posted on Dec, 13 2012 @ 05:39 AM
You know, I'm happy for the N. Koreans, and I know I'm going to catch flack here for this, but it's about time they succeeded. They have been
trying for a very long time to put a satellite in orbit, and sadly we live in a world where nations trying to become modernized are frowned upon for
their efforts rather than praised.
I believe every nation has a right to attempt to explore and study space, as well as the Earth. A weather satellite is a means for studying the
Earth's weather, and why shouldn't the N. Koreans have that right? I understand they possess nuclear weapons, but no where near the grade anyone
else has. Building a rocket that can put an object in orbit, and a capable ICBM are different. Not enormously different, but if this rocket sent up a
warhead it's not going to come down on anything with any degree of accuracy or success with out serious outside help. Getting an object into orbit is
one thing, bringing it down on a target is a completely different set of trials to overcome.
I believe another poster mentioned the weight involved in a typical US Re-entry warhead far surpassing the carrying capacity of the Korean rocket.
Korea just got an object into space, they have no idea what is needed to bring an object down with out destroying it. I sincerely doubt the Koreans
could build a re-entry vehicle strong and lightweight enough, nor a small enough nuke with a high enough yield to attempt an Intercontinental attack.
It's one thing to build a nuke, bury it in the ground and blow it up, and it's a completely different thing to build one with in the weight and size
restrictions to put on a missile. Completely different when delivering it from orbit. See what I'm getting at here? It's not going to happen anytime
soon, and I'm sure we will all be aware the moment the first prototype re-entry delivery system is tested. That little weather satellite certainly is
not it.