North Korea Rocket Launch Fails, Setback for New Leader Kim Jong-un

The giant explosion that gets a rocket off the ground isn't that complicated. The superhot, superfast exhaust from that giant fire is funneled in a way that shoots the rocket upward. North Korea's Unha-3 rocket combines two liquid propellants — hydrazine and nitric acid — that ignite when mixed, space experts say.

A satellite launch North Korea had hailed as a moment of national pride ended in failure Friday when the rocket disintegrated over the Yellow Sea, earning Pyongyang embarrassment as well as condemnation from a host of nations that deemed it a covert test of missile technology.

While the UN security council prepares to discuss its limited options in response to Friday's failed rocket launch, the repercussions inside North Korea should prove far more illuminating.