Iranian Monkey Business

[darren r]

It seems that nobody's space programme is immune from hoax claims :

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/was-irans-monkey-in-space-launch-faked-before-and-after-pictures-of-spacetravelling-simian-appear-to-show-different-animals-8477551.html

[Echnaton]

[HB]It is quite obvious from the look on the face of the monkey in the after photo, that he is uncomfortable with having participated in a lie.[/HB]

But just what lie he is participating in?  The photo's do look very different but is is also possible someone pulled a Jack White and just stitched photos of two different monkeys together and is claiming they are reported to be same creature.  But the whole adventure raises the question of why send monkeys into space.  Is there really any science to be learned from this now or is it more a of a PR ploy?

[Chew]

It would appear the Iranians are not immune to Not Invented Here Syndrone. The US suffered from this as well in the early part of the Space Race.

If the monkey died during the mssion and they wanted to cover it up they would have to provide a lookalike to present to the press, but c'mon, they would have to search for weeks to find two monkeys that look that different from each other.

[Echnaton]

It would appear the Iranians are not immune to Not Invented Here Syndrone. The US suffered from this as well in the early part of the Space Race.

One can understand that motivation, much like the early "German" vs "American" rocket development programs in the U.S.  And it certainly makes better "Invented Here" press than sending an non-crewed missile.

[gwiz]

There's some analysis here.  Two different monkeys, but the pictures are from two different missions.
http://forum.nasaspaceflight.com/index.php?topic=11734.msg1007858#msg1007858

[darren r]

I notice they're being very quiet about the fate of the toy monkey.

What are they hiding!!!?

[Echnaton]

So where do the capsules land? 

The rocket they were using for the monkey launches were sub orbital sounding rockets so those could land within the country, but what about the satellite the Iranian agency sent up? Iran apparently launches from northern Iran, so the only direction they could launch a satellite and not drop a second stage booster on a neighboring country is south south east toward the Arabian Sea and Indian Ocean.  The news reports I've looked at this morning are noticeably short on details such as the flight path.  Perhaps it really is a hoax.   

[gwiz]

So where do the capsules land? 

The rocket they were using for the monkey launches were sub orbital sounding rockets so those could land within the country, but what about the satellite the Iranian agency sent up?

They have yet to launch a recoverable satellite.  Their three satellites launched so far have each decayed and burnt up in the atmosphere after a few months.

[Echnaton]

So where do the capsules land? 

The rocket they were using for the monkey launches were sub orbital sounding rockets so those could land within the country, but what about the satellite the Iranian agency sent up?

They have yet to launch a recoverable satellite.  Their three satellites launched so far have each decayed and burnt up in the atmosphere after a few months.

I understand, but where did the monkeys land and where did rocket stages drop after boosting satellites?

[gwiz]

I understand, but where did the monkeys land and where did rocket stages drop after boosting satellites?

The monkey launcher is a sounding rocket, I doubt if it came down as much as 300 km from the launch site.  The satellite launcher is a two-stage vehicle, so only the first stage to worry about.  The launch site is in northern Iran, somewhere near Semnan, so the satellite launch trajectory ground track leading to the south-east overflies about 1500 km of Iranian territory, plenty of room to drop the first stage before reaching western Pakistan or the Indian Ocean, depending on the target orbit.

[Echnaton]

That is what I had assumed. News reports don't provide much information.  They will have a tough time getting into anything other than a highly inclined orbit unless they gain access to launch facilities elsewhere.  For smaller countries, smaller than Russia that is, it really helps to have access to an eastern border on a wide part of an ocean if you want to have a space program.  Maybe they will use the Baikonur launch facilities or Sea Launch as the program develops.

[Inanimate Carbon Rod]

I heard a Jimmy Carr joke concerning the Iranian monkey / space thing, namely they tested it using a woman first to make sure it was a safe for a monkey. 

[Echnaton]

I heard a Jimmy Carr joke concerning the Iranian monkey / space thing, namely they tested it using a woman first to make sure it was a safe for a monkey. 

It is sad that that is funny and its funny because it rings true. 

[gillianren]

I didn't find it funny, because I'm too busy being angry that the Iranian government would probably find it true.

[twik]

Actually, if the whole thing was a hoax, and the monkey never flew, there would be no reason to have pictures of two separate monkeys.

Anyway, Iran now says it was a mistake, and one of the photos is of the wrong monkey, from a previous mission.