India's Chandrayaan Lands Impact Probe On the Moon 203
yaksha writes to tell us that the Indian Space probe, Chandrayaan, has become only the fourth nation to land a probe on the Moon. The 35-kg Moon Impact Probe touched down in what officials are describing as a "perfect operation." "Developed by ISRO's Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre of Thiruvananthapuram, the primary objective of MIP is to demonstrate the technologies required for landing a probe at the desired location on the moon. The probe will help qualify some of the technologies related to future soft landing missions. This apart, scientific exploration of the moon at close distance is also intended using MIP."
Moon Base Dell Support Center (Score:3, Funny)
That's no moon.... (Score:2, Funny)
It's Cheese!
(if you mod this down, the meme will become more powerful than you could possibly imagine)
The first images.... (Score:5, Informative)
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That's one small step for man, though.
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Is it just me, or are those images in BMP format?
Re:The first images.... (Score:4, Funny)
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afaict firefox renders image data as it receives it and the windows bitmap format puts the bottom of the file first.
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Troll? Surely the Simpsons should be required knowledge before you get mod status...
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This probe is in reality the cornerstone for the first "Quickie Mart" on the moon!
Indian Probe? (Score:2, Funny)
So how long before there is a bollywood musical on this?
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Re:Indian Probe? (Score:4, Funny)
big shiny space suits
You haven't seen a lot of recent Bollywood cinema have you?
While the outfits are likely to be shiny, the ones worn by the women during dance scenes will be tiny.
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"While the outfits are likely to be shiny, the ones worn by the women during dance scenes will be tiny."
Bless them...
Landing? (Score:5, Interesting)
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That was my first thought also.
On the other hand we use the expression "Land a punch" which is certainly not a soft feathery thing (we hope).
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But nobody walked away from this one...
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I don't know if "landing" is the right term for it, exactly.
"Landing, with extreme prejudice?"
That doesn't seem fair to people and devices that actually... don't splat when they "land."
I watched a boxing match the other night, and the commentator screamed: "He LANDED a right!"
Well, one of two did go splat.
What they actually did, was ... well, you know that annoying Weather Guy on your local TV station? They rolled down the window of the orbiter, gave him a microphone, chucked him out the window, and told him to keep squawking, until he touches ground.
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"Landing, with extreme prejudice?"
Falling, with style.
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It does stretch the definition of the term a bit, yes.
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Uhh... it impacted at like 3.5K MPH. They assumed it landed because transmissions ended.
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35 kg != 3.5K MPH.
Or are you reading something I didn't see?
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Must not be mentioned in the article you read... in the one I read it states:
"Space official Shiv Kumar said the 34-kilogram probe hit the moon surface traveling at 1.6 kilometers per second, which is a speed of 5,760 kilometers per hour (3,579 mph)."
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Um, I'm reading TFA [ndtv.com] (gasp, yes, I know). What are you reading?
The probe is a nation? (Score:5, Funny)
the Indian Space probe, Chandrayaan has become only the fourth nation to land a probe on the Moon
It also must be the smallest nation to ever accomplish such a feat!
Fun Fact (Score:2)
The Chandrayaan Constitution was twittered!
Re:The probe is a nation? (Score:4, Insightful)
Instead: "With the Chandrayaan-1 mission, the ISRO becomes the fourth space program..."
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Bastard beat me to it :/
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Read more carefully. India might have a population of 1.15 billion, but the probe itself does not.
parent is funny (Score:2)
The probe's population is entirely microbial, mods.
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I probably should have said "they didn't wash the probe before launching." Dirty equipment is one thing. Dirty hands apparently is either insulting or racism.
The whole thing makes me chuckle. Subtlety has ruined the joke. I wash my hands of all of it.
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_Sprocket_ used the idiom "[to] wash one's hands of it", which is a double meaning because we were already discussing the process of hand-washing.
Just so there's no confusion.
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Reread the quoted text 10 times and you might get the joke.
Which is it? (Score:5, Funny)
Is it a lander or did it impact?
When I book a flight, I want to know the landing time, not the impact time.
Re:Which is it? (Score:5, Funny)
That's because they *can* tell you the landing time in advance. The impact time tends to be determined on rather short notice...
