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India To Launch First Manned Space Mission By 2022 (hindustantimes.com)

India will launch its first manned space mission by 2022, the country's Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Wednesday, which could make it the fourth nation to do so after the United States, Russia and China. From a report: Modi congratulated Indian scientists for excelling in their research and are at the forefront of innovation. "Our scientists have made us proud. They launched over 100 satellites... They successfully completed the Mars mission." ISRO, India's space agency, successfully launched 104 satellites on 15 February 2017, of which three were Indian while the rest were foreign commercial satellites. The Mars Orbiter Mission (MOM), also called Mangalyaan, India's first interplanetary mission was launched on November 5, 2013 by the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO). It has been orbiting Mars since September 24, 2014.

73 comments

  1. Impressive by 110010001000 · · Score: 1

    Impressive, but where are they planning on going? Mars ain't the kind of place to raise your kids. In fact it's cold as hell.

    1. Re:Impressive by dromgodis · · Score: 0

      From TFA: "one manned flight where the crew would be sent to the low Earth Orbit for five to seven days". Close enough for Ganesh to come help them if they screw up.

      Still cold as hell though.

    2. Re:Impressive by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Impressive, but where are they planning on going?

      Space travel is 10% science and 90% demonstrating that you can lob a nuke around the earth.

      But, hey, it's that 90% that pays for the science.

    3. Re:Impressive by Oswald+McWeany · · Score: 1

      Impressive, but where are they planning on going? Mars ain't the kind of place to raise your kids. In fact it's cold as hell.

      True, but it's less crowded than Mumbai.

      --
      "That's the way to do it" - Punch
    4. Re:Impressive by Rick+Schumann · · Score: 1

      What's worse, is there's no one there to raise them, if you did!
      I'm saying this, and all this science I don't understand? It's just my job, five days a week.

    5. Re:Impressive by evil+crash · · Score: 2

      Impressive, but where are they planning on going? Mars ain't the kind of place to raise your kids. In fact it's cold as hell.

      True, but it's less crowded than Mumbai.

      For now...

      --
      "Anyone who is capable of getting themselves made President should on no account be allowed to do the job."-THG
    6. Re:Impressive by Kjella · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Space travel is 10% science and 90% demonstrating that you can lob a nuke around the earth. But, hey, it's that 90% that pays for the science.

      I think you're projecting Cold War history on everyone else. India doesn't have any particular need for ICBMs, if they're going to start a shooting war with anyone it'll probably be Pakistan and they're right next door. The driving force here was probably business, providing a cheaper alternative to the US/European/Russian launch options for telecom, observation satellites and so on. It probably looked like a good idea, I mean the Proton rocket is a 50+ year old design and was up until recently pretty competitive so if India could undercut them on labor cost they could become the "budget" launch provider. Of course then SpaceX happened...

      --
      Live today, because you never know what tomorrow brings
    7. Re:Impressive by cayenne8 · · Score: 1
      First Kwik-E-Mart on the moon!!!

      Space Squishee's!!!

      --
      Light travels faster than sound. This is why some people appear bright until you hear them speak.........
    8. Re:Impressive by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      It will terminate as soon as one of the Indianaughts lets go with the first Curry Powered Fart

    9. Re:Impressive by sycodon · · Score: 1

      If they start a shooting war with Pakistan it will likely be over the ridiculous, over the top antics at their border crossing

      --
      When Fascism comes to America, it will call itself Anti-Fascism, and tell you to give up your guns.
    10. Re:Impressive by careysub · · Score: 2

      Space travel is 10% science and 90% demonstrating that you can lob a nuke around the earth. But, hey, it's that 90% that pays for the science.

      I think you're projecting Cold War history on everyone else. India doesn't have any particular need for ICBMs, if they're going to start a shooting war with anyone it'll probably be Pakistan and they're right next door.

      So why are they testing the Agni 5, with an 8,000 kilometer range?

      The answer is that they want to deter China, which they fought a war with in 1962 (China attacked them). There are also outstanding territorial disputes with China holding territory claimed by India (and held by India before being taken from them by force), and then there are India's sharp disagreements about Chinese policy in Tibet. And the general dislike most major nations have about other nations holding the threat of nuclear firepower over their heads without a way to respond.

      The assumption that India is "going to start a shooting war" is unwarranted.

      --
      Starships were meant to fly, Hands up and touch the sky - Nicky Minaj
    11. Re:Impressive by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      The assumption that India is "going to start a shooting war" is unwarranted.

      Well except one year before the war with China, India attacked and annexed Goa.

    12. Re: Impressive by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Lol.. Look at where Goa is on the map. Twat

    13. Re:Impressive by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      It is about having a footprint first, because if technology evolves to be able to mine the moon and/or mars, these missions will be used as justifications to the country's claims.
      Thats a part of the reason why so many countries also run permanent base stations in Antarctica.

  2. Re: Be wary of American sabotage by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    lol have you ever worked with Indian development firms? good luck with all that

  3. Re:Be wary of American sabotage by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    America's Space Force will keep us safe out there!

  4. Re: More important matters by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Every article on India here has a street shitting comment...... until the inflection point comes

  5. I agree by Comboman · · Score: 3, Insightful

    I'm sorry but doesn't America have much more urgent things to take care of such as universal health care and drinkable public water in Flint rather than space exploration (sorry, I mean "Space Force").

    --
    Support Right To Repair Legislation.
    1. Re:I agree by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      This story is not about the USA.

    2. Re:I agree by 110010001000 · · Score: 2

      It definitely does, but rich people like to play with rockets instead of solving real problems.

    3. Re:I agree by KiloByte · · Score: 0

      Nope, all of that is a hole without bottom that if you put 1T this year, you won't be any better off the next year. On the other hand, science will have a lasting value in the future. Space exploration in particular allows us to expand away from the planet we ruined, ensuring survival of mankind. And even that "space force" you dismiss, beside civilian benefits, also means you won't be defenseless against China and Russia, both of which do build space weapons, despite treaties they signed.

      Thus, you shouldn't put all money towards consumption, but also invest a bit in our species' survival. Current scraps we put there are quite suicidal.

      --
      The creatures outside looked from Alt-Right to Antifa; but already it was impossible to say which was which.
    4. Re:I agree by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Literacy comes to mind. Maybe you could make that a priority for 2018.

    5. Re: I agree by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Except those who play with the Pedo Torpedo

    6. Re:I agree by Type44Q · · Score: 1

      I'm sorry but doesn't America have much more urgent things to take care of such as universal health care and drinkable public water in Flint rather than space exploration (sorry, I mean "Space Force").

      Literal answer? "Not necessarily."

    7. Re:I agree by Areyoukiddingme · · Score: 1

      It definitely does, but rich people like to play with rockets instead of solving real problems.

      If Elon Musk solved Flint's water problems, you'd accuse him of grandstanding.

    8. Re:I agree by CrimsonAvenger · · Score: 2, Interesting

      I'm sorry but doesn't America have much more urgent things to take care of such as universal health care and drinkable public water in Flint rather than space exploration (sorry, I mean "Space Force").

      Well...

      Universal Healthcare is not strictly a Federal issue, what with the whole Constitution thing specifying that anything not specifically allowed to the Feds is a State matter. On the other hand, FDR pretty much threw that Constitutional issue out the window back in the 1930's, and got the Supremes of the day to go along with it by threatening to just add more Justices till he had the required majority. So I could go either way on it.

      Water in Flint Michigan? Nope, not a Federal issue. You can't even use the Interstate Commerce clause to cover that, since it's purely a local matter. So talk to the government of Michigan if you want that dealt with.

      All that aside, the Constitution does seem to give the Federal government the Power to do military things. Like this Space Force (warning: I've ignored all the news about the Space Force, but it looks like the sort of interservice rivalry that led to the Key West Accords).

      So, while Universal Healthcare might be more important than the Space Force, the Space Force is something that can pass Constitutional muster easier than Universal Healthcare.

      And what any of this has to do with India wanting to put men in space, I can't imagine.

      As to India putting men in space, I am thinking that four years is too short a timeline, unless they're trying for something comparable to Mercury or Vostok. Which would be a waste of time and money. Stretch the timeline to ten years, and they can probably get their own space program going in a respectable sort of way....

      --

      "I do not agree with what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it"
    9. Re:I agree by angel'o'sphere · · Score: 1

      India has a space program and succesfull launches since decades ....

      --
      Cost free eBook I read (by iBook/Kobo/Amazon/ObookO/Gutenberg etc.): "The Green Odyssey" by Philip Jose Farmer.
    10. Re:I agree by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      India has a space program and succesfull launches since decades ....

      But apparently have a problem with simple English grammar.

    11. Re:I agree by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      India has a space program and succesfull launches since decades ....

      But apparently have a problem with simple English grammar.

      English grammar is far too simple for them.

    12. Re: I agree by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Overly complicated doesn't mean it's useful.

      They created the Rube Goldberg of language. So?

