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India and US to Cooperate in Space Exploration
p1234 writes "India and the US plan to cooperate in the exploration and use of outer space. India's first mission to the moon, Chandrayaan-1, is scheduled to be launched later this year. This is the culmination of long-term planning on both sides of the Atlantic. Apart from India's moon mission, Nair said a probe of Mars by India was very much on the agenda.'Our scientific community would like to see what new things we can find. It is not just for the sake of sending a probe to Mars. Yes, we have an agenda by 2012, by then we should have a Mars mission.'"
India gets permission to use our moon landing sets in the American desert far from prying eyes :)
We supply the money. The Indians supply the cheap labor.
Now we are outsourcing NASA?
-1 troll
Table-ized A.I.
Not trying to troll here, but it would seem that India could use our already sizable knowledge of space exploration, and we can use cheap engineers. I wonder if this has anything to do with the general decline in engineering enrollment at US Universities?
Other than this text, there is no discernible information contained in this sig.
Outsourced astronauts? Now that's what I call REAL offshoring!
If India buys some technology and know how from USA, it will help reduce the trade deficit USA has with India. But if NASA sells some of the technology to India, where will it set up the tech support center?
sed -e 's/Chuck Norris/Rajnikant/g' joke > fact
Like the previous deals on nuclear power, this is an attempt to bribe India away from getting too friendly with China and Iran, and buying U.S. arms instead of Russian. Science has nothing to do with it.
They expect their employers to train them, then they expect these huge salaries starting from their first day in outer space.
NASA really had no choice. Either NASA had to get around the H1-B laws, or hire illegal alian astronuts. And Sigourney Weaver advised against that.
They aren't going to be cooking eye watering curry in cramped space vehicles and stations, are they?
Slashdot: Playing Favorites Since 1997
Correction, that's 4, not 3.
Table-ized A.I.
I see several jokes about cheap engineers or bad education, the scariest example of the latter is probably the statement in the summary about 'both sides of the Atlantic'.
:)
It really makes me wonder where India borders the Atlantic...
A likely indication the summary was done with some US-style geography classes
"The likes of Facebook and WhatsApp are free to those whose privacy is of zero value."
This is a great opportunity for both countries to share the best scientists on both sides. This mission http://www.isro.org/chandrayaan/htmls/about_chandrayaan.htm is very critical and challenging for Indian scientists. They need every help they can get to pull this. In the past, when US denied supercomputing facilities, Indian went and reinvented the wheel http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/2906865.stm (although the effort was worth it).With relations improving between two countries, it will be foolish and immature not to accomplish.
This effort will NOT face any opposition like the Nuclear deal. The nuclear deal went down the drain because the stupid "left" politicians played the "Indian congress government is surrendering to US" card. They also threatened to withdraw their support which would have collapsed the Congress ruling party http://www.heritage.org/Research/AsiaandthePacific/wm1688.cfm. This time, they will make sure this deal is made and take the bragging rights for landing India on the moon. Yes, the Indian politics is screwed up. But they are not fools to let this deal go away.
Either NASA had to get around the H1-B laws, or hire illegal alian astronuts.
Isn't "alien astronaut" an oxymoron? It hurts my nauts to think about that one.
Table-ized A.I.
Stop being a racist! You ass hole!
I think the anti-offshoring sentiment is more an anti-corporation movement than an anti-Indian movement. I've seen in detail how corporate lobbyists manipulate the facts to create a "shortage". The bad guys are really the corporate lobbyists who hype free-trade and bribe politicians with campaign donations. We are not a democracy if lobbyists control politicians to such a degree.
Table-ized A.I.
NASA's just planning for when the shuttles wear-out completely and any replacement vehicles have been lost in the cracks.
Buying rides in India won't be as embarrassing as begging ones in Russia.
One line blog. I hear that they're called Twitters now.
Great, so other countries are arranging their priorities the way the US does. Of course, shit like space exploration is a better investment than dealing with widespread problems ON OUR OWN FCUKING PLANET! Poverty? Disease? War? Pfft, who gives a shit when we can waste billions on exploring space?! *wide, greedy grin*
You know US, you're the country everyone looks up to as an example. Maybe you should lead people down a better road than this. And to other countries, please don't mold your politics after the US.
we have a problem.
"I am honored to sign this agreement with the India Space Research Organization," Griffin said.
Hmmm. Obviously trying to curry favor there
I'm just going to wait and see if any asshats here can post a thoughtful comment about India's space exploration, maybe admiring their abilities and scholastic achievements... without making any asinine semi-racist comments about Indians stinking of curry, having unintelligible accents, being cheap labor, etc...
So... any yet?
If you're going to title your post geopolitics 101 you should know that there is no danger of India getting too chummy with China. The two countries have several issues including a long-standing border dispute. India is not going to get chummy with China anytime soon. It's more likely the US wants to build India up to be a stronger foil to China in the region.
Mmmm.. Donuts
Think of all the paint it's going to take to write the names on all the Indian space doohickeys.
All kings is mostly rapscallions. -Mark Twain, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
"Houston, we have a pinkslip!"
Table-ized A.I.
I'll bet somewhere in this "agreement" is a provision that allows big government contractors like Lockheed and L3 to outsource sensitive classified projects to Indian engineering outsourcing firms.
Science and Engineering in the US are dead. They died when we stopped teaching Math and Science to our kids back in the 90's.
We're gonna route the angry calls of protest from the Martian residents to Indian call centers?
Well I sure hope the good folks living on that sub-continent in the Indian Ocean (thousands of kilometers from any side of the Atlantic) had some say in the planning too!
