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U.S. Military Shoots Down Satellite

• Defense Department Photo by U.S. Navy
• Defense Department Photo by U.S. Navy
• Defense Department Photo by U.S. Navy
• Defense Department photo by U.S. Air Force
• Defense Department photo by U.S. Air Force
• AP
• AP
• AP
• AP
• AP

• Feb. 20: The USS Lake Erie launches a Standard Missile-3 at a non-functioning National Reconnaissance Office satellite as it traveled in space at more than 17,000 mph over the Pacific Ocean.
• Feb. 20: The USS Lake Erie launches a Standard Missile-3 at a non-functioning National Reconnaissance Office satellite as it traveled in space at more than 17,000 mph over the Pacific Ocean.
• Feb. 20: U.S. Navy Petty Officer 2nd Class Andrew Jackson activates a modified tactical Standard Missile-3 from the Combat Information Center of the USS Lake Erie as the ship operates in the Pacific Ocean.
• Feb. 20: Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Marine Gen. James Cartwright left, and Deputy Defense Secretary Gordon England follow the progress of a Standard Missile-3 as it races toward a non-functioning National Reconnaissance Office satellite in space over the Pacific Ocean.
• Feb. 20: Marine Gen. James Cartwright, vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, informs Defense Secretary Robert Gates of the successful missile intercept from the Pentagon’s National Military Command Center.
• Feb. 20: In this image provided by the U.S. Navy, a single modified tactical Standard Missile-3 launches from the U.S. Navy AEGIS cruiser USS Lake Erie.
• Feb. 20: In this image provided by the U.S. Navy, a single modified tactical Standard Missile-3 launches from the U.S. Navy AEGIS cruiser USS Lake Erie.
• Feb. 20: In this photo provided by the Department of Defense, Secretary of Defense Robert Gates, center, and his wife, Becky, are greeted by Adm. Timothy Keating, commander, U.S. Pacific Command, as they arrive at Hickam Air Force Base in Hawaii. The operation was so extraordinary, with such intense international publicity and political ramifications, that Gates, rather than a military commander, was to make the final decision to pull the trigger.
• Feb. 20: With his arm in a sling after slipping on ice last week, Secretary of Defense Robert Gates, left, receives a Lei from Adm. Timothy Keating and his wife, Wanda Lee Keating, right, at Hickam Air Force Base in Honolulu.
• Feb. 18: In this photo released by the U.S. Navy, Seaman Robert Paterson of Norgo, Calif., stands watch next to the aft vertical launch missile platform on the fantail of guided-missile cruiser USS Lake Erie in the Pacific.