Slashdot Mirror
Communication Lost With Indian Moon Satellite
stoolpigeon writes "All communication links with the only Indian satellite orbiting the Moon have been lost, India's space agency says. Radio contact with the Chandrayaan-1 spacecraft was lost abruptly early on Saturday, said India's Bangalore-based Space Research Organization (ISRO)."
Before this thread fills up completely with cynical wisecracking Americans, let me be the first to say, as a cynical wisecracking American, go India!
Seriously. You guys have a very solid set of rockets, a good broad focus (China's too focused on manned missions), and the technical skills to make it happen.
See you at Jupiter someday!
I barely remember as a kid, folks used to make fun of Japanese made stuff.
Then the 80s came.
If your kids don't have any genius level talent - and I'm mean they leave their peers in the dust without any assistance from you - encourage them to go to law school and become some sort of elected official. In the near future, if you're not some sort of Government VIP, you'll be little people. Joseph P. Kennedy was so far ahead of his time for pushing his kids into politics. Why else would a multimillionaire (made illegally - allegedly did business with Al Capone- and by means that became illegal) push his kids into Government?
I got the impression the satellite was less Indian than International (or at least there were American payload on board), so the datalink equipment may not be of Indian in origin (too many cooks spoiled the broth; see also Boeing 787).
I suppose they could have a mobile base that continually moves so as to always stay on the dark side, but wouldn't it make more sense to just put it on the far side and leave it there?
Warning: this article may contain humor, sarcasm, parody, and perhaps even irony. Read at your own risk.
Watchdog.
it saddens me that most people here probably don't know what that means.
I've met a number of Indian 'tech' people, programmers and tech support included, and I've come to the conclusion that India doesn't actually suck at tech. In fact, they are quite good at it. The bad rep comes from the fact that they are pushing so much of their populace into tech-related fields that they've been forced to draft in people who aren't actually good at it.
I've met a number of 'tech' people, programmers and tech support included, and I've come to the conclusion that people don't actually suck at tech. In fact, some are quite good at it. The bad rep comes from the fact that society is pushing so much of the populace into tech-related fields that they've been forced to draft in people who aren't actually good at it.
While that sounds pretty good, I'm fairly certain from a logical standpoint the odds of impacting the moon are as good or worse than the odds of leaving orbit and flying out into space. (Especially with the low gravity levels of the moon.)
I'm less than certain. Intersecting with the Moon would only require changes in ellipticity, whereas causing the satellite to become unbound would require a considerable increase in the satellite's kinetic energy.
No.
The lumps of heavier density inside the moon caused localized areas of increased gravity which tries to pull the satellite down. There is no force, except that provided by any motors on board the satellite, that would sent it out towards space.
What school of logic do you claim as an Alma Mata?
Imho, "some critics" is pretty weak. You will always find "some critics" to criticize almost anything. When reporters chooses to put them in the report, they are betraying their own opinions and biases or at least saying that the criticism is legit.
Excellent bullshit. I'd give it a 4.7