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| That's the wrong monkey with a mole over its right eye |
Tehran was accused of monkey business this week when
Iranian officials mistakenly released the wrong photo of their first simian
space traveler.
Iranian space agency official Mohammad Ebrahimi
yesterday told The
Associated Press in Tehran one of two official
packages of photos of Iran's first space monkey depicted the wrong creature,
but a primate really did fly into space and return safely to Earth.
The two different
monkeys shown in the photos released by Iran's state media caused some
international observers to wonder whether the monkey had died in space or that
the launch didn't go well.
One set of
pictures showed a relatively dark-haired monkey. Another showed a different
monkey — strapped in a pod — that had light gray hair and a distinctive red
mole over its right eye.
Ebrahimi said the
monkey who traveled in space was named "Pishgam," the Farsi word for
pioneer. Initially, the Iranian media said "Pishgam" was the rocket
that took him on a 20-minute journey into space last Monday.
Ebrahimi
said one set of pictures showed an archive photo of one of the alternate
monkeys. He said three to five monkeys are simultaneously tested for such a
flight and two or three are chosen for the launch. Finally, the one that is
best suited for the mission and isn't stressed is chosen for the voyage.
Satellite technology
expert Pat Norris told BBC News Iran's
claim to have sent a monkey into space was not a major advance on what its
space program had already achieved.
The achievement was
similar to launching a missile at 3,000mph and having its warhead survive the
flight -- something Iran had done in several tests in recent years, he noted.
However, survival of
the monkey, without incurring any injuries, would demonstrate that the
acceleration and deceleration of the rocket were not too severe, Norris added.
In 2010, Iran
successfully sent a rat, turtle and worms into space. But an attempt to send a
monkey up in a rocket failed in 2011.
President Mahmoud
Ahmadinejad announced in 2010 the country planned to send a man into space by
2019.
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| Photos and image grabs of Qaher-323 from RT and www.kaskus.co.id |
Homemade “Conqueror”
In related news, Ahmadinejad
yesterday unveiled in a hangar in Tehran a homemade “stealth” fighter-bomber
jet reportedly capable of engaging targets on the ground, as well as achieving
air superiority in dogfights.
Codenamed Qaher-313
(“Conqueror”), the jet is an advanced single-seat single-engine warplane, RT (Russia
Today) reports.
According to photos
published by Iran’s Fars news agency,
the jet boasts impressive technical specifications, with a stealth design similar
to the American F-22 and Russian T-50. The large wingspan and inclined outward
tail fins resembles the F-35, as well as the unusual-looking wings and modern
seamless canopy. The jet may have been constructed using composite materials.
Iranian engineers claim
the Qaher is capable of short takeoffs and landings, and can be repaired
easily.
Video of the jet
suggests it is already undergoing flight tests, and Iranian pilots have
reportedly said they are fully satisfied with its performance.
Iranian Defense
Minister Ahmad Vahidi said the Qaher is a “fully indigenous” aircraft, designed
and constructed solely by Iranian aerospace experts.
"This advanced fighter jet with unique characteristics has a very
low radar cross-section and therefore is capable of operating at low
altitudes," Vahidi told Mehr.
Unveiling of the
fighter jet coincided with Iran's “Ten-Day Dawn” celebrations marking the 39th
anniversary of the end of the 1979 Islamic Revolution.
In his speech,
Ahmadinejad said “Iran’s
defense might does not serve purposes of expansionism and aggression against
other countries.”
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| Targeted lorries in the air raid on Jaramana |
Jaramana
Ahmadinejad’s opposite
number and ally, Bashar al-Assad, told an Iranian official today, Sunday, that
Israel was trying to “destabilize” Syria by attacking a military research
center near Damascus last Wednesday.
In a meeting with Saeed
Jalili, secretary of Iran's National Security Council, he
said Syria was able to confront "current threats... and aggression.”
Syrian TV has shown images
of the raid Damascus says Israeli jets carried out on a scientific research
centre in Jaramana, northeast of Damascus, killing two and wounding five.
U.S. officials say lorries
carrying weapons bound for Lebanon were the targets.