Um ... India's not on a side of the Atlantic.
Eastern India is very strongly pro China, but the vast majority of India does not really care (though probably considers themselves more western aligned, be it America, UK, or Germany). For India, they need EU AND America. The reason is that China and/or Pakistan is likely to make another play for India. Pakistan will almost certainly fall to the taliban within another 2 years. This is the same group that tore out ancient buddist statues as being against Allah. They will also go after Kashmir in the only way they know; war. China is about to have more problems then they know what to do. They have over population; massive skewing of the sex (many more men than women), and combine that with a real shortage of water (though these last few weeks might seem to suggest otherwise). The glaciers that supply China (as well as parts of India) with water are melting VERY rapidly. India will probably be hurt a bit, but China will take it in the shorts within 10 years. They will NEED to go after the water that now flows to India. India will want support from elsewhere, along the same line that UK had from America in WWII.
I prefer the "u" in honour as it seems to be missing these days.
I have been following this deal for quite some time. I was under the impression that it was still being looked at (though it seemed like the haggling had gone underground). In addition, I did notice the left announced that they had a deal with China to do something similar. What you are suggesting that the US nuke deal truly is dead? If so, will India seriously consider China's deal? China does not have much tech knowhow on building nuclear reactor save what they obtained from USSR and stole from America (of which some of ours was ALLOWED to be stolen; it will cause them problems if they use it; along the same line as when China stole the capacitor tech from japan).
I prefer the "u" in honour as it seems to be missing these days.
Seriously, the best reply I've read so far.
"This is the culmination of long-term planning on both sides of the Atlantic"
Uh... I'm fairly sure that India doesn't border the Atlantic. Rather, I'm fairly sure they border another ocean, the Indian ocean perhaps.
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Sad to see the types of comments posted here---remuind me of blue collar miners etc...who would talk of "college educated" guys in the same way---because they were scared their way of living is being disrupted. If you're getting your butt kicked by India and China, learn to innovate---that's what America stands for---I don't hear Bill Gates or Steve Jobs whining like the pathetic folks here.
As per BBC, 80% of the Indians live on 20 rupees (25p) a day. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/6946800.stm
20.00 INR = 0.511247 USD as per http://www.xe.com/
And do NOT expect a civilized society in India...
Slashdot = Sarcasm
What's with this "planning on both sides of the atlantic" business, India is not on the Atlantic Ocean, contrary to Mr Columbus's imaginative Thoughts. Come on... pfft
Has anyone even considered the facts properly. The US is collaborating on projects with India not outsourcing stuff.
Suddenly there's a huge din and cry as to why space exploration is waste of money for India when so many go hungry yadda yadda..
The indian space org is based on real civilian needs. Most of it is used for weather forecasting to help fishermen and farmers plan their activities, to help in rural literacy programs esp in remote areas. Oh wait, almost forgot to add one more thing, post 9/11, it was India's agency that provided their satellite photos to help the US plan the attacks on the Taliban. India does not send satellites to prove they can too unlike some country (rolls eyes) that did something similar because the Soviets were the first to send a man to space. Most of the launches are based on real needs. Atleast inspite of all the corruption, the political leaders do not get in the way of the space agency when it plans and does so for the benefit of its masses though they do take some of the credit.. hey the Indians're not perfect either.
And now, once the two countries decide to co-operate, all most of you can do pass "Bangalore, we have a problem" and other "funny" comments.
Peter
Let's hope that cooperation in space lends momentum to helping India modernize.
India has pursued a positive course in emerging from colonialism in terms of its robust democracy and liberal society (not glossing over internal conflicts, just not enough space to go into it here), and for the most part in its relations with other nations in the world. Sadly, its economic progress has not proceeded along the same lines due to protectionism, corruption, and inability to build up its infrastructure.
China, on the other hand, has pursued a negative course in emerging from colonialism. Repressive, brutal, nearly always confrontational with its neighbors, and with a collective chip on its shoulder the size of, well, Outer Mongolia. Left unchecked, we're not further than two decades away from its attempting the Greater East Asia Co-prosperity Sphere a-la Chinese. South Korea and Japan, ASEAN, and even Russia would feel a lot better if there were a robust India next to it to help contain its aggression and convert it into something positive.
Do what you can, with what you have, where you are.
anti-corporate
I can't help feeling sorry for the poor devils working in unsafe conditions making things for pennies while the corporates sell them for hundreds of dollars. One may say that progress would be unattainable without the cheap help. Yet, decades ago when shipping was more expensive and risky, there was a sustainable local industry, albeit with lower standards and less propensity to sue for every little work injury, as well as lower wages.
Automation and technology will likely eliminate the exploitability of many countries. Then there'll be a fairer interaction, like the "cooperation" of space programs rather than sending third world astronauts to far off planets.
What will happen to business? Many startups can get a foothold in the increasingly competitive world by exploitation, but treating different countries as equals will mean more costs and scarcer resources. It may well be time to ramp up the drive to visit other heavenly bodies.
Know your pads. One time pad: good for cryptography. Two timing pad: where to take your mistress.
Combining the work ethic of the Indian people with NASA's know how is one of the best idea they have had. Exploration of the moon and beyond is a wonderful idea and will lead to great advances in technology, medicine and science. I hope they are successful and that this leads to a new golden age. That is the hope at least.
BIG BROTHER IS WATCHING!
You mean NASA jobs going from immigrant Indians to resident Indians? (Read Indians as Indians+Chinese). Never mind, if US economy and dollor continue on their current path, you will become cheap, enough to get something outsourced to you some day.