North Korean Satellite Launch Called a Failure by Seoul, Washington

Los Angeles Times ^ | April 5, 2009 | John M. Glionna

[Peelod]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NTFreay3bOA

Song of General Kim Il Sung

1.
On Jangbaek mountains, there are bloodstains.

By Aprok river, there are bloodstains.

Those holy stains throw light over

the bouquet of free Korea today.
2.
The snowstorm on Manju plain, tell a story!

The long night in the deep forest, tell a story!

Who is the immortal partisan?

Who is the peerless patriot?
3.
He is the benefactor who released the labourers.

He is the great Sun for new democratic Korea.

All people gather to the 20 clause political program.

New spring comes everywhere in North Korea.
Refrain
Oh- what a sweet name, General Kim Il-sung!

Oh- what a glorious name, General Kim Il-sung!

[El Gato]

North Korean Satellite Launch Called a Failure by Seoul, Washington

Only if it really was an attempt to launch a satellite.

I doubt it was.

[NormsRevenge]

Maybe a failure.. how far did it travel? The distance from Iran to Israel? It may not have reached orbit, was it really their intention to do so or just show that it can work to deliver a payload a certain distance?

—

Good questions on intent. I guess their experimental comm satellite payload lies at the bottom of the sea or it worked as designed..

[gandalftb]

The booster stage splashed down 280 km off the coast of Akita Prefecture in the Sea of Japan. The second booster stage splashed down 1,270 km off the E coast of Japan.

[ops33]

“...government officials said late today that Pyongyang’s satellite was a failure.”

This time it was a failure. Many of our own early missle launches were failures. But we learned from those early mistakes and improved our technology. Can we expect any less from the NK’s?

[ex91B10]

...They did pretty darn good for a first shot. Next year they’ll show us they can reach D.C.

Indeed.

[gandalftb]

Correction:
The booster stage splashed down 280 km off the coast of Akita Prefecture in the Sea of Japan. The second booster stage splashed down 1,270 km off the E coast of Japan at 0243 GMT. RE: Japan’s Crisis Management Centre.

The N Koreans (and now the Russians) are claiming a third rocket stage placed the Kwangmyongsong-2 satellite in a 490 x 1426 km x 40.6 deg orbit. Further, that the satellite is now broadcasting songs honoring their “Dear Leader”.

I’m gonna go open a window and see if I can hear the “Dear Leader” singing, too.

[Cheetahcat]

This is Crazy we stand here and do nothing when the intent is to hit our cities with a nuclear tipped Missile just Jaw ratcheting nothing more from Our Coward Leaders.

[reg45]

Kwangmyongsong-2 kinda reminds me of our Vanguard.

Bill Clinton sold them the Vanguard blueprints.

[mowowie]

Maybe it ran into a stray lazer beam.

[Concho]

I think that we have to understand or interpret the NK’s as they speak in tongues or analogies and never speak directly to the truth. The launch confirmed a firing range. It did not need to go into orbit. Their saying that the satellite was playing the song, may not mean that it was broadcasting music. If it achieved the range that they were working with, with the Iranians, then it may prove that they and or Iran can launch on Israel, or maybe next year they can pop a nuke in our atmosphere....things are not always as they appear.

Also, the US has somewhat like 4 of the new 747 offensive laser aircraft. Apparently the US already knew the trajectory. What’s to say that the 747’s werent in a receiving pattern in the western Pacific and just accidently put a light on that rocket?, right over where strategically positioned recovery ships were parked. Our gubmint isnt going to tell us any more of the truth than is the North Koreans. Odoomba may think that he runs the show, but I speculate that the CIA and other agencies pay him very little attention and that they pretty well do as they please. When this story first broke, Fox news had a nice segment that said that the Boeing 747 Offensive Laser aircraft was now operational and gave a lot of pictures and discussion of it.

Meanwhile Odoomba bows to the Muslims....what is the real message there?

[patriot preacher]

Had it been an actual satellite launch, it would have been a failure. But what it REALLY was, was an ICBM test — and THAT succeeded. I take only small comfort in the fact that California is within range of NK nukes... Then again, I am saddened for Alaska...

[El Gato]

It was halfway to Hawaii I hear. I’m sure we had a way or two ready to reach out and touch the pea in the sky.

I think that was just the second stage, the third stage and payload (might be a single unit) would have gone a bit farther. Maybe it landed in one of the Midway Islands lagoons, or Kwajalein Atoll where many of our shots out of Vandenberg impact. Like this one.

Count 'em little Kim, all from a single Missile.. which can actually carry more than shown....(although one I we've taken out of service, the last one in 2005, in observance of a never ratified treaty, even though it's the newest land based one we have. The remaining Minuteman III missiles date to the late '60s and early '70s. )

[El Gato]

The second booster stage splashed down 1,270 km off the E coast of Japan.

And what about the third stage/payload?

[NormsRevenge]

I’d sure like to see official Norad radar of the flight trajectory and final splashdown.. not sure it would have gone that far.. but..

[El Gato]

Bill Clinton sold them the Vanguard blueprints.

What would they want with those? If anything they'd have insisted on the Thor/Delta blueprints, if not the Atlas and/or Titan.

[hinckley buzzard]

It may not have reached orbit, was it really their intention to do so or just show that it can work to deliver a payload a certain distance?

The market for delivering orbital loads is pretty well set but the market for supplying intermediate to long range missiles is wide open. You be the judge.

[gandalftb]

Update:

The latest info has the second-third stage+payload splashing down on a line (per the previous flight coordinates posted) at 2,100 km. off the Japanese coast.

Contrary to media reports, the missile did not fail mid-burn of the second stage but did complete the second stage burn. The failure occured when the third stage did not ignite and separate.

We have a lot of assets in the splashdown area and it is fishing season.

The Iranian program is much different than the N Korean.

So far, no indication of an interstage area between 2nd and 3rd stages indicating the third stage was liquid fuel, that is a major difference with the Iranian missile. Not getting a liquid fuel engine to light is not a good sign of competency on the N Koreans. Politics gets in the way of science.