North Korea Launhes Missile that fails.. Why?

WASHINGTON - North Korea's disastrous bid to launch a Taepodong-2 missile showed Pyongyang has a long way to go before mastering long-range ballistic technology and has failed to draw lessons from previous botched attempts, experts told AFP.

 What did North Korea launch?
Pyongyang said it fired a Unha-3 rocket to place a scientific satellite into orbit. The US military said North Korea launched a ballistic intercontinental missile (ICBM), a Taepodong-2, which could be outfitted with a nuclear warhead.
The Taepodong-2, which is about 30 meters long, has three stages with a range of 6,000 to 9,000 kilometers, according to most estimates. North Korea already tested the missile in July 2006 and April 2009, and the regime launched a Taepodong-1 in 1998. All three previous tests ended in failure as well.

What happened?
The missile lifted off at 7:38 am (2238 GMT) from the northwest base of Tongchang-ri and exploded in mid-air at 7:41 am after traveling in a southerly direction, according to the South Korean defense ministry.
The first stage of the rocket separated and fell into the Yellow Sea about 165 kilometers west of Seoul. But the second and third stages failed, US and South Korean officials said.
The missile exploded at an altitude of 70.5 kilometers, with two pieces of the rocket continuing to ascend to 151.4 kilometers before the debris fell into the sea.

What caused the failure?
It is too early to say definitely what caused the unsuccessful launch but "it seems it could have been a problem with the second stage separating and firing," said Peter Crail, an analyst with the Arms Control Association. "The first stage landed somewhere where North Korea had planned."
The result represented a "step backward" for Pyongyang, as the first and second stage had separated successfully in two previous tests, he said.
Managing the separation of stages in a rocket launch is a tough technical challenge that countries with more advanced missile programs still struggle with, said Hans Kristensen, of the Federation of American Scientists.
"If a separation for example happens too late, or not at all, then you can have a second stage igniting -- still being attached to the lower part, and it will blow the thing to pieces," he said.
The timing for each stage has to be exact, and too much vibration could also derail the separation, he said.

What does the failure show about Pyongyang's missile program?
The result suggests the regime's effort is "a bit erratic" and that "they seem to have programmatic problems in terms of learning from their mistakes and successes and then building upon that," Crail said.
In the 2006 test, the second stage was based on a Soviet Nodong missile while in 2009 and in the latest attempt the second stage was modeled after a more modern Russian SSN-6.
The failed test indicates North Korea "has not yet overcome industrial processes such as quality control, reliability analysis, systems integration and technologies like propulsion and altitude control," said Poornima Subramaniam, an analyst at the leading defense journal IHS Jane's.

What is North Korea trying to achieve with its missile project?
A ballistic missile program requires several years of successful tests to be credible, experts said. In 14 years, North Korea staged four tests -- all ending in failure.
"We're still looking at several years off before the North Koreans have a reliable ICBM," said Crail, adding it would take at least another two to three years.
It may be the regime is not looking to build a reliable program, but merely one that poses a potential threat, he said.
"They want to show that they can possibly reach the United States. Simply having a successful test sometime may be good enough to establish what they can call a deterrent," he said.
North Korea was a long way from entering the "league" of states with long-range missiles armed with atomic warheads, Kristensen said. "If North Korea is going to get some form of deliverable nuclear capability, it's not going to happen right away." 
 http://213.158.162.45/~egyptian/index.php?action=news&id=24098&title=Why%20do%20N.%20Korea%27s%20missile%20tests%20keep%20failing
 

Popocatepetl volcano (Mexico): largest eruption in 2012 on 16 April, heavy ash fall

Popocatepetl volcano near Mexico City had one of its largest eruptions this year yesterday 16 April. An explosion produced an ash plume rising 2 km and caused ash fall, up to 7 cm thick, in over 30 communities near the volcano. Strong incandescence can be seen at night from the summit, suggesting that fresh magma is arriving there building up a new lava dome.
An 12 km exclusion zone was declared around the volcano.

 http://www.volcanodiscovery.com/popocatepetl/news/8059/Popocatepetl-volcano-Mexico-largest-eruption-in-2012-on-16-April-heavy-ash-fall.html

Two Strong Quakes Hit Mexico

GUERRERO NEGRO, MEXICO (BNO NEWS) -- Two strong earthquakes just minutes apart shook a desert region in the Mexican state of Baja California on early Thursday morning, seismologists said, but there were no immediate reports of damage or casualties.
The first earthquake at 12:05 a.m. local time (0705 GMT), which had a magnitude of 6.0 on the Richter scale, was sentenced in a mountainous desert region in Baja California, just west of San Lorenzo Island in the Gulf of California. It struck about 15 kilometers (9.3 miles) deep, making it a shallow earthquake, according to the Mexican Seismological Service (SSN).
Minutes later, at 12:15 a.m. local time (0715 GMT), a stronger earthquake with a magnitude of 6.8 on the Richter scale struck the same region in Baja California. The second earthquake, some 110 kilometers (68 miles) northeast of Guerrero Negro, was slightly more shallow at a depth of just 10 kilometers (6.2 miles), SSN reported.
The United States Geological Survey (USGS), which measured the earthquakes at magnitudes 6.2 and 6.9, respectively, estimated that some 108,000 people near the epicenter may have felt strong to very strong shaking. Another 1.5 million people further away from the epicenter may have felt light to moderate shaking, the agency estimated.
There were no reports of serious damage or casualties.
Thursday's earthquakes followed a strong 6.4-magnitude earthquake which struck off the Pacific coast of Mexico on late Wednesday afternoon, causing tall buildings to sway as far away as Mexico City but causing no damage or casualties. The earthquake on Wednesday was unrelated to Thursday's events.
Mexico sits on the so-called 'Pacific Ring of Fire', an arc of fault lines circling the Pacific Basin which is prone to frequent and large earthquakes. Late last month, a powerful 7.4-magnitude earthquake struck southwestern Mexico, killing at least two people and injuring 11 others.

 http://channel6newsonline.com/2012/04/two-strong-earthquakes-shake-mexican-desert-in-baja-california/