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When someone asks you how far you'd get if you lost one of the engines, tell 'em "All the way to the scene of the crash! We'll beat the paramedics there by half an hour, we're haulin ass!"
(Credit Ron White for that.)
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Pround moment (Score:4, Insightful)
Re:Pround moment (Score:5, Insightful)
Considering that this advances humanity (albeit just a little more, since we've done similar things before, but rarely), I think all of humanity can be proud of this.
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And using Indians as astronauts will be cheaper too. :-)
Well, that's a deservedly +5 Funny, but it does bring up a valid point. NASA spent huge sums doing the best it could for safety. Russia, which also accomplished significant things in space, was less concerned about safety. How will India and China fare in this regard?
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Congrats (Score:2, Insightful)
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Sorry, put a person there, bring them back alive is the minimum cover fee for a moon club.
In the mean time - Congratulation to India, this was certainly a feat.
I don't know which as the greater feat, getting this to the moon, or getting the governments will to focus on it.
Can we finally... (Score:4, Interesting)
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You know they're not going to accept that, either. It would just prove that the conspiracy reaches even further. India is a US ally, after all.
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since when did India become an US ally?
Since they became not an enemy. See how that works? To use GWB's logic, they're not against us ... so they must be with us!
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I would think that the new pictures would be some of the most closely scrutinized in history. A lot of people on both sides would want to authenticate or discredit them.
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It would be a waste of money.
We ahve mountian of evidences they are not believing, and all there 'proof' has been debunked.
A picture of the site would just be labels as part of the conspiracy. add to that little facts like the flag was made out of nylon, and as such it has probably dissolved from the UV.
Do you think a conspiracy nut would believe that's why it is gone? no.
Global conspiracy belief is a mental disorder.
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five stories below this one (Score:2)
is a story fretting about nasa funding shortfalls under the obama administration
so the larger take home message is that yes, while the american space program is but a shadow of its former glory, the global space race is alive and well, with china with its space walks and india with its moon landings, rising in prominence. the eu, australia, japan, brazil... lots of nations are in the game, no longer is it a cold war chest thumping exercise between the ussr and the usa
well, its still a tribal chest thumping
Information vacuum (Score:3, Interesting)
ISRO Press Release + First images... (Score:2)
Found these... thought they might be of interest.
ISRO Press Release
http://www.isro.org/pressrelease/Nov14_2008.htm [isro.org]
Pictures fro Chandrayaan Moon Impact Probe
http://www.isro.org/pslv-c11/photos/moon_images.htm [isro.org]
The Hindu Article (with diagrams of ISRO Chandrayaan probe)
http://www.hindu.com/2008/11/15/stories/2008111550580100.htm [hindu.com]
I'd be curious to know how what percentage of their staff are PR guys (probably way less than NASA), rather than engineers etc...
Litter (Score:2)
Chandrayaan (Score:2)
To be celebrated,not trolled (Score:3, Insightful)
I read a whole bunch of "wisecracks" and trolls about India and stereotypical bigoted comments about 7-11 and call centers, etc.
It is sad that geeks such as some on Slashdot choose to try and divide and disrespect as opposed to integrate and celebrate what is surely a quantum leap in what technology and engineering has enabled India/mankind to do.
When technology levels the playing ground, it becomes imperative for those whose hegemony is threatened change from their jingoism to a more mellifluous tune.
To be delighted at, not somberly acknowledged (Score:2)
I read a whole bunch of "wisecracks" and trolls about India and stereotypical bigoted comments about 7-11 and call centers, etc.
It is sad that geeks such as some on Slashdot choose to try and divide and disrespect
What's wrong with humor?
This is a moment to be appreciated and savored, but like all powerful moments there is room for humor. Where you see division I only see making fun of stereotypes that are being shattered by this very story - in a way a kind of slow farewell to them.
When we as a species ha
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For instance, a very typical American joke (ridiculing others) is not very funny and infact considered hurtful in places like India.
The majority of humor is at someone's expense. That's why it's funny. We're just a little more upfront about it.
Different strokes and all that.
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For instance, a very typical American joke (ridiculing others) is not very funny and infact considered hurtful in places like India.
Which does not matter when an American posts at a global site like slashdot.
If you are going to worry about someone taking offense at everything, you might as well not write.
