Indian Moon Mission Launched 305
hackerdownunder writes "India's maiden lunar mission (Chandrayaan-1) got off to a flying start today. Describing the launch as 'perfect and precise,' the chairman of the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO), G Madhavan Nair, said that it would be 14 days before the satellite would enter into lunar orbit.
Chandrayaan carries eleven payloads: five designed and developed in India, three from the European Space Agency, one from Bulgaria and two from NASA."
Great - More to know about moon but what about (Score:2, Interesting)
Re:How things are turning out. (Score:5, Interesting)
Outsourcing. (Score:2, Interesting)
I am extremely happy that space missions are gaining importance on the world stage, as I see living offworld as the key to human survival in the long run.
Part of me wonders if the trend in outsourcing provided the economic base and not too small a technological leg up that India needed to succeed. I realize they have an amazing (and selective) university system that makes many of ours silly by comparison, but I wonder if our "American Spirit" had no small part in enabling this. I wonder if what we have to offer the world has more to do with that spirit than any other tangible asset.
This then would give us some clues to our role in the world as our "empire" fades during this next century. We are to become the skunkworks for the world.
Re:Reaching the Moon while milllions go Hungry (Score:2, Interesting)
Re:Reaching the Moon while milllions go Hungry (Score:3, Interesting)
So? What are you trying to say? That India should wait until their problems are all solved? And for the rest of the world to move on?
And did you know that India is now a serious emerging player in the satellite launch market? If money is all you understand, please be informed that they will MAKE more money than they have spent on this mission. The reputation that the Indian Space Research Organization will gain from this will get them more launch orders. And that means more money.
And don't forget the technological spinoffs that will help make them better. And they have said they will share this knowledge with other industries.
I was watching the launch today, and they interviewed school kids about what they thought, and you know what? There's a whole horde of young people that have been inspired to pursue careers in space science, just because of this. The intangible benefits are far too many to enumerate here.
Grow up, man.
Re:How things are turning out. (Score:2, Interesting)
So you're essentially saying:
"We can pay them to come and be smart on our behalf because we have lots of money."
I could use economic phrases like "unsustainable trade deficit" or anthropological terms like "secondary loyalty", but something tells me that you'd need to hire someone to say something smart back.
If you want to know how well America's long term policy is serving it, look at the historical trend in US national (public and private) debt vis a vis its trading partners. Those figures will say far more about the first world's long term sustainability than I could hope to here.
Re:Why moon? (Score:3, Interesting)
Re:How things are turning out. (Score:2, Interesting)
Re:How things are turning out. (Score:5, Interesting)
Here in the US, we're developing our military,
Are you really trying to separate India's civilian rocketry program from their defense spending?
Re:How things are turning out. (Score:3, Interesting)
It is possible to apply the scientific method selectively, as most religious folk do, generally within their own fields of expertise, while denying the truth exposed through the scientific method. This is a clear example of cognitive dissonance.
For instance most Abrahamic religions have within their core doctrine that the earth was created 6000 years ago, which may have sounded believable 2000 years ago, but which by today's standards is truly arcane. The concept of Gods word blindly forces this reality upon billions of people.
In short, there are probably not that many religious anthropologists, geneticists, and astrophysicists, while the sciences that do not investigate the evidence, like computer science, or medicine for instance are more likely to have proportionately more religious practitioners in their ranks.
Re:Reaching the Moon while milllions go Hungry (Score:1, Interesting)
in fact, that's one of the aims of ISRO - building a sound ecosystem around space research - which has a good potential for science students who are interested in specialised science. right about now everyone's heading into call centers, BPO units, medical transcription units, code monkey outfits, and some real software work. so many intellectuals and good scientists are absorbed from mainstream science into sweat shops which pay very well by indian standards , and something which typical scientific organisations can't pay.
how then do you attract scientists who need a decent standard of living, a decent salary, and some real exciting work... like space research and rocket science.
Re:Old-Fashioned Navel-Gazing (Score:5, Interesting)
The lost opportunities and economic stagnation of the past 50 years under the social welfare state show how such narrow mindsets can wreak havoc on a country.
This (often repeated) story about "lost opportunities during first 50 years of India" etc is a myth. It shows a lack of understanding of post independence history of India.
When India became independent there were groups of politicians who repeatedly argued against setting up of national laboratories and research institutions that exist in India right now. They argued that there is no need to "waste" money in those for a country like India, since one can always buy things from outside. If India had followed that approach it would be society with significant problems with poverty and related social tensions right now (If you need proof just look at the state of development of society in the country which is neighbor to India, which became independent during the same time).
It is ridiculous to not to notice significant success of poverty reduction and increase in living standard in a complex society like India without creating major social tensions (if you do not know - famines with repeated crop failures were common in pre-independence India). A lot of the credit for this goes to development of strong independent research and industrial base during the early stages (Indian space program is a part of this).
14 days is kind of slow (Score:5, Interesting)
The slowest moon mission was an ESA moon mission that took 14 months to reach the moon via ion-drive. It cost very little in fuel.
Re:Old-Fashioned Navel-Gazing (Score:2, Interesting)
Re:How things are turning out. (Score:1, Interesting)
People are not created with equal intelligence. A meritocracy is about as fair as a hereditary class system, and the belief otherwise is the great lie of late C20.
The divide between rich and poor is greater because we have gone from negligible to minor class mobility - by those of exceptional talent - and the rest are convinced that they, too, can chase the dream. Every published success hides a thousand quiet failures.
Those who believe that meritocracy produces a reasonable state of affairs are like the survivors who had prayed that they would be saved as their plane was crashing. Those who prayed yet died have no voice to recount their tale.
Re:wrong (Score:3, Interesting)
Only an idiot incapable of taking care of themselves would want to live in a social welfare state.
really? how's that murder rate working out for you?
Re:wrong (Score:3, Interesting)
The murder rate doesn't bother me, even a little. It's confined to the areas occupied by the dregs of society, if they kill each other off, it's one less thing I'll be asked to pay for.