    13. Re:I agree by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      This I don't understand much. What good is survival of the species if every one is dead save for a hundred or so trapped in caves on Mars.
      Easier/cheaper for the species to survive on Earth even if a dinosaur asteroid strikes.
      Anyway anything we do in space manned missions for the decades to come has jack shit to do with survival of the species.

    14. Re:I agree by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      If Elon Musk tweeted he will cure cancer, you would give him credit for already doing so.

    15. Re:I agree by joe_frisch · · Score: 1

      If people always concentrated on solving the most immediate problems rather than looking toward the future, we'd still be chipping flints in central Africa.

  6. Re: Be wary of American sabotage by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    American?

    Please, the Brits hate Stinkdus way more.

  7. and I think its gonna be a long long time by rossdee · · Score: 1

    >Mars ain't the kind of place to raise your kids. In fact it's cold as hell.

    And theres no one there to raise them, if you did

  8. I guess a working sewer system... by HotNeedleOfInquiry · · Score: 0

    Is less important.

    --
    "Eve of Destruction", it's not just for old hippies anymore...
    1. Re:I guess a working sewer system... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      > Is less important

      Maybe for your mom

  9. By 2022? Never Gonna Happen... by Tempest_2084 · · Score: 4, Informative

    Has no one ever dealt with the Indian government before? There's way too much corruption to make this a realistic goal by 2022. Will they eventually get into space? Sure, but it's going to take longer then four years. It will take that long just to grease the proper palms to get the paperwork approved much less build anything.

    1. Re:By 2022? Never Gonna Happen... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Meh, by 2022 anyone who can pony up $150 million or so can probably grab a ride for a week in a Dragon capsule to LEO and claim to have a manned space program. I doubt New Glenn will be ready by then, but who knows.

    2. Re:By 2022? Never Gonna Happen... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Nonsense! The contract has been awarded to the Prime Ministers cousin whose main business is chicken farming so they are in good hands!

    3. Re:By 2022? Never Gonna Happen... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Nonsense! The contract has been awarded to the Prime Ministers cousin whose main business is chicken farming so they are in good hands!

      A chicken will probably be the first Indian in orbit.

    4. Re:By 2022? Never Gonna Happen... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Has no one ever dealt with the Indian government before? There's way too much corruption

      India does not have more or less corruption than any other country, they just don't bother to hide it.

      (I've spend a lot of time in India and many other countries.)

    5. Re:By 2022? Never Gonna Happen... by froggyjojodaddy · · Score: 1

      I wish you had posted under an account instead of AC. Because you are 100% spot on!

    6. Re:By 2022? Never Gonna Happen... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Ideep Doo Doo, i know him well.

  10. Tata (no, not those, you dirty minded /.-er). by Rick+Schumann · · Score: 0

    I'm kinda wondering, considering how Indian cars and trucks are made, if wood will be one of the construction materials in their space vehicles?

    1. Re:Tata (no, not those, you dirty minded /.-er). by Strider- · · Score: 1

      This isn't too unreasonable. The SpaceX Falcon 9 uses cork as part of the thermal protection system to protect the boosters as they re-enter. Going further, Engineered wood is often a very good structural material, and used properly isn't a terrible idea.

      --
      ...si hoc legere nimium eruditionis habes...
    2. Re:Tata (no, not those, you dirty minded /.-er). by Rick+Schumann · · Score: 1

      Thanks, Buzzkill Lightyear.

    3. Re:Tata (no, not those, you dirty minded /.-er). by careysub · · Score: 1

      I'm kinda wondering, considering how Indian cars and trucks are made, if wood will be one of the construction materials in their space vehicles?

      The nose fairing of the Trident II D5 SLBM, the United States most powerful ballistic missile, uses Sitka spruce.

      So if India knows what it is doing, it very well may.

      --
      Starships were meant to fly, Hands up and touch the sky - Nicky Minaj
  11. Re: More important matters by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Wow, how is this comment any worse than a Nazi's - not the neo-nazi type, but the actual genocidal ones?
    At least the Nazi's didn't hate as much on India.

    And this is a tech site? Supposedly where people are at least somewhat educated?

    The number system we use was designed in India.
    The most complex grammar for any language ever was created by this culture.
    And for all the jabs at current lack of toilets, the first recorded sewer systems and organized cities come from India.
    India's Universities and Libraries 2000 years ago were on a scale greater than any elsewhere at the time.

    India has only partially recovered from the disastrous colonialism where the British starved India by the millions while simultaneously exporting food away from it by force. Give it some time.

  12. Oh dear lord not this again by JaredOfEuropa · · Score: 2

    They are working on both. And their space budget is a tiny fraction of the budget for rural development.

    --
    If construction was anything like programming, an incorrectly fitted lock would bring down the entire building...
    1. Re:Oh dear lord not this again by Only+Time+Will+Tell · · Score: 1

      They are working on both. And their space budget is a tiny fraction of the budget for rural development.

      And this minor investment in space could pay big dividends in the future for the country as ancillary companies pop up to support space missions (engineering firms, manufacturing and testing companies, etc.). NASA's adventures spawned a whole industry around the Gulf Coast to support the rockets and space missions, employing hundreds of thousands with good salaries. Further, India could receive new revenue from companies and countries who want to piggy-back on their missions.

    2. Re:Oh dear lord not this again by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      They could sent all their sewage into space.

  13. Re:More important matters by Type44Q · · Score: 1, Insightful
    If they want to end up a Chinese vassal-state like Tibet or Xinjiang, sure. If not, they'd best keep up.

    Wouldn't hurt you to keep up, either. ;)

  14. Interoperability by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Lets make sure all nations reaching for the heavens among the gods implement at least interoperable docking systems, air-locks and maybe even space suits and their support systems in the future.

  15. There is one like this in every thread by mrops · · Score: 1

    shortsighted

  16. Yes. And It Doesn't Matter by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    Everyone always has "more pressing things" to deal with. Always. And it doesn't matter.

    This is the fallacy of, "we could redirect that money to Worthwhile Cause X". Except, even if you did stop the space exploration, the money usually won't get redirected to Worthwhile Cause X.

    Here's the issue. Space exploration is a strategic issue. One that will pay off (or not, but it probably will pay off) in decades to centuries. Strategic issues can always be put on the back burner to deal with tactical issues. As long as you don't do so for decades to centuries, you probably won't even pay a big price for doing so. However if you NEVER invest in strategic development, it will become your biggest problem in the fullness of time.

    Really, do you think that the King and Queen of Spain didn't have "more pressing matters" than funding Columbus? Of course they did. And we should be grateful that instead of being single issue rulers, or tactically obsessed monarchs, they decided to fund Columbus.

    One has to ask, what is the opportunity cost of not funding space exploration? And it's also fair to ask, what is the opportunity cost of not funding universal health care? Governing is exactly about making decisions like this.

    But in the real world, if you de-fund NASA, you don't automatically get universal health care. If fact you typically get either more government corruption, or a Space Force, or a crony-driven tax cut that benefits the 1% with 99% of the tax cut money.

  17. Re: More important matters by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Just to add somethings in the same line:

    Before colonization, 50% of all world trades included one of the partner as India
    Rockets were invented in India
    Pythagoras theorem, Fibonacci series, trigonometry, martial arts, chess, all of these first came from India
    Yoga is from India
    Surgery was first developed in India
    With 2% of world land, India is supporting 15% population and is surplus in food

  18. Re:More important matters by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    If they want to end up a America vassal-state like Hawaii, sure. If not, they'd best keep up.

    Wouldn't hurt you to keep up, either. ;)

    Hawaiian manned space program when?

  19. Re:More important matters by MerlTurkin · · Score: 1

    And all the train suicides.

  20. Yes, but will the capsule have a toilet? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Seriously.

    Many early capsules had no toilets, nor facilities for dealing with urine. More recent ones have a hose for piping urine offboard and a bag for feces though. The cost and expense of a toilet are usually reserved for long duration flights, which manned capsules usually don't do.

  21. Hope they succeed - the US may need it by joe_frisch · · Score: 1

    I hope they succeed, I'm always happy to see progress in space technology.

    Unless the US gets its act together, we will need other countries to launch our astronauts. India sounds like a better bet than Russia or China. I'd love to see us get our own launch capability back, but its been a while. (Yes, I know the various efforts under way but I'm still waiting to see it actually happen).

  22. Order by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    "United States, Russia and China"
    Pretty sure that should be
    Russia, United States and China

  23. Seems a bit ambitious by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I believe most of their launchers use hypergolics, which are none to fun to fuel or deal with if there are issues. Most of their launches are also on fairly small rockets (~3,500kg) which aren't generally suitable for manned missions (~14,000kg for Falcon 9 in reusable mode). I'm sure it's doable on some of their larger rockets, but those rockets (GSLV) don't have much of a flight record (7 launches total over near a decade).