Saturday, April 14, 2012

It's Not Easy To Lauch A Rocket



Why North Korea Sucks At Rocket Technology -- Danger Room

Rockets: They’ve been around for, oh, 70 years. But just because they’re senior citizens doesn’t mean they’re technologically decrepit. As North Korea’s latest failed rocket test shows, launching a rocket into space is still, well, rocket science.

To successfully launch a rocket into space — a necessary achievement for creating the intercontinental ballistic missiles that North Korea wants and breathless American politicians baselessly fear they’ll develop — you need expertise in lots of things. Lots of physics. Lots of safe handling of dangerous chemicals. And lots of experience.

Read more
....

My Comment: During the heydays of the Soviet Union, my uncle worked in a division that was responsible for developing and assembling satellites, and then configuring them to be put on a rocket. Growing up I always pestered him about his job, and he mentioned to me more than once that assembling and successfully launching a rocket is an incredibly difficult engineering endeavor .... a fact that I am sure a few North Korean engineers are saying right now.

No comments: