India To Launch Mars Orbiter "Mangalyaan" Tuesday

sfcrazy writes "On Tuesday (Mangalwaar) the Indian Space and Research Organization (ISRO) will launch the Mars orbiter Mangalyaan from Satish Dhawan Space Centre. The spaceship will take over 10 months to reach Mars and, if everything goes well, it would make India the first country to send a payload to Mars in its first attempt, and would beat close rival China whose recent mission failed."

Comments

This just in from Martian Air Defence

[erice]

if everything goes well, it would make India the first country to send a payload to Mars in its first attempt

"Challenge accepted."

Re:This just in from Martian Air Defence

[Anonymous Coward]

We're full. Stay home.

Re:This just in from Martian Air Defence

[Anonymous Coward]

This is a bit too disturbing to give mod points... thus I am posting as AC... >.>

Re:This just in from Martian Air Defence

[Anonymous Coward]

if everything goes well, it would make India the first country to send a payload to Mars in its first attempt

"Challenge accepted."

Let "Mangal War" begin.

Re:This just in from Martian Air Defence

[Anonymous Coward]

India will offshore their offshores to Mars.

Re:I just hope it doesn't smell

[Anonymous Coward]

I'd be more concerned about it meeting up with its other satellite buddies, then orbiting in one big, wide line so slowly that the American satellite can't pass.

First mission?

[Anonymous Coward]

But after they are done, Mars will say "Thank you, come again," right?

Re: Spellcheck

[blackmesadude]

Malgal - Mars Yaan - spacecraft/probe

Great idea

[Anonymous Coward]

Awesome now that India has their poverty and corruption issues finally solved.

Re:Great idea

[fuzzyfuzzyfungus]

Awesome now that India has their poverty and corruption issues finally solved.

Just like all the other slightly-spacefaring nations?

Re:Great idea

[InfiniteLoopCounter]

Science research and development, engineering, and technical progress is arguably more useful for moving societal issues forwards. The byproduct is better education, a smarter population, and better job opportunities. You can spend money trying to fix social problems all you want, but ultimately people need to know that their future is secure, their bellies can be filled, and they can support themselves beyond any one-off public spending not to be recovered. Claiming that poverty or corruption need be "solved" first is a recipe for disaster and not compatible with what happens in all of the developed world (which still has poverty and corruption to a small but significant extent).

Re:Great idea

[clarkkent09]

I agree in general but still sending a probe to Mars is a political stunt to show India is also coming up, not just China. There are million things India could be investing money into that would bring a better return in areas that you mention than this.

Re:Great idea

[gl4ss]

well yeah...

but there's still the issue of building plumbing to attend. plenty of science in that.

you can't buy a police that isn't corrupt but you can buy pipes that pipe shit - and you should if you have a populace with the attitude that "this is not a slum, open sewers are normal! how could _I_ live in a slum? so clearly it is not a slum!".

that is the GREAT engineering project any nation aspiring for greatness has gone through - dumping the resources, these same resources, on that would achieve real wonders and spread educaton and engineering skills among the populace. then they could build any rockets they want.

Re:Great idea

[Anonymous Coward]

Yea a rocket to mars is more important than the disease, sanitation and starvation issues they have.

Re:Great idea

[Anonymous Coward]

Awesome now that India has their poverty and corruption issues finally solved.

Just like all the other slightly-spacefaring nations?

I live in the United States, a country that has sent many probes to Mars and beyond, and there's really no poverty here, we are an exceptional nation. Our biggest problem is all these people who live off food stamps. Once we stop the food stamps, we'll be even more exceptional.

Re:Great idea

[John Bokma]

Yup, just like the USA, right.... right?

Re:Great idea

[InfiniteLoopCounter]

I agree in general but still sending a probe to Mars is a political stunt to show India is also coming up, not just China.

Politicians everywhere are largely useless at directing resources to where they need to go. Why complain here when it could have as easily gone into something less useful? Political stunt or not they are doing the right things.

There are million things India could be investing money into that would bring a better return in areas that you mention than this.

