Slashdot Mirror
India Test-Fires Cryogenic Rocket Engine
alphakappa writes "Wired News reports that India has successfully testfired a cryogenic rocket engine that can be used to 'launch high-altitude satellites, send a man to the moon -- or build intercontinental ballistic missiles'. The rocket which typically has to fire for 12 minutes during flight was fired for 17 minutes during ground testing. So are we gonna see competition in the moon race? Remember, India has already spoken about sending a mission to the moon and it has joined the Galileo consortium along with China."
It does have to do with freezing of sorts, because the gases that are required for fuel oxygen and hydrogen (as well as a mixture of others) are gaseous in normal atmospheric conditions. They are required to be cooled down to a liquid state, hence the name "cryogenic rocket engine".
Be you Admins? nay, we are but lusers!
I was listening to a debate about outsourcing on BBC Radio the other night, and they pointed out that in Bangalore there's a lot of worry about all the call centre backroom IT jobs getting outsourced to China, where the costs are so low that India can't possibly compete.
I agree that the Moon isn't the *real* purpose of the Indian space programme, but, just as with the US 30 years ago, aiming high helps to hit the lower targets, like comsats, earth imaging and so forth, not to mention the huge boost to national self-esteem and all the benefits that can bring in sheer morale terms - when you've got to the Moon, what challenge can you honestly say is too big to even attempt?
A nice article on Cryogenic Rocket engines is available here .
"manned mission to the moon...."
Am i the only one confused. Indias moon ambitions were said to be restricted to only firing a unmanned galileo type mission to the moon. Which is pretty simple considering that they were planning to use the existing GSLV(Geo-Stationary Launch Vehicle) set-up. Why the sudden shift to a manned mission? A manned mission to the moon will never happen in India because of a number of reasons most notably the fact that we spend peanuts on space, compare isro's(indian space research org.) budget to NASA.
Also i thought GSLV - the satellite launch vehicle was totally indigenously built, Though WIRED seems to claim that the engine was Russian!
Anyway i think its a great achievement considering the amount India spends on space research.
Is this because Dell wants a tech support center on the Moon?
This ICBM nonsense seems to be floating all over the place. Only a bloody idiot would use a cryogenic engine for an ICBM. You don't need to build a god damned geostationery satellite launch vehicle to build an ICBM. India's Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle which has been operational for many years now can easily be converted to an operational ICBM. Cryogenic engines just add the need for a lot more ground facilities for a launch. There just isn't a need for an ICBM since China and Pakistan are right next door to India. The attitude seems to be.. "oh India's launching satellites? It must be for something bad." Get over it assholes.
prices for thowing things into orbit will only come down when there is some straightforward competition. It is good to see more players in the field, and it is good to see various technologies tried-- I doubt this is the most efficient, but let them give it a shot.
Rocketry is yes-- rocket science-- but certainly within the grasp of "second tier" tech nations like China, India, Brazil, and Korea.
davejenkins.com |
Lets also be realistic here; the only place India would want to hit with an ICBM is Pakistan, and they already have more conventional rockets which are plenty capable of doing that.
This rocket is just because they can, and no doubt also an attempt to attract international investment. After all, this is a great adverstisment for the education standards of your workforce if you're able to achieve complex technological goals like this.
Why steal? A significant of the students in US science and engineering programs are Indian, and I don't know how many are from China. It's funny, the US will "teach a man to fish" in countries that it bitches about IP theft, and will "give a man a fish" to 3rd world countries who really need some sort of economic base. Dumbasses.
I: We will be having giant-sized moon rocket now.
P: You think you are becoming big shot with moon rocket now?
I: We are becoming superpower now.
P: You are not now.
I: We are too now.
P: We will be building bigger rocket now.
I: You are not now.
O: We are too now.
I: All of your bases are belonging to us now.
sigs, as if you care.
Now we can outsource our space program!
Let's try not to let fact interfere with our speculation here, OK?
the most sexp i get is my paren-mode.
Hmm, let me see, from India's perspective , the bigger challanges are ....
Poverty :- The country's wealth is divided by the 90-10 rule. i.e. 10% of the population has 90% of the wealth.
:- More than 50%. And since being literate means being able to sign your name, the actual figures could be as high as 70-75% :- Forget the politicians , I can't get my mail if I don't tip my postman. :- One of the world's worst . So much Red tape everywhere. :- Barring major cities, public transport is a mess and not every one can afford their own vehicle. Road/Rail accidents account for most no. of deaths in the country.
Illiteracy
Rampant Political/Economical and Social Corruption
Infrastructure
Transportation and Safety
Disaster Recovery:- No set plans and procedures for natural disaster recovery from floods , famines, fires etc. People are left at the mercy of nature and rehabilitation is a joke.
I am not a westerner trying to judge india, I am an indian , humbly pointing out what our top priorities should be.
for the last time people, I am "frodo from middle eaRTH", not "middle eaST".
I am a westerner and will now judge india in a burst of hubris:
I think India should also work on its leprosy poblem...and the plague.
Seriously, for a country to simultaniously have atomic weapons and diseases from the middle ages...that's scary.
Then again, there's been an increase in syphilis in the states lately...that's more 19th century than middle ages, but nobody's perfect.
You can't take the sky from me...