And for the record I have a number of friends from India (born and raised there with green cards) that would laugh at those jokes as much as anyone.
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Actually, it's not so much referring to a "tiny" leap as it is referring to a "discontinuous" leap. I.e. the rate of change is infinite because it's not a continuous transition. The rapidity of change is what's being emphasized, not the distance traveled...
A better source by The Hindu (Score:2, Informative)
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What's the purpose of such bigoted opinions? Your jobs are going to India? Sure they are -- you suck at it!
Wow, way to entirely lump a nation into one stereotype while yelling at somebody else for doing the same. You have to think about your posts before you hit the 'Submit' button. ;)
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O cmon Neil Armstrong's first words on the moon were " Thats one small step for man, one giant leap for... Sardarji aap yaha?"
Re:india has nukes (Score:4, Informative)
Re:Irrational Fear (Score:5, Insightful)
Yes, if there's another successful nation on the planet, we're dooooooomed.
Talk about insecure.
Re:Irrational Fear (Score:5, Funny)
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Yes, if there's another successful nation on the planet, we're dooooooomed.
For your sentiment to make sense, you'd have to be confident that America still has what it takes to go to the moon. Is that the case?
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"Done for" in what sense? Just because someone else gets it better doesn't mean you get it worse.
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Re:Irrational Fear (Score:5, Insightful)
Unfortunately, you're not the only one. A lot of people are deluded in precisely the same way. There's a old human instinct that gets misapplied in modern times such that when someone in Florida is successful, someone in Michigan gets excited about it, proud of the accomplishment and hopeful for his future prospects in the world, whereas if it's someone in Berlin or Baghdad or Beijing, the same person in Michigan gets depressed, takes no pride in it, and worries about his future prospects in the world. This never made a great deal of sense, and makes virtually none at all in the modern world with a global economy.
We enrich ourselves the most (both monetarily and culturally) through our interactions with those more closely on par with us economically. Our best trading partners are the G8, and we all profit immensely from their success. Our most harmful relationships, both for our own economies and citizens as well as for those we exploit, are with third-world nations. The imbalances in those relationships hurt us all in different ways.
The moral of this story is quite simple: the sooner India, China, and other third-world nations "get their acts together" and rise to "first-world" status, the sooner they come to be on par with us in the same way our G8 partners are, the richer we all will be. An impoverished and thus cheaply exploitable India is a far greater threat to us than opportunity -- a rich and prosperous India would be a far greater opportunity than threat.
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When you look closely at the shuttle, hubble and the mars missions, the US still has done some very awesome stuff since 1969. Nothing has the low orbit payload capacity of the shuttle, nothing compares even closely to hubble and the US is the only country to have soup-to-nuts mars missions (launcher, etc).
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The moral of this story is quite simple: the sooner India, China, and other third-world nations "get their acts together" and rise to "first-world" status, the sooner they come to be on par with us in the same way our G8 partners are, the richer we all will be. An impoverished and thus cheaply exploitable India is a far greater threat to us than opportunity -- a rich and prosperous India would be a far greater opportunity than threat.
That's not entirely true. The comfortable lives people in rich countries enjoy is because they can outsource labor to poorer countries. An iPod costs only $200 because they guy making it in China makes only (say) $200/month. Now if it were manufactured in the US, it would probably cost at least $300.
This'll have a rippling effect on prices of all commodities. For eg people whose services we depend upon, like cooks and waiters will demand more money, since their money will now buy less. As a result eating ou
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It does make sense.
The global economy means those on the top need those on the bottom to work for nothing and live in squalar.
When someone else is moving up the ladder, and you are on top, that is not a good thing.
Re:Impact probe (Score:4, Informative)
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It's very hard to understand why Gibbon's "Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire" is not required reading for politicians and corporate leaders. If you depend on slave labor (in the US case, outsourcing) then ultimately your empire will fall. It's inevitable. And yet so avoidable. Eventually, there is a payback for greed, and this's just yet more proof that politicians are ultimately self-centered
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It's only inevitable if you don't adapt; which we are.
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Since the US has been sat on its ass gloating for 40 years they're not 40 years behind any more. I'd put them maybe two or three before they go for the moon shot.