Well time and again physics has been shown to be the driver of much of our progress. Just have a look at how long it took biologists to make use of x-rays or scattering of electrons into a microscope, the chemists to see the value of quantum theory in understanding how molecules form and interact, how at CERN Tim Berners Lee invented HTML and how the next super fast cables that will replace gigabit ethernet have been made and tested there, or the origin of duct tape, and I could go on and on. India (and China) in my opinion understand that physics research in particular gives the best bang for the buck. Good on them for not cowering away from hard physics challenges.

Re:Great idea

[Anonymous Coward]

Awesome now that India has their poverty and corruption issues finally solved.

It's a good thing that humans throughout history have not followed this philosophy, because we'd all be squatting in a cave grunting at each other right now.

Hint- you'll never "solve" poverty and you'll never "solve" corruption. Yes, you can do things to make them better, but that doesn't mean you have to abandon everything else in the meantime.
And just FYI... Mars has a lot of open real estate. Perfect place to ship the poor and the corrupt... that's three birds with one stone right there.

Re:Great idea

[Anonymous Coward]

Yea a rocket to mars is more important than the disease, sanitation and starvation issues they have.

So what you're claiming is the ONLY thing stopping India from solving those problems... is a lack of funding?
Interesting theory, let's hear your reasoning.

Re:Great idea

[Samantha Wright]

No doubt because many people and other countries will take exception to that exceptional decision.

Re:Great idea

[Anonymous Coward]

Obvious false flag post. Stop obsessing.

Re:Great idea

[cusco]

I remember when Indira Gandhi declared that India was going to spend millions of dollars on universities and educational subsidies people said the very same thing, "They're wasting their money when there are people starving!"

Re:Great idea

[diskless]

It is also a marketing stunt. India's space program is one of the most cost effective in the world. By going all the way to Mars in its first shot, it demonstrates that its low cost program is also failure proof, successful and viable. ISRO, the organisation that is executing the Mars program, hopes to secure additional commercial satellite launching business by demonstrating the success of its Moon and Mars programs. Is NASA also a commercial entity, or is it entirely government funded? Can an African country walk up to NASA and have its own satellite launched at a fees? Just curious. ISRO is, and I guess that by getting more and more commercial business, it wants to reduce its dependence on government funding (and therefore political meddling). As we've seen in the case of the NASA budget cuts recently, living entirely on government dole doesn't always work in your favour. Or yeah, maybe that too. If you're running a space program in a poor country where a number of other programs vie for the same budget, then demonstrating science that captivates the minds of the populace sure would be important. That way when the budget discussion comes up, ISRO can say that the people want science too!

Re:Great idea

[Anonymous Coward]

Obvious false flag post. Stop obsessing.

A "false-flag post;" a registered user attempting to cast Anonymous Coward in an unsavory light, tarnishing AC's reputation? My, oh, my.

Re:Great idea

[Anonymous Coward]

LOL yeah like how.....? like building a statute for 2050 crores???

Re:Great idea

[m00sh]

I agree in general but still sending a probe to Mars is a political stunt to show India is also coming up, not just China. There are million things India could be investing money into that would bring a better return in areas that you mention than this.

Actually, India has been developing its satellite industry and is looking to be the cheap way of getting communication satellites in orbit. From some articles I've read, their costs are 1/10th of what other countries are asking and so India can be major player in satellite technology. They have communication, weather and military satellites in orbit already.

The mars mission is just a natural extension of what they have been doing for years. Besides they do have scientific objectives as well. One article said studying methane on Mars.

It doesn't sound like a vanity project. It sounds like a natural progression of a maturing industry they have been cultivating for decades.

Re:Great idea

[Anonymous Coward]

exceptional

Did you know that among primary school teachers in the US, "exceptional" is the new euphamism for "retarded"? I guess "special" got worn out, or something. I was talking to someone in the teaching education program at my college and mentioned the class on teaching "exceptional students", assuming that it was about how to teach gifted kids, or whatever, and was quickly corrected. (There's no class on how to teach the gifted kids; they pretty much teach themselves.)

Re:Great idea

[tibit]

The 2nd sentence applies to any and all countries. Oh, and you better had some hard numbers for the "better return" claim.

