India Takes Giant Step to the Moon

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India takes giant step to the Moon


INDIA is planning to launch a locally built rocket as the country's first unmanned mission to the Moon next April, the head of the project said yesterday.

Despite limited funding, the country's state-run Space Research Organisation operates an extensive space programme and intends to send an astronaut into space by 2014 and men to the moon by 2020.




Has the Indian government got its priorities right?

I do recall that in the mid 80's I was in a cinema in Quilon to see Mammooty in "Oru CBI Diary Kurippu "
The newsreel showed a test firing of a GSLV rocket and the entire audience rose and cheered !!

Should India spend untold billions going to the Moon rather than on slum clearance, clean drinking water ,health ,etc etc.???

batistuta

There are lots of Pros and cons to this argument, I would say that we have got our Priorites wrong. The money can be better spent.

Prashant.M

Indian space program has already paid some good dividends.

Read this case study:
http://epress.anu.edu.au/narayanan/m...s/ch10s06.html

Areas where Space Technology can help:
http://epress.anu.edu.au/narayanan/m...s/ch10s05.html

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shere

Big waste of money like most these state projects. eg Arjun Tank the HAL Dhruv etc etc. They end up with third rate equipment that could be sourced cheaper (and with proven reliability) elsewhere.

ananda2193

Were looking to the stars when our own house here is messed up.

Definitely misplaced priorities IMHO!

Let's concentrate on here first.

shashank.aggarwal

When the house gets in shape then spend next 50 years to get the technology that will take us to next step..!!

before commenting, has someone actually researched what good these space programs have done to local farmers...OR telecom Or defense...

Just to add here...as per the link provided by Prashant the TOTAL expenditure of Indian Space program since its inception till March 2006 was US $ 7 billion. Now before criticizing, I hope people realize that this money is not at all unfordable even for a country like India...where remote connectivity used to be a major issue..

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Hyderabadi

Space programs are not entirely money down the drain.

As Shashank has rightly pointed out,the Indian space program has benefited farmers, telecom, defence and to add entertainment, weather services (thereby saving lives, predicting cyclones?) and I'm sure more.

Take a look at the benefits of the US space program, categorized:

Quote:

How does NASA technology affect your life? The benefits of America's space program can be found just about everywhere! This Web site provides a down-to-Earth look at what the space program has done for you, your neighbors, America and the world. Explore these pages and feel at home with NASA technology!

http://techtran.msfc.nasa.gov/at_home.html

And if I'm guessing right, independence and indigenous technology is always good for a nation?

kalumama

"The newsreel showed a test firing of a GSLV rocket and the entire audience rose and cheered !!"

If you understand this reaction and its implications, you will never question the mission to Moon. Its all about the driving the nation/people to new heights and inserting belief/dreams in them.

shashank.aggarwal

And to add to that, every Indian knows that we might not be best in these things...we we are not worst off in the world !! Even though we still are poor however we do take pride in these things...there is a long list of such things but we are among les than 10 countries in the world who have such an advanced space program....and not more that 10 countries have capability to make there own car.. the list is quite long !! and we take pride in it..

Mickey S

No doubt the rocket will have "Horn Please" hand-painted on the rear...

Hyderabadi

You bet!

Does any one (of you 'old timers') remember this guy (1):

?

....and the answer he gave to Ms. Indira Gandhi when she asked him how India looks like from up there? (2)

Look below for answers if you do not know them already.
(And if you are an Indian, who knows the answers, how does that make you feel?)

























































Answers:
(1). Wing Cmdr.Rakesh Sharma

(2). Saare Jahan Se Achha

azizdhamani

I am amazed to know how ppl think about india satellite mission well i think living in 3rd world country myself from Bangladesh i will still agree that India should go for it coz thats the way they can generate lot of money and solve problems we cant wait for ages to venture coz each day gone is each day lost in this field of innovation.... so i would say GO INDIA GO

capt_mahajan

A programme such as this, besides what Prashant's links suggest, has two other purposes.

It is a projection of a country's power, and it keeps an eye on the future.

A couple of centuries ago, would anybody have thought that the Polar ice caps could be possible contentious places?

Of course, the way the world is going, there may not be a couple of centuries hence.

In that case, stop the space programme and buy a truckload or two of Bacardi instead.

Hyderabadi

Let's do it!

I'll get 'asli' Coke from ATL!

capt_mahajan

Disclaimer: I do not own the brand 'Bacardi'