India Plans Moon Mission by 2008

LPetrazickis writes "According to the Tribune, Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee has announced today that India will send a spacecraft to the moon by 2008. The Chandrayaan-I mission will showcase Indian achievements in science and technology to the world. Both European and Canadian Space Agencies have shown interest in the mission. SifyNews reports that 2008 was initially mispronounced as 1908. Today is the 56th anniversary of India's independence." Previous talk about this has come from the Indian space agency; this announcement from the Prime Minister seems to have more weight.

Comments

Right

[trotski]

Perhaps their first goal should be to get a man or woman in space... when they do that I'll start listening to their outer claims.

2008 is only 4.5 years from now, so it sure sounds like a tall order.

Get a man into space, then maybe I'll pay attention.

Poland plans space mission, too

[Anonymous Coward]

Poland announced this week they hope to be the first country to land men on the Sun, with a goal of 2007.

interesting...

[GePS]

Anyone else read "India Plans Moon Mission" as "India is planning to drop their pants and moon everyone"?


Then again it is 3am at a LAN party and my brain is running on caffeine

Re:Perhaps...

[cliffy2000]

That is GENIUS, people. That might be the most accurate and biting social commentary I've heard in years.
Caste systems BLOW monkeys. Innocent monkeys.

Re:India already has long range missile capability

[Anonymous Coward]

the fact that many nations make official statements to the effect of: "we would never do what the U.S. is doing" just means that those nations are unable to do what the U.S. is doing and regret it bitterly

Or could they consider what the USians do unethical? Do you think US citizens are the only people with a morale? No everybody lives in a country build by a genocide. Do you find ethical the supporting of Pinochet in the 60's. Do you find ethical the support of Saddam Hussein by the Reagan administration in the 80's? Why do you think the US is the only western, democratic country oposing the internationnal court of justice? Do you think GI's raping an torturing local population desserve protection? Or maybe they know perfectly that cluster bombs and depleted uranium is so close to the line between beeing a war crime and not, it could end up any side? Why do you think the majority of armies use more expensive tungsten instead of cheaper and slightly more efficient depleted uranium for the very same purpose? Because they're more ethical than US, France Russia and UK. Plain and simple. So, yes people are NOT doing things the US does because they find it objectionnable and not because they envy retire-in-trailer-parks land.

In other news...

[DingoTango]

Disco is sweeping the nation, as well.

You really don't remember your history...

[El Camino SS]

The space race was a cleverly designed PR piece that told the rest of the world that we could put a very large missile wherever we wanted it, whether in space, or on the moon, or in Moscow in a half-hour. Let there be no bones about it. If you saw what we spent on NASA vs. balistic missile testing, your jaw would drop.

By the way, the USSR was doing, and trying to do, the exact same thing we were.

Spare me the anti-US rhetoric about my country always being a bunch of bullies and the rest of the world a bunch of well-meaning space teletubbies. It is just plain ignorant of history... both of my nation and the history of man's aggression in general. "Big dog" politics has been happening since before humans could write. Mankind has always had useless demonization of the other tribe, which you are now guily of as the next guy. Way to not overcome it. You should put your ignorance in check, as well as your limited, uneducated world view and personal politics.