The missile fired Feb. 20 from a U.S. Navy ship at a dead spy satellite scored a direct hit, smashing the school bus-sized target into pieces that a top Pentagon official described as no bigger than a football. U.S. Marine Corps Gen. James Cartwright, vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told reporters Feb. 21 he could say with a very high confidence that the satellite's hydrazine-filled fuel tank — a potential hazard to people on the ground — had been hit directly.
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