Lebanon’s forgotten space programme (2013)(bbc.com)
bbc.com
Lebanon’s forgotten space programme (2013)
http://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-24735423
6 comments
Far from orbit, but still a very impressive achievement, particularly in 1963. As far as I'm aware, no other amateur rocket club has had that kind of success since.
Am certainly not aware of mechanics of a rocket but from below quote and [1], seems they weighed in around 1250Kg , given its 1960's and its a tiny state , seems like something few could do .
>> Cedar III launched in 1962 had a length of seven metres and weight of 1,250 kg
[1]:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cedar_rocket
>> Cedar III launched in 1962 had a length of seven metres and weight of 1,250 kg
[1]:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cedar_rocket
Arrrgh, but Lambda-4 was kinda similar... pretty light and quite simple, yet orbital launcher it was. So may be Lebanon had a way forward, which could lead them to orbit...
The Lambda-4 was approximately 9,000kg[1], so we're still talking about a different order of magnitude here.
1: http://orbitalaspirations.blogspot.co.uk/2011/10/japanese-la...
1: http://orbitalaspirations.blogspot.co.uk/2011/10/japanese-la...
If 160km is considered "really high" then what is a geo-statoionary satellite? Super really mega ultra high?
This is a repost. Original discussion here: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=6732210
There is also a well thought out documentary on the subject that I saw at the MoMA recently: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2361348/
[Edit] Another thought about the Lebanese Rocket Society... this story isn't just about the nascent rise and fall of a small country's space exploration program. It is also about it's diverse demographics and the strength that arises from a multi-cultural population. In this case the story is about Manougian, an Armenian, who lived in Lebanon for only a few years. The story points to the resourcefulness and ambition of the Armenians in Lebanon.
There is also a well thought out documentary on the subject that I saw at the MoMA recently: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2361348/
[Edit] Another thought about the Lebanese Rocket Society... this story isn't just about the nascent rise and fall of a small country's space exploration program. It is also about it's diverse demographics and the strength that arises from a multi-cultural population. In this case the story is about Manougian, an Armenian, who lived in Lebanon for only a few years. The story points to the resourcefulness and ambition of the Armenians in Lebanon.
As a Lebanese person, it's sad to see that this part of our history isn't taught to us. I only found out about it when the original article was written. Such a shame that the Lebanese (with quite a few exceptions, especially among millennials) have given up on intellectual progress.
In that region, Jordan seems to have taken up that task. They are making major moves forward in R and D.
Shortly after independence, Zambia also briefly had an unofficial space program:
http://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2010/10/old-we...
http://motherboard.vice.com/blog/the-almost-forgotten-zambia...
http://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2010/10/old-we...
http://motherboard.vice.com/blog/the-almost-forgotten-zambia...
I want to emphasize the word unofficial there - you never learn about this in the Zambian history curriculum.
It was just a bunch of crackpots playing at being astronauts.
It was just a bunch of crackpots playing at being astronauts.
Great story :-)
Sounds a lot like "October Sky".
Sounds a lot like "October Sky".
So, sounding rockets, not orbital rockets: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sounding_rocket
Quoting myself, from 3 years ago:
They were far, far away from actually putting an object in orbit. Altitude's the easy part, speed's the hard part.