The Hydrazine is Falling
The U.S. Military has revealed the the non-functioning spy satellite that is going to come crashing back to Earth soon, has about 1,000 pounds of hydrazine propellant on board. The odds of the small satellite hitting anyone on re-entry is slight, but factor in the possibility that it might explode in the atmosphere over a populated area, spreading the hydrazine far and wide — and it suddenly becomes a serious situation.
Symptoms of acute short-term exposure to high levels of hydrazine may include irritation of the eyes, nose, and throat, dizziness, headache, nausea, pulmonary edema, seizures, and coma in humans. Acute exposure can also damage the liver, kidneys, and central nervous system in humans. The liquid is corrosive and may produce dermatitis from skin contact in humans and animals.
So the bright lights at Military Intelligence have decided to shoot down the satellite, rather than wait for it to fall to Earth on it’s own. They think (or hope?) they can better control where it explodes that way, and spread the hydrazine at high enough elevation to dissipate before it reaches ground level. Sounds a bit like a movie plot I once saw … things didn’t work out exactly as planned in the movie.