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Planning Phase Complete For Indian Moon Mission
alphakappa writes "According to news reports, India's low-cost moon mission -- Chandrayan -- has completed its planning phase and will be deployed in 2007-2008 as planned. The interesting aspect is that the entire mission is expected to cost only around USD 88 million. How do you think space technology will change as a result of these low cost missions, satellites and space vehicles?"
$88 million is only a start. As space technology improves, expect to see greater cost savings and possibly very inexpensive space travel to anyone who wants it. But first, we need to increase reliability and speed of our current space vehicles. Otherwise, the cost savings would not be worth it.
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I think US just payed for a very expensive show.
... and the world gained Tang.
Yes, it was a very expensive show, fueled by the cold war competition with the soviets.
It was necesary, tho. They proved it was possible to take a human being into another celestial body and return him safely, and that's no mean feat.
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We choose to go to the moon. We choose to go to the moon in this decade and do the other things, not because they are easy, but because they are hard, because that goal will serve to organize and measure the best of our energies and skills, because that challenge is one that we are willing to accept, one we are unwilling to postpone, and one which we intend to win, and the others, too.
Kennedy 1962
His vision was not exclusive to the US. A national effort, borne of indigenous ability and resources, will do more for India and others like India then all the social programs and government bureaucracies you will ever imagine in your wildest nanny state dreams.
India, go forth. Take your $88 million and show us how it's done. Best wishes.
Maw! Fire up the karma burner!
Note that argument by moral equivalence is perfectly OK as long as moral equivalence is an adequate description category for the problem domain in question (i.e. the discussion is on a moral topic) and as long as participants share the same basic moral frame of reference on the subject, which is probably the case in this discussion (we both disapprove of countries wasting money needed for education of the poor etc.). For reference (note that the debate is about morality already when I make my point):
[Story] $COUNTRY is spending $MONEY on space research.
Also note that my main point is not even argument by moral equivalence, it's argument by equivalence in substance (the money is actually being spent). It certainly does have a moral implication at this point of the discussion, though.
As a state gets corrupt, its laws multiply; the most corrupt states have the most numerous laws. (Tacitus, Annales 3:27)
GLSV wouldn't make a very good ICBM, but if they wanted to weaponize that capability, it wouldn't take much work. However, they already have missiles with enough range to deter the other regional powers (Pakistan, China) and have no real reason to worry about the US, EU or Russia.
Developing space technology, OTOH, gives them national prestige, technical advancement, and the chance to profit from selling space services.
The president of the country is a missile scientist and has been involved in many of the most significant adavances in the Indian missile/nuclear field. http://www.geocities.com/siafdu/kalam.html Although, in the Indian system, the president has few executive responsibilities and powers (the prime minister is the head of government), the amount of respect bestowed upon the man is a sign that scientific accomplishment is held in high regard in the country. Little wonder that this mission and other high technology endeavors do get their well deserved allotment of resources. -mp-
-mp-
Disclaimer : the following anecdote was not verified by me first hand, but given what I know, it sounds very reasonable.
Circa 1978, the Morvi dam in the state of Gujarat burst. The flooding and the resultant loss of life and property was huge. The event made front-page headlines in India. One of the more curious aspects of this incident was apparently that the Indian government was clueless about the occurrence of this disaster, but the US spy satellites in orbit detected the event. The Indian government was informed by the US about the disaster.
At that time, ISRO (the Indian space agency) had been in existence for many many years - but their funding was more of an afterthought. This incident opened the eyes of many to the strategic value of a space presence. As a result, circa 1982, India put its first satellite into space.
People in the US may not appreciate the usefulness of a space presence. The following information was gleaned from a documentary funded by the UN :
India went onto launch many more satellites - a lot of of them for weather forecasting. The neighbouring country of Bangladesh is located in the delta of two major rivers. Flooding is a perpetual annual problem. Subsequent to the Indian weather satellites being available, the UN sponsored the use of the weather forecasting data that was available to provide an early warning system for flooding due to cyclones (known as hurricanes in the US). The first year this was done, the loss of life was 150,000. The previous year it had been 300,000. And no, I am not making these numbers up.
There is no such thing as luck. Luck is nothing but an absence of bad luck.