[FPSPACE] Iran; North Korea; ye olde N-1

[Keith Gottschalk]

thanks, FPSPACers,

   for passing on the briefings & updates emanating from  hi-tech
sleuthing sources. So far, the emerging picture appears to be:

1. North Korea got as far as start of 3rd stage ignition, but failed to
reach orbit, & failed to ever make a second attempt.

2. Iran got as far as 2nd stage ignition before wildly turning out of
control, but has not yet achieved a 3rd stage ignition

    The analyses of the Iranian failure raise a point also made about
the four mid-flight explosions of ye olde N-1: lack of budgets for test
stands, & thorough & repeated static testing of each stage. If you have
less than the world's best high-speed processing computers, it is even
more important to do actual static testing. Failure to have thorough
static tests of each stage is indeed penny wise, pound foolish. True, as
far back as Project Apollo, NASA used all-up testing, but just compare
the high-level human resources available to NASA and its contractors
versus any third world country such as Iran or North Korea. A wealth of
hands-on experience, and experience in technical post-mortem analyses,
can well require a deace to acquire, from Peenemunde to the Persian
Gulf.

   A separate point is that the Iranian rockets so far use only
hypergolic propellants for every stage. If they want to persuade
Westerners of the peaceful nature of their space programme, upgrading to
cryogenic propellants, which are in any case higher-performance, is one
easy way to help persuade the wider world.

yours, Keith
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