KSLV-1 and the MTCR
Mating the Indigenous KSLV-1 Second Stage with the Angara It always helps to go back and read the original documents, even to things you think you know fairly well. I found myself doing that recently when a number of (…
Geoff Forden
Writing on ACW 2008–2010 · 142 posts
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Bye Jack, We’re Proud to Have Known You
Jack McGeorge, left, in one of his rubber suits examines an Iraqi 122 mm rocket potentially filled with sarin One of the great unsung heroes of the UN weapons inspections in Iraq passed away during cardiac surgery on 18 August…
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South Korea Blinks
The Republic of Korea (ROK) aborted today’s launch of the KSLV-1 at T minus seven minutes. The crystal-clear blue skies shown in the picture, with the only cloud present being the venting of LOX boil-off, seem to indicate that it…
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Can’t Ban ‘em? Compete with ‘em!
India’s CIRUS reactor in Google Earth (top) and Bhuvan (bottom) I love Google Earth and don’t know how I could have ever done my job before it was invented. (The love is apparently not mutual since Google censored my work…
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Will ROK Overfly Japan?
The launch of South Korea’s “indigenous” space launch vehicle (KSLV-1) has once again been postponed, this time to around August 19th; presumably due to weather issues. I haven’t been able learn the intended orbit (other than its going to be…
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PCS#1: Iran’s Composites Infrastructure
Tehran University, one of the Iranian universities that has significant research in material sciences including advanced composite materials. My previous two posts ( part 3 and part 4 of this series on a proliferation case study examining Iran’s possible indigenous…
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PCS: The How of Proliferation, Part 2
Yesterday, I started to present a framework to think about how proliferators get the know-how and industrial infrastructure necessary to make weapons of mass destruction. This framework has proved very helpful to me in understanding various WMD programs. It becomes…
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PCS: The How of Proliferation
click on the image for a larger version After all the information that has come to light about proliferation programs around the world, I think we are in a position to say what are some of the key factors that…
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PCS #1: Jet Vane Hypothesis
click on the image for a larger version Iraqi destructive quality control test on jet vanes using two different imported batches of graphite. See UNMOVIC’s Compendium, Chapter IV, pp. 739-740. As any regular read of my posts on ACW will…
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Prolif. Case Study: Iranian Furnace
click on the image for a larger version Closeup of the cylinder removed from an Iranian furnace. A while ago, I asked if anybody knew what the purpose of a furnace shown in an Iranian video covering the construction of…