Re:Great idea

[tibit]

Last time I checked, NASA wasn't ever in the commercial launch business, LOL. An African country could certainly walk up to any of the commercial launch providers, such as SpaceX, ULA, Roskosmos, etc.

Re:Great idea

[cusco]

Just out of curiosity, how do you think all those commercial satellites currently in orbit got there? Most of them got launched by NASA, especially the ones that have been there for more than five or six years.

Re:Great idea

[slash.jit]

not really.. one of the biggest problem India is facing is the huge and growing population. Now India cannot export them to other countries because of visa restrictions so they are planning to export Indians to Mars.

Re:Great idea

[unixisc]

Maybe all US people on food stamps, panhandlers as well as slum dwellers in India and others can relocate to Mars if this and other missions are successful

Re:Great idea

[Anonymous Coward]

Actually no. The ROI is much greater on this investment ($78 million). Here is why -- India is still developing expertise in managing large projects well, and this may further its skillset. This can spillover to other areas and provide its institutions a sense that they can achieve success in other areas as well. Other recent management successes -- , India managed to avoid serious fatalities in a monster cyclone despite it hitting a thickly populated area - another lesson learnt this time in disaster management - and was also successful in making the country polio free through mass inoculation and quick identification and containment of outbreaks.

Re:Great idea

[Anonymous Coward]

Awesome now that India has their poverty and corruption issues finally solved.

Yeah because, you know, America and Russia solved that first too.

Re:Great idea

[Mattsson]

Well. Showing that they're capable of non-trivial engineering feats, like launching payload into Mars orbit, might create more international business for local industries. So it might be good for more than creating patriotic feelings in the populace.

Re: Spellcheck

[blackmesadude]

Mangal - Mars Yaan - probe/craft

US made it on Second Attempt

[thrich81]

In case anyone was wondering, the US succeeded on the country's second attempt to launch a mission to Mars. This was the Mariner 4 flyby launched Nov 28, 1964. The first US attempt, the identical Mariner 3, failed three weeks earlier when the shroud on the launch vehicle failed to open properly.
The second attempt by the US to orbit Mars was also successful; Mariner 9 in 1971 became the first (human) probe to orbit Mars (or any other planet), followed within a month by the Russian Mars 2 and Mars 3.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Exploration_of_Mars

Re:US made it on Second Attempt

[cusco]

You apparently didn't live in Appalachia at the time. India at least has electricity and most of the country can read.

Re:US made it on Second Attempt

[formfeed]

You apparently didn't live in Appalachia at the time. India at least has electricity and most of the country can read.

But they don't have bluegrass. Just bollywood theme songs.

Re:US made it on Second Attempt

[Anonymous Coward]

Sounds like paradise, then.

"if everything goes well"

[WarJolt]

No pressure. You only get one first.

Re:Spellcheck

[Anonymous Coward]

Muggle - Mars Yawn - spaceprobe/craft

It's not like hundreds of millions of Indian kids

[WillAffleckUW]

Hey, it's not like there are hundreds of millions of Indian kids who don't have access to clean water and are therefore at risk of major infections.

Oh.

Wait.

It is.

I for one welcome our Martian Bollywood Overlords, but wish they followed Vishnu not Kali.

Mighty big "IF"

[The Grim Reefer]

if everything goes well, it would make India the first country to send a payload to Mars in its first attempt,

That's i really big "If".

The USSR failed on their first 8 attempts starting in 1960. They managed to get some our moon on the ninth attempt five years later, still not successful in getting to Mars though. They managed to make Mars orbit in 1971 after 11 failed attempts. Granted, this was very early in manned space flight. Even so, failure is still a very common outcome for any nation attempting it. The EU made it to orbit in 2004, but the lander did not make it. Between 1988 and 1999, the US had three Mars missions that failed, The USSR/Russia 3, and Japan had one as well. In that 11 year span only the US Mars Global Surveyor and Pathfinder missions were successful.

It's not easy to get there, but I certainly wish India the best of luck doing it on the first try. That would be quite a feat.

Re:Mighty big "IF"

[The Grim Reefer]

They managed to get some our moon on the ninth attempt

I meant; "They managed to get some pictures of our moon..."

