North Korea launched what is supposedly a communications satellite. Was it a test for an ICBM, was it an actual launch failure and what really happened over there? We have a lot more questions than answers on this daily Podcast.
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a few things:
-S Korea has not launched anything by itself
-the fact is that ICBMs are the same thing as launch rockets for comsats, so saying that they can launch sats but not have ICBMs is like saying you can have freedome of speech but you can’t say bad things about the government
-the launch failed but did much better than the last one… they’re making progress
-the DPRK never agreed not to launch things
-don’t get to worked up about this. Even if they get inter continental range, the fact is that they are not able to produce nukes small enough to fit on their rockets or for that matter nukes of any size which work under the best of conditions. Also, I have serious doubts about the guidance on those things.
Iran has a bird up there though:
http://www.n2yo.com/satellite/?s=33506
I think this whole near-panic on the part of the media in regards to this launch is very telling of the times we live in, and really I can see both sides to this. One level B is right, what right DO we have exactly to tell a sovereign nation what it can and can’t launch, provided we aren’t at war with them and said launch isn’t aimed at us. Technically, we have none, all that can really be done is to make threats like imposing sanctions. Based on what I’ve read though, no one really trades with N. Korea anyway, mostly by its own choice (and that despite reports of thousands, perhaps millions of people starving to death inside its borders). N. Korea has made it pretty clear they don’t give a damn what anyone thinks of them, and that’s where the other side of this comes in. Just as with Iran, the US government, along with many other nations, have a deep and profound distrust of N. Korea’s government. In short, we flat out don’t trust whatever they say and assume it’s a lie. This attitude pisses off Iran just as much as it does N. Korea, and while neither country has a good and trustworthy track record, I don’t see how automatically doubting their word when they say they’re launching a peaceful satellite is productive.
There’s healthy caution when it comes to a country you’re fairly sure is up to no good, and then there’s paranoia, and with countries like these if they really feel they’re going to be judged poorly no matter what they say, then they seem to have a tendency to do just that out of sheer spite. N. Korea goes okay fine, if you’re that convinced we’re out to get you with a missile, then we’ll just do that! ’cause we’ll be screwed if we don’t have some defense against you when your paranoia gets out of control!
That’s what I’m really afraid of; I have my doubts that N. Korea is telling the truth about just wanting to launch a satellite, but conversely what proof is there otherwise? Trust is a two-way street, so how do you walk that line with such a potentially dangerous goverment? I don’t know the answer to that, but I guess what I am trying to say is that both of you are right. Regardless, the thing didn’t get to space and didn’t hurt anyone, so yay for that. Given the generally poor state their country is in, I think they have a long way to go before they really pose a threat. I hope diplomacy can improve relations before something really does go wrong.
Well put, IMO
I would have to disagree that this launch by North Korea wasn’t aimed at the USA or any “American interests” (including Japan). North Korea… for good or bad, has to send any kind of rocket along a trajectory that will go over U.S. territory of some sort (even a sub-orbital flight), and certainly is going to be going over Japan. This is called geography, physics, and rocket science.
This said, North Korea certainly isn’t doing tests like the old USSR did, by launching a series of ICBMs that landed precisely 300 miles to the west of Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Seattle (give or take a 100 feet… they were showing off the precision of their missiles at the time too). North Korea doesn’t have nearly this sort of precision and in this sense the launch was a miserable failure… about like the second launch by SpaceX. I wouldn’t even compare it to that launch either but something even worse.
This said, North Korea is at least showing off the capability that they might be able to nuke Anchorage or Honolulu, and certainly can get a rocket to any place in Japan. They are trying real hard to pretend they are a first world nation (at least to their own citizens) and a nation to reckon with.
As far as the diplomacy is concerned, this is something that is the choice of North Korea, not the USA or any other country. North Korea is being ruled by a totalitarian dictatorship whose leadership is worse than Hitler, Stalin, or Amin. Freedom and liberty are in very short supply, and economically North Korea is almost as bad if not worse than it was at the end of the Korean War. It is a failed government, all that much more embarrassed by their cousins to the south. South Korea is a first world country in almost any measure you can come by, and key figures like internet connectivity, energy resources, and other similar measures put them even ahead of countries like the USA. I guess North Korea is afraid of prosperity, wealth, and freedom.
BTW, I consider the current nuclear program of North Korea to be unsustainable. Consider that they have the GDP that can be compared to Uzbekistan, Cyprus, Estonia, and Ethiopia, and can even be compared to the virtual economies of video games like World of Warcraft and Second Life, I don’t see how this sort of environment can be sustainable for such an effort. The government of North Korea will eventually collapse, and American foreign policy doctrine of letting them shoot themselves in the foot perhaps is the best way to go.
Let me know when Ethiopia decides to launch their ICBMs and I might be more concerned. Frankly, Ethiopia is in a better position (due to their latitude, eastern sea coast, and large tracts of relatively undeveloped land along that coast line) to launch rockets and make it a commercial success than North Korea. That is some food for thought.
people i know wat im about to say is kinda random but i plan to become an astronaut some day wat would i need to do to become one i am age 13 i know a lot about space and areonautics thank you.