USA: Selfie with balloon goes viral

The US Department of Defence has now published a photo that is said to have made a big splash in the Pentagon. It is a - obviously officially welcome - selfie from the cockpit of a U-2 reconnaissance aircraft flying over the Chinese balloon.

Clarification

It was already done at the beginning of the crossing of the North American continent, when the object was reconnoitred at 18,200 metres (60,000 feet) using aircraft with the appropriate altitude capability. The single-seat reconnaissance and surveillance jets of the joint US-Canadian NORAD (North American Aerospace Defence Command) usually operate in this altitude band and above. The pilot wears a full-body pressure suit, similar to those worn by astronauts. He identified the aircraft, but did not attempt to shoot it down over land, because at this altitude and with the unknown crash behaviour of the object, a risk to people and material on the ground could not be ruled out. After all, the balloon with attached payload was the size of the Statue of Liberty and the payload was about the size of a normal passenger aeroplane - no small feat!

Launch

So they waited until a suitable spot presented itself over the sea. Launched there - in a sense an act of both sovereignty and demonstration - the debris was scattered over an area one nautical mile square. Of course, the weather conditions and the unknown materials (radiation, explosives, batteries) hindered a quick recovery. But what could be recovered from the seabed in the weeks following the impact should provide sufficient information about the capabilities and missions of the balloon and its payload. What information could be recorded and in what resolution, how was it processed on board and how was it passed on - and to where? Since China is rated as a "pretty smart adversary", it is important to know the status of the technology used against the USA. All of this certainly remains under pretty good lock and key, but one naturally wonders why the balloon didn't self-destruct if they didn't want to reveal this information - or did they want to - or did they want to take the risk in favour of even more information? "Curiosity killed the cat", as the saying goes!