Re:Mighty big "IF"

[zorro-z]

Not to underestimate the difficulty of sending a payload to Mars, but they *do* have the combined 40+ years of US and USSR experience upon which to draw. When the US and USSR were putting people into orbit, landing them on the moon, sending probes to Mars, etc., it had literally never been done before. The mere fact that something has been done before- and that data collected during the attempt is available- gives the Indian Space Research Organisation an advantage that literally no country has had before it.

Again, this is not to minimise the challenge, which will be enormous. It's only to point out that they're not flying blind, so to speak.

Re:Mighty big "IF"

[The Grim Reefer]

Indeed. But so did Japan and the EU. The US still had a Mars failure in 1999 and Russia in 1996 after all of those years of first hand experience.

Re:Mighty big "IF"

[zorro-z]

And that is *precisely* why I emphasized not to underestimate the difficulty.

Re:Mighty big "IF"

[tibit]

A lot of hardcore engineering data from those space programs is either unavailable to foreigners, or still secret, or lost forever. Seriously. SpaceX can't hire foreigners, for example. India, or any other country, for that matter, can't really get any hard-core reusable engineering data from U.S. space programs, not without going through a drawn-out export licensing process at best.

Re:Mighty big "IF"

[GodfatherofSoul]

We're still talking about 40 years of technology and engineering process evolution. I think it's a great achievement, but even if they nail it on the first try, it's not remotely close to the challenge to the first probes. Add to that knowledge of the rigors of the trip and the Martian environment as well as several different landing models employed by NASA.

Re:Mighty big "IF"

[zorro-z]

Seeing as how I was the first to mention it in this , it's hardly as if *everyone* was saying this, the way you suggest. But, if the US + USSR aren't being forthcoming w/their expertise, then there is certainly less information on which to draw. I would note 2 things that may be available, though:

* Some aspects of failures are in the public record (such as the US experience w/conflict between Metric + US/Imperial measures)
* The scientists + engineers who worked on the past projects may be bought just as people fear that former Soviet nuclear scientists could be bought.

The manned Mars mission

[Anonymous Coward]

I imagine that the plans for their future manned mission to Mars does not contemplate running water, electricity and toilets. After all, many millions of Indians do without those all the time.

Re:It's not like hundreds of millions of Indian ki

[__aaltlg1547]

Hey, it's not like there are hundreds of millions of Indian kids who don't have access to clean water ...

No problem. There's water on Mars.

Can the US claim it as her own expedition?

[Anonymous Coward]

And that we simply outsourced it?

Re: Spellcheck

[monzie]

"Mangal" is Mars in Hindi/Sanskrit. "Yaan" is vehicle Hindi/Sanskrit. "Mangalyaan" thus means a vehicle to Mars. Please stop being a dumb fuck, if you can.

It'll be late, over budget and won't work...

[Petronius]

i.e. it'll be outsourced. Enjoy your 42% savings margin.

Re:It'll be late, over budget and won't work...

[Megane]

And if there's a technical problem with it, they'll ask you to reboot it before doing anything else.

Re:It'll be late, over budget and won't work...

[Badger Nadgers]

...or just parp its horn repeatedly.

Re: Spellcheck

[Anonymous Coward]

"Mangal" is Mars in Hindi/Sanskrit.
"Yaan" is vehicle Hindi/Sanskrit.

That's super.

the food is on mars

[Anonymous Coward]

Yes, because we all know the food is on mars and will help feed the ones not in 3 big city's

Re:It's not like hundreds of millions of Indian ki

[Anonymous Coward]

True, but what small percentage of the population in India gives a damn about them? I know my two best friends that are Indian don't even care about children that are dying where they're from. It's not that they are bad people. It's just that they have come to accept that many children will die. It's just a different society. When I went to our office near Chennai and there was a dead toddler on the street in front of the entrance and no one cared then I knew that their society was simply one that I, and I assume the vast majority of Americans, will never understand. To them, slightly improved infrastructure was something political they got passionate about while helping some of the millions of starving children got no attention.

Divine Intervention

[Anonymous Coward]

And, India has something else no other country had. Divine Intervention from the elephant head God.

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Isro-chief-seeks-divine-help-for-Mars-mission/articleshow/25238936.cms

Hmm,,,,Tata or Chery rocket fallng from the sky

[KrazyDave]

which do you prefer?

