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India Debating Manned Space Flight

Posted by Hemos on from the filling-up-space dept.

alphakappa writes "India's moon mission and other space programs have been covered before on Slashdot. India is now debating sending a manned space mission and has acknowledged it's technological preparedness to do so in the next 6-7 years if given the go-ahead. The issues being debated before starting work on the mission include cost-benefit and other space priorities. (These missions also play host to international experiments) What does the general slashdot crowd think of these space plans?"

9 of 406 comments (clear)

  1. Does Anyone else have this image. by jellomizer · · Score: 5, Funny

    With Hundreds of Indians attached to the spacecraft in anyways they can fit in hanging off the edges blasing into space?

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    If something is so important that you feel the need to post it on the internet... It probably isn't that important.
    1. Re:Does Anyone else have this image. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Informative

      Finally something that made me post my views to ./ For starters, I am an Indian living in the US.

      First, I should salute the original poster for having the heart to come back & apologize for his/her condescending remark. I have seen many dish out belittling comments like that in the past about India & have abosoultely no remorse whatsoever.

      This captures the gist of one of biggest lessons I have learnt after coming to this country. Humans, operate on stereotypes a lot more than they think they do. Where else will I learn this other than from living in the melting pot of world cultures, United States.

      The problem with the stereotypes is that they don't justify reality. For example, before I came here, I thought of America as Utopia. Everyone is happy, educated, smart & has decent living conditions. I was shocked to learn that double digits percentage of the population was illiterate & lived below poverty line. I was also shocked to see how religiously conservative this country is.

      Similarly, India is not full of cows & half-naked people & diseases. Overpopulation is India's biggest problem & it infact amazes me how much we have accomplished 'in spite of' the problems it faces. I am not going to go in to the boastful mode. I am sure you have heard or will hear about it.

      In terms of the humor, lets face it, everyone deserves to have their personal opinion on things. But, the context in which you share it with others is important. A world renowned place like Slashdot is definitely not the context. Take Brit golfer Paul Casey's comments on America for that matter. He said, "Americans are stupid" to some British press two days ago. His sponsor Titelist pulled out of the contract right away & many American golfers condemned his remark. Could we expect Americans to say, "Oh, cummon, that is his personal opinion. Lets move on". No, of course they will be aggravated. Because, they know not ALL americans are stupid. The same way, not ALL Indians are grazing cows.

      For those who brought up Pakistan, glad you did. I will not be surprised if India offered a seat for Pakistan in its mission. We are brothers and sisters after all & you will be surprised how many friendship gestures are shared by the us.

      To summarize,

      "Let noble come to us from all sides"
      -Rig Veda (3000+ years old Indian scripture)

  2. They should do it!! by sameerdesai · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Of course being an Indian and having worked with ISRO I feel strongly about it. The space is definitely the next frontier. So far India has done incredible projects related to weather, remote sensing, etc. It's definitely time to venture into this. And this is not just showing technological superiority (and I definitely will see more posts on NASA outsorcing) but that's the proud thing that India can launch vehicles in space at much much lower costs. Putting this in perspective helps in going through further projects like star wars (when US is already thinking about making it a reality). Besides India also faces competition from its neighbor China in space frontiers.

  3. Re:Here's a q by LiquidCoooled · · Score: 5, Funny

    They manage to fit the American ego in there, so I don't see why not.

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    liqbase :: faster than paper
  4. More Access by Stanistani · · Score: 5, Insightful

    In view of the problems we've had with the shuttle, I think the more countries that can send people into orbit and retrieve them, the better. We should make available to India and China our docking adapter plans and technical assistance, so all spacecraft can dock to a common interface.

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    You can't talk about Wikipedia's flaws on Wikipedia
  5. Role Reversal by clinko · · Score: 5, Funny

    I bet they do it about 25% of the price.

    Although they'll have to outsource to Americans that used to work at NASA

    NASA: "Hello? This is Gutmar."

    INDIA: "Yeah, 'Gutmar', your real name is something like 'David' or 'Paul' isn't it? Damned Americans taking our jobs."

    NASA: "My Friend, I cannot tell you where I am. It is not our policy My Friend."

  6. Manned Space Flight is beneficial to India by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

    For India, this actually has a lot of benefits.
    Ironically the USA at this point doesnt have the same benefit return on manned spaceflight that India has.

    1) Commercial satellite contracts will be easier to get for a variety of reasons and insurance of those launches cost less as well

    2) it will encourage indian kids to get into science

    3) Reduce dependency on imported foreign technology by developing local talent in engineering and also the extensive IT etc. other support systems needed. Depending on imports is fine, but you need to have knowledge in case there is a loss for some reason.

    4) Having a missile program is good for defense (sorry but its true given the way the world is, with all the whacko rogue states running around)

    5) Be able to hook up with the ISS and carry out experiments in semiconductors (crystal growth) .. and pharmaceuticals in zero G environment without having to pay for expensive robotic equipment ..and yes lives on the ground will be saved by the economic and social benefits of being able to do this kind of research.

  7. Re:Go for it by metlin · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Investment in technologies that will create more opportunities and bring progress is never a bad thing.

    If we were to wait until everyone in the world had their basic needs covered, progress in other areas would never happen.

    Progress happens in many ways, you cannot see that it is at the "expense" of anything else. And as a species, we've always sought to do things that motivates us.

    Space, Computers and the like are motivating India now, and they are taking great strides in these areas. Which is as it should be.

    A few years from now, these will create jobs (see, the IT industry has already created jobs there) and will raise the standard of living. This will bring in more revenue and help the people lead better lives.

    It's always a circle, and the solution is not stagnation in progress.

  8. Re:Go for it by kaalamaadan · · Score: 5, Informative
    Indians have looked down. One of the most impressive scientific achievements of India (not much spoken of generally) is that there has not been any famine in Independent India.

    The efficient British administration bungled on this as late as Bengal Famine, 1943. In fact, 3 million are supposed to have died in this famine, and caused , among other things, caused Amartya Sen to take up economics, in particular, famine studies.

    On the other hand, basic science (like space research) deserves to be encouraged by all (civilized) nations. Imagine medieval Italians or 18th century Britons waiting till all poverty was eradicated. Science and civilization do not progress in such a manner.