

Lebanon’s forgotten space programme (2013) - anonymfus
http://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-24735423

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sbierwagen

      The Cedar IV launched in 1963 was so successful that it was 
      commemorated on a stamp. It reached a height of 90 miles (145 km), 
      putting it close to the altitude of satellites in low-earth orbit.
    

So, sounding rockets, not orbital rockets:
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sounding_rocket](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sounding_rocket)

Quoting myself, from 3 years ago:

    
    
      An object in orbit is both high and fast. *Really* high (160km) and 
      *really* fast. (7.8km/s) 
      
      7.8 kilometres per second is 17,000 miles per hour.
    

They were far, far away from actually putting an object in orbit. Altitude's
the easy part, speed's the hard part.

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th3iedkid
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](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cedar_rocket)

~~~
avmich
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...

~~~
nkoren
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...](http://orbitalaspirations.blogspot.co.uk/2011/10/japanese-
lambda-4s-launcher.html)

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anonu
This is a repost. Original discussion here:
[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=6732210](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/](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.

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owobeid
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.

~~~
IndianAstronaut
In that region, Jordan seems to have taken up that task. They are making major
moves forward in R and D.

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callesgg
More lite a rocket programme than a space programme.

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bdchauvette
Shortly after independence, Zambia also briefly had an unofficial space
program:

[http://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2010/10/old-
we...](http://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2010/10/old-weird-tech-
the-zambian-space-cult-of-the-1960s/64945/)

[http://motherboard.vice.com/blog/the-almost-forgotten-
zambia...](http://motherboard.vice.com/blog/the-almost-forgotten-zambian-
space-odyssey)

~~~
veddox
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.

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veddox
Great story :-)

Sounds a lot like "October Sky".