From the hocus-pocus dept.

[afarhan]

The scientists involved in the launch are praying to many gods to make the launch a success. Why am I feeling assured about the success now? http://www.financialexpress.com/news/indias-mars-mission-the-countdown-begins-for-isros-voyage-to-the-red-planet/1178892

Re:From the hocus-pocus dept.

[ap7]

It is tradition. Like NASA's 'lucky peanuts'. Infact, NASA has sent some over to ISRO for passing around during the launch.

Re:From the hocus-pocus dept.

[Anonymous Coward]

Saying a prayer to a deity before undertaking something new is part of Indian tradition. Besides, any prayers said were in their capacity as private citizens and not as representatives of the space organization.

Outsourcing hunt, India not cheap enough

[Tablizer]

Martians allegedly work for 3% the wage rate of Americans. With 21 tentacles they can key in code like nobody's mama.

Re:Outsourcing hunt, India not cheap enough

[cusco]

Better, faster, cheaper. Pick two.

Re:Outsourcing hunt, India not cheap enough

[Anonymous Coward]

For Martians, it will be Better and Cheaper because communication speeds to Mars will be a bitch.

Re:Outsourcing hunt, India not cheap enough

[Tablizer]

What about tentaclier?

Re:Outsourcing hunt, India not cheap enough

[cusco]

That would be the Japanese space program, I think.

0.37% of the National Budget

[Anonymous Coward]

The entire Indian space program is 0.37% of the national budget. This Mars mission is even a smaller fraction of that.

So, no, you ain't going to solve poverty and hunger by allocating 0.37% of the budget to welfare schemes.

Re:0.37% of the National Budget

[pasam]

0.34% is ISRO's budget. 0.08% of that is for the Mars payload. Roughly $20 million. I am sure the Jackasses here know how to solve poverty etc with that.

Re: Spellcheck

[Anonymous Coward]

Correction, actually Yaan means journey (not vehicle). I see this mistaken meaning being propagated. Your reaction however, is justified.

Re: Spellcheck

[monzie]

"Yaan" means "Vehicle".. Hindi is my native language. Journey is 'safar' or 'yatra' - Go check it yourself here since you're unlikely to believe me , though I've spoken Hindi all my life - http://dict.hinkhoj.com/words/meaning-of-yaan-in-english.html

Will they...

[ApplePy]

Will they be building the first Martian call center?

Re:Will they...

[PatPending]

Will they be building the first Martian call center?

Judging by the time I spend on-hold with their phone support, one would think the call is being routed via Mars!

Re: Spellcheck

[MurukeshM]

While not a native speaker (mine is Malayalam, which has plenty of words originating in Sanskrit), I have heard yaan being used in both senses - journey and vehicle.

Re:No good

[Anonymous Coward]

Actually they outsource to US some aspects of post-launch communication support

Re: Spellcheck

[Anonymous Coward]

Hindi is not my native language either (mine is tamil), but I have never heard yaan being used as journey. Could you give us a sentence as an example.

A different view of the event

[Nov8tr]

I look at it a little different. Given the number of natural catastrophes that have befallen the Earth over the last few million years, something WILL happen again. Catastrophic weather changes, super volcano blowing, radiation from a super nova, wandering black hole effect, meteor striking the earth, etc. There are any number of things that could destroy ALL human life on this planet. You say what is my point? I think our only hope of guaranteeing survival of the human race is to get some of us off the planet. Live on Mars, live in Space Stations, Discover new worlds and make colonies there and maybe even some day terraforming a planet and starting a new world. The only way to achieve that goal is to increase studies into space travel and actually doing it. Otherwise we are pretty much guaranteeing the human race will eventually be wiped out by something or someone. I hope people are able to see the big picture and help ensure the survival of the human race. I for one applaud the launch even if they did it for political purposes, it still is a step forward for everyone. Just my 2 cents.

Future Slashdot headline

[Zubinix]

"Indian Mars probe successfully completes mission as slashdot twits eat large quantities of Humble Pie!!"

