got pissed off about because it destroyed a satellite and left tons of debris in orbit? Whose satillites do you think these things are intended to hit? The Euroweenies? Japan? No, the Chinese are hoping to cripple US satellites when they finally make a move and take us on.

This is one of China’s top priorities because destroying the GPS system and US communications would immediately remove the most important US technical & teactical advantage and allow numbers to make a difference.