Disappointed but hope still remains

Lee Ju-ho, minister of education, science and technology, center, and Cho Gwang-rae, right, head of the Korea Space Launch Vehicle-1 (KSLV-1) project, listen to Korea Aerospace Research Institute President Kim Seung-jo during a press conference at the Naro Space Center in Goheung, South Jeolla Province, Thursday. The nation’s third attempt to launch the KSLV-1, colloquially known as Naro, was again aborted 16 minutes and 52 seconds before the launch time of 4 p.m. due to problems in its second-stage. / Yonhap

By Cho Mu-hyun

GOHEUNG, South Jeolla Province - The red numbers on the countdown clock for the launch of Korea Space Launch Vehicle-1 (KSLV-1) kept going as the seconds passed by, nearing 4 p.m., the launch time. No problem yet.

The eyes of reporters that packed the press center shifted endlessly between the television screen and their computers, tense and anxious. Keyboards rattled, while mouths remained tightly closed.

Then one of them abruptly stood up and pointed at the clock and shouted “It stopped!”

The clock stopped at 16 minutes and 52 seconds. It remained like that for a few seconds, then a minute, until it was clear to everyone that it wasn’t going to start again.

Chairs screeched in a continuous staccato than merged into one din as reporters stood up and shouted wondering what was going on. Phone rings pierced ears as each searched for an explanation. Reporters stood up and asked KARI and ministry officials around them what had happened, while they were speechless themselves on what was going on.

But all became silent when the speakerphone screeched, and an announcement was made: “The launch of Naro has been canceled.”

Sighs and grunts were muttered by reporters and government officials alike as they returned to their respective posts. Then no one talked anymore.

Science Minister Lee Ju-ho then came down after a few minutes. His face was not that of grief: it was rather one of tiredness.

Everybody knew in their hearts that sending a rocket into space wasn’t going to be easy, that it would be a long journey.

For every success, though the final moment can be theatrical and dramatic, a long tedious and banal road must be taken.

It hasn’t been smooth. Two previous launches, despite similar delays, have failed. KARI officials choked back tears during the first launch, visibly shaken by seeing the rocket, eight years in the making at the time, blast off into space.

Lessons have been learned from previous failures. Their eyes don’t water up any more, not secular but near that of looking at the situation as immaterial. They have acquired patience.

As the Korean saying goes, “There is no royal road to learning,” but for 10 years, working with their Russian counterparts and assessing precedents, they have adapted well.

“There is no rush. We have put a successful launch as the priority,” said Lee and there is indeed no hurry. Not after coming this far.

Ministry officials allowed reporters to see the rocket on the launch pad for the first time for the third attempt.

It is rather smaller than you expect, similar to meeting celebrities: screens do make things seem larger than life. Initially, it looks like an overlong and thick telephone pole. Not much longer really. One reporter chuckled, saying “It certainly looks bigger on TV.”

But standing near the launch pad in front of Naro, where you can see the ocean horizon surrounding it and feel the breeze hit your face, you look at it again and you realize you have missed how large it is.

Being 33 meters long and weighing 140 tons doesn’t define what it is. Neither do the technological terms thrown this way and that.

It is our dreams and hopes, crystallized to one big point heading for infinity.

Look up and you see the sky, rather than the invisible space above it. It seems to say, “I am waiting.”

But like one ministry official said, the launch is not a “one-time event” but one crucial step we must take to realize bigger and more ambitious space projects: Landing on the moon, commercializing near-orbit space-planes and other seemingly far-fetched goals - at least for now.

The overwhelming opinion here is that the launch will be postponed to spring next year. It is impossible during the winter due to weather conditions. A new launch window must be approved by international organizations. Korean and Russian engineers must thoroughly review the problem and together green light a possible launch date after it is resolved. Calls, notices, emails have to sent to involved parties.

No easy task. But we will be waiting.