Launched

[palemantle]

Early days yet but the launch was apparently successful

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-24729073

Re:Launched

[Badger Nadgers]

This is what you get when you combine Bonfire Night and Diwali celebrations....

Re:Spellcheck

[Anonymous Coward]

You ignorant fucking idiot.
Indians have their own names for space missions, so does the chinese and the russians.
You dumb twat. Get out of your litte town for a change and stop watching Fox TV. .. and get a library card.

Re:Spellcheck

[Sique]

You misspelled Magalhães. Yes. That's his name. Fernão de Magalhães. The Spaniards spelled him Fernando de Magallanes, to mimick the portuguese pronounciation within the spanish orthography, which then got respelled to Magellan in some other European languages.

Rule 1 on the Internet: Don't correct someone else's spelling.

Another consequence

[Anonymous Coward]

Sorry for being blatantly offtopic, but I have to add this piece of information:

I don't know exact etimology, but "mangal" means "barbecue" in Turkish. If you omit one extra "a", "yan" means "burn" (imperative) So, I exactly know what I'm doing to celebrate that launch this evening. To quote the article, "Mangalyaan ki yatra mangalmay ho!"

Re:It's not like hundreds of millions of Indian ki

[somersault]

No wonder they keep pumping out more kids then. If you can't support your current population, stop making so many new people.

more space ?

[Anonymous Coward]

they need the space..literally!

Bacteria?

[Anonymous Coward]

The only thing that worried me is that they won't properly disinfect/sterilise their space probe and instruments, and thus will cause bacteria and living organisms from Earth to Mars... then a few years later... India will land in the same place and declare to have found first life outside of Earth!

Thus, I only really trust the western nations to delve into unknown territory, especially space, as we're meticulous in detail and science.

If you're a programmer / designer, you'll know what I'm talking about(!)

Sorry Indians, but you guys suck at some things, same way as the western world sucks in some things (like charity and human compassion (due largely to athiesm)).

Re: Spellcheck

[slash.jit]

AC is right.. everyone.. please don't miss-interpret the word "yaan" otherwise it will bring bad luck to India's mars mission.

Re:No good

[Anonymous Coward]

And then US call centers can hire people fluent in Hindi/Telegu and change their names to Indian ones, and talk to the people on the Mangalyaan in those languages

Re: Spellcheck

[Anonymous Coward]

Hindi is not my native language either (mine is tamil), but I have never heard yaan being used as journey. Could you give us a sentence as an example.

Ramayaan - journey of Rama

Mars & Moon

[scuzzlebutt]

If the Moon is made of cheese, the does that mean that Mars is made of Chicken Tikka Masala?

a century of rocket science

[peter303]

With half of that of interplanetary missions. Hopefully India and other countries will learn from all the mistakes and have success!

Re: Spellcheck

[Anonymous Coward]

My native language is Kannada, and I am from Bangalore where the Mars mission was planned, and here are certain words in that language related to this topic - Mangal is certainly Mars, "vahana" is vehicle, "yatra" is journey, "sarige" is transport.

Oh India!

[DarthVain]

Initially on first pass I would agree. However I think it goes beyond simply a political stunt. True India has a number of basic problems to deal with, but this may be something that pushes that agenda forward.

With the US and NASA basically "outsourcing" their space program, it offers opportunities to others. The country that can land those space contracts (I can't believe I just wrote space contracts, what is this Firefly?), not only will get a big boost into their space program and associated technology and experience, but also all the positive spin off jobs that they bring. India is certainly trying to show it can do the same thing for cheaper and faster than others.

It also fosters a focus on science, however I don't think it is stereotypical to say that India already has that in oodles.

Lastly, it gives some hope, pride, and patriotism for the future of India. Not only proving to the world, but to their own people, that their country is doing great things. Sure if you are really hungry that might be cold comfort, however with people probably a bit sick of the soul crushing corruption in government, it might be nice to see them accomplish something a bit altruistic (or seemingly so).

Perhaps I am just optimistic today.

Disclaimer: Not Indian. :p

For anyone who needs some perspective ...

[GingerTea]

.. on India's Mars mission and how the world reacted to it. http://balajiviswanathan.quora.com/Indian-Space-Mission-Poverty-and-Closet-Racism