North Korea satellite in orbit or ocean?
North Korea claims the rocket it sent up Sunday put an experimental communications satellite into space and that it is transmitting data and patriotic songs. The U.S. military says whatever left the launch pad ended up at the bottom of the sea.
North Korea has a history of hyperbole. In creating a cult of personality for its leader, Kim Jong Il, its media rewrote the story of his birth along biblical lines and once said that when he took up golf, he was firing holes-in-one with regularity.
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Kind of a stupid claim to make if it's not true. We will be able to find and track the thing, even when it doesn't transmit patriotic songs, if it really is in Earth orbit.
ReplyDeleteI'm waiting for an independent confirmation, can't yet find it.
I did expect a failure, that's normal for first launches.
I still don't understand why they are talking about a 5000 km long range rocket that has launched a satellite in orbit in most media.
NK would be the 10th country to be able to launch a object into Earth orbit. Iraq also claimed to have made 6 complete orbits in 1989, but this was (also?) not confirmed.
According to wiki the sat is said to be in a 490-1400 km orbit, which means they can't claim it fell back to Earth in a few orbits without being noticed, because that is too high for serious atmospheric drag.
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