North Korean Satellite Launch Called a Failure by Seoul, Washington

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

[kellynla]

Thanks for the update!

[Lonesome in Massachussets]

Politics gets in the way of science.

Demming's first rule: Drive out fear.

Nothing stifles progress like fear. Stalin would routinely shoot unsuccessful managers and generals, and look where that got him. (The Soviets only beat the Nazis because they had a 2:1 advantage in population, home court advantage and Hilter was almost as bad.)

You need to reward success and make failure painful, but not fatal.

[Lonesome in Massachussets]

I always favored that picture of two Minuteman (version?) warheads from separate launches impacting simultaneously at the same point.

It was a clear message to the Russians: We can control when and where they land with at least as much accuracy as the separation in time and space of these two impacts. It was clearly (in my mind) a demonstration for the Russians. I’ve heard of a case where a Minuteman launch out of Vandenberg was delayed because we were waiting for the Marshall Medenov (sp?) to get on station. Clearly intending to send a message: We want you to see this.