If North Korea wants to put Satellite into Orbit, what should it do ?

[Ezana]

I am no fun of the N Korean Dictator, but I have one question about his recent satellite launch and the reaction from the US, S. Korea, Japan etc.

If the N Koreans want to launch Satellite and explore space, must they rent other countries' rockets ? Could not they develope their own rocket ? Do not other countries, apart from those who have already developed the technology, have the right to progress ??

[stevedeshazer]

1. Oh boy

:popcorn:

[tabatha]

2. Tricky question.

Maybe there needs to be an international body that monitors all things related to rockets and nuclear.

[Statistical]

3. Shoot straight up

Not launch a missile as horizontal as possible in order to maximize the weapon range.

The idea that this was a legitimate sat launch is laughable.
The goal of a sat launch is to put it into orbit = up

The missile traveled a huge horizontal distance. Ever mile horizontal is a one mile not going vertical.

This was a weapon test period. To see how much of the earth is no within NK's range.

[quaker bill]

13. Orbit

is horizontal. Until your velocity is 17,500 mph (horizontal) you don't get to orbit. It is simple physics. "Straight up" is not the path. The shuttle does not go straight up. No rocket that has ever put a payload in orbit ever has been launched in such a manner, because it is not possible to get there that way.

Orbit is obtained when centrifugal force (spaceward) equals gravitational force (earthward). When orbit is reached, 100 percent of the velocity is horizontal. The vertical component of vector motion (acceleration toward space) is cancelled out by gravitational acceleration (toward earth).

Orbit is not "up". When averaged out over the length of a flight, the motion is almost entirely horizontal as an infinite series of tangents parallel to earth surface.

[Statistical]

14. Agreed however the flight path taken by the missile would NEVER achieve orbit.

The straight up comment was kinda a joke but I guess I should say "aim for an orbit"

The last 5 sat launches that NK has completed ended up in the ocean near Japan

So ones of 3 things is happening
a) NK is very bad at aiming "upward"
b) NK discovered a secret shortcut to space at bottom of the sea of Japan
c) NK uses the "sat launch" as a thin cover to launching ballistic missiles which have a goal of achieving the maximum horizontal distance NOT placing an object in stable orbit.

Not sure which one it is but I am putting money on C.

[quaker bill]

15. My guess from the descriptions I have read

is that the second or third stage did not fire. They had this problem last time. As I recall the videos, our first few attempts were pretty spectular failures as well.

There is no need for a three stage rocket to reach Japan from NK.

Our Atlas missles were designed as ICBMs, we now use them to put satelites in space. The point being that this level of technology is rather interchangeable.

The length of burn and trajectory of launch seem the critical factors. An important design attribute of any NK plan would be for the first stage to fall into the ocean short of Japan and for the second stage to clear the islands and land in the sea. Both aspects are a way short of space, but seem critical steps along the way.

One could speculate about what they are intending to do, but as they have not been successful in either attempt, it is difficult to be certain.

Now it is clear that if NK develops the technology to place an object in orbit, much as the Russians did with Sputnik, they will have proven their ability to potentially target the US mainland with a weapon. So in a certain respect it does not matter what they put on top, an amatuer radio beacon of sufficient mass will prove their point just fine. just like sputnik, all it needs to do is orbit and beep.

[rateyes]

4. They should put a satellite on a rocket, strap

Kim Jong Il to the rocket, and launch.

[JudyInTheHeartland]

5. Earn the trust of the international community. (n/t)

[MrPerson]

6. Start by showing an ability to feed their people first.

I'd like a shiny new rocket too but I can't afford it.

[John Q. Citizen]

9. Yeah, people said the same thing about China. They were wrong then, too.

[Occam Bandage]

11. I disagree. I still think China's dalliances with manned spaceflight are shockingly irresponsible.

[eleny]

7. Feed their own people first....and then we'll talk about satellites

[Occam Bandage]

8. Develop a satellite to put in orbit. Or better yet, develop food.

[JDPriestly]

10. N. Korea is viewed as a rogue state by the majority of countries

in the world. Nobody trusts North Korea's crazy dictator. So, it should focus on developing friendships with other countries and getting a rational leadership and not on developing rockets.

North Korea's neighbors have been very patient with it, but that patience could soon run out. So, North Korea needs to get with reality and stop living in its megalomaniac illusion. That is especially important now that Obama is president.

Obama is the kind of guy who will work really hard to get harmony and consensus but he will also do the right thing when it comes to foreign policy. North Korea's nuclear power is not going to provide much defense against the nuclear power of the U.S. And if North Korea persists in its path toward developing nuclear weapon capacity including delivery capacity, it could find itself on the receiving end of some very bad stuff.

It's time for the North Korean people to stand up to the idiots who are in charge of North Korea.

[Occam Bandage]

12. How do you expect the North Korean people to "stand up to the idiots in charge?"

They have no free press. Dissenters are imprisoned and executed in secret. The people are subjected to a diet of constant, ubiquitous propaganda from birth. There are no elections. Foreign tourists are not allowed outside government escort. North Koreans are not allowed to leave the country. Kim has a crushingly powerful military and controls every aspect of the economy. Pyongyang is absolutely immune to international pressure. How do you expect a public uprising to start, how do you expect it to be sustained, and how do you expect it to accomplish anything but a bloody, quick, and one-sided defeat?