Re:Ahh.. American Relevance (Score:5, Insightful)
If they land men on the moon in two years, they'll be 41 years behind. You seem to assume we haven't accomplished anything since 1969. You're discounting our Mars missions (rovers, landers, satellites), the Hubble, the Space Station, GPS, the Shuttle, the upcoming JWST, not to mention the myriad satellites, probes and impacters. We've truly, repeatedly, gone where no man has gone before, they cannot say the same. It's much easier to follow in the footsteps of another than to blaze your own trail.
Granted, we haven't really made any giant leaps since 69, except for ubiquitous Internet (that's a massive except) and minicomputers, but we have made enough small steps to climb a mountain. Everything we did yesterday, we do better today. We haven't done too much new, just everything old, better. So much advancement has been made in the last 15 years, it's ridiculous. It may not be a space age, but it's certainly the age of improvement and refinement. Everything is smaller, faster, smarter, cheaper, and all around better. Many small steps, in aggregate, can be better than one giant leap.
It's foolish to assume that because people are catching up to our achievements made decades ago, that they are somehow superior to us. It is good for them though, and perhaps it will give us the impetus to move on to bigger and better things.
Mod parent Funny (Score:2)
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Good day Sir, this is Patrick only.
What do you need IT support for?
To start your foreclosure paperwork?
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Excellent Dude!!! Great retort.
Re:more people in poverty than population of USA (Score:5, Insightful)
India's INSAT series have been very helpful in the past, and people were saying this when those were launched. ISRO has a nice commercial launch program and this will only improve perceptions of their ability and reliability.
That's all without pointing out the implicit false dichotomy in your comment. India can solve its problems, we, as a people, in incredible short sightedness, have chosen not to. Corruption is rampant, but the only people who can stand strong against it (the informed, educated middle class) is happy because they have good salaries. The poor cannot do anything, they have little power. The rich won't do anything, they benefit. We're in that lovely no-man's land where it is better for the individual to take what he's got and live it nicely. I don't mean this as a condemnation of any political philosophy, or India itself. I am Indian, and I am like this, and I can see that everyone else is, too.
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Corruption is rampant, but the only people who can stand strong against it (the informed, educated middle class) is happy because they have good salaries. The poor cannot do anything, they have little power. The rich won't do anything, they benefit. We're in that lovely no-man's land where it is better for the individual to take what he's got and live it nicely.
So basically just like the US. Got it.
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Taking X from one side of a scale and putting it on the other means that you have a relative deficit of X on the side that you took it from. I doubt that anyone in this thread has enough insight into India's governmental budgets to know how precisely how much we're talking about, but I don't think it's a stretch to assume that the money would otherwise have gone at least partly into projects aimed at combatting poverty.
Whether or not it's an appropriate allocation of funds is a subjective matter, but the mo
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Combating poverty is not the governments job. If the poor dont want to be poor anymore they can work harder and pull themselves out of poverty. The govt is meant to do things the private sector cannot and at present space exploration is something the govt cant do. If the money was not spent on space it could be spent on some other research but poverty alleviation or as I call it bread and circuses is a waste of money.
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Of course combatting poverty is the job of the government. The government exists for the people, and it is in the interest of the people to escape poverty. You say Indians can work harder and pull themselves out of poverty as if there are jobs waiting around the corner for anyone willing, which absolutely is not the case. Your inability to understand the magnitude of poverty in India, and the responsibilities of a democratically elected government must make it easy for you to make the arguments you're makin
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Why are you replying to me with this comment? Neither am I American, nor am I preaching socialism by stating the obvious truth that a democratically elected government exists to serve the citizenry.
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Read the exoplanet story comments [slashdot.org] from a few days back, for instance.
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Malayalam is like many other Indo-European languages, you can join a couple of words together to get a new word. Thiru - means holy, Anantha - is infinite, is also a name in Indian myth, puram- place. So in all the name means "Holy Anantha's land" - it was so called because there is a big temple there
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WHAT? Where did you get that bit? Anyone who can read any indic script can read it perfectly. Latin characters though...
German words (Score:2)
German, a legacy language of Europe, has that 'long-word' syndrome. As if they had to pay extra for spaces. And, Holymuddafugginchrist, they have some reallylonggoddamnwords in German.