Was Iran's Monkey Launch A Fake?

So this is how the "Planet Of The Apes" got its start.

They claimed that next week he, Tuxedo, will pick a banana as he climbs the first tree on the moon. Tuxedo is reported to mutter, "That's one small step for Apes, one giant leap for Apekind.

Ron Bennett

That rocket looked to me like a kind of interceptor-style missile that traveled way too fast for a living cargo. Can some math wizard figure out how many G forces that poor monkey would have had to sustain to take off at that speed? No wonder it blew that mole off his face and rushed the coloring out of his hair!

There were three launches in all. The Iranian news agencies messed up by publishing pictures from all launches at the same time. Here is a detailed analysis:
http://forum.nasaspaceflight.com/index.php?topic=11734.msg1007858#msg1007858

We're so easy to spot conspiracy theories in other countries, but not our own. The Telegraph article reads like one of those conspiracy blogs about Bin Laden or Saddam's doubles (a couple of captionless photos placed next to each other), but it's a mainstream article. This could very well be a fake by the Iranian government, but I'd just like to point out how different the level of skepticism is here.

I'm not an avid "conspiracy theorist", but I wonder why people seem to think domestic conspiracies are rare, or difficult to put together.

Here's a video of the monkey during the flight and then being pulled out of the rocket alive: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zZKkjzAQDwY

(Bare with the tacky music)

I don't see a mole on either one. And it looks like the one in the press conference. The photo with the mole looks like the odd one out. Seems like mrs Greenwood and the Telegraph were the ones to "embellish" this time.

The real monkey they launched was their little man leader Ahmadinejad

They're only claiming to have shot a small rocket up 100km or so. This is stuff that many nations have been capable of since the 40s. There are numerous hobbyists who could do this given a bit of funding.

Given how embarrassing it would be to be caught faking this, it seems like it would be easier just to do it for real. There's absolutely no reason to believe this isn't within Iran's capabilities. Hell, I'm sure there are highschool students who could pull this off with enough money behind them.

If they were claiming to have put a monkey into orbit and retrieved him, maybe there would be more reason to believe it was a fraud, but I doubt it. Remember, Iran has been successfully launching satellites into orbit for over three years. If they can put a satellite into orbit -- which we know they can do -- why not strap a monkey onto a much smaller rocket?

The conspiracy desperation is pathetic. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iranian_Space_Agency

Face it. A 60 mile shot ain't much. Goddard's early rockets and missiles from the 60' and 70's are known now, for example. They could have done it using American published technologies.

quasi44, Like I mentioned, they didn't need to rip off American rockets to do this. They are able to put satellites into full-on orbit. Lifting a monkey 60 miles is simple in comparison -- that little monkey weighs almost nothing, and the flight is so short that no significant life support is even required. This launch is PR for people who know nothing about spaceflight -- and this conspiracy-mongering is also PR for people who know nothing about spaceflight.

An article in Fox News (of all places) disputing the Telegraph article: http://www.foxnews.com/science/2013/02/02/iranian-space-official-says-photo-shows-wrong-monkey/

If Iran got a rocket in space, yea, so what? If they sent a monkey in space or not, so what?

If Iran advances in technology, that’s nice. I wish them well.

As the future progresses, more and more countries will be venturing into out space.

Yes, I think it is a bad idea for them to have a nuclear device.

If then launched a rocket with a monkey or faked it is all just slanderous gossip.