India To Launch First Manned Space Mission By 2022 (hindustantimes.com) 73
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.
Impressive (Score:2)
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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.
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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.
Re:Impressive (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...
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If they start a shooting war with Pakistan it will likely be over the ridiculous, over the top antics at their border crossing [youtube.com]
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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 ov
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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.
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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...
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Space Squishee's!!!
and I think its gonna be a long long time (Score:2)
>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
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I'm saying this, and all this science I don't understand? It's just my job, five days a week.
I agree (Score:3, Insightful)
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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.
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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 shoul
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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."
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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 th
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India has a space program and succesfull launches since decades ....
Yes. And It Doesn't Matter (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.
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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.
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Wouldn't hurt you to keep up, either. ;)
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I guess a working sewer system... (Score:1)
Oh dear lord not this again (Score:3)
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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.
There is one like this in every thread (Score:2)
shortsighted
By 2022? Never Gonna Happen... (Score:5, Informative)
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Tata (no, not those, you dirty minded /.-er). (Score:1)
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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.
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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.
Hope they succeed - the US may need it (Score:2)
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).