India sending manned mission to the Moon

[Satellite Weapon]

India's first journey into space began with the launch of its satellite Aryabhata in 1975 by a Soviet booster. ISRO employs approximately 20,000 people, with a budget around 700 million. Rakesh Sharma a former squadron leader and pilot with the Indian Air Force became India's first cosmonaut/astronaut when he flew into space with 2 other Soviet cosmonauts aboard Soyuz T-11. Recently the ISRO has begun the development of an unmanned mission to the Moon, named Chandrayaan-1.


India planning it's own moon landing by 2020
http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/10139.html

[annihilation]

I wish america still cared about space..... :(

[Satellite Weapon]

I wish america still cared about space..... :( Of course we do, that's why we're outsourcing NASA to India
http://static.flickr.com/102/290507227_129bcafd86_m.jpg

http://www.indiadaily.com/editorial/10-05c-04.asp http://science.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=06/05/09/1914236

American Astronut : 'New Delhi we have a problem'

Automated Arjun-Raj : I'm sorry our call centers are busy, please hold

[Yaro]

Interesting article thx.

[Satellite Weapon]

Good on India for planning an ambitious program, I wish them well and hope they embarrass NASA enough to finally get off their rears and get back to the idea of building a human lunar colony. NASA has been stuck with the Shuttle for these past years I hope they get back to the Moon before all the Apollo astronauts are dead.

[Durandal]

Interesting, we are seeing the SPace Race all over again, but this time, between China and India.

Kinda cool.

CHina has a lot more extensive program though than India's. I wish them the best of luck!

[oldsoak]

Not sure why India would want to do this - its a lot of cash to do whats been done already. Although within their capabilty, India would probably do better to put the money into looking at renewable energy, energy effieciency etc. I'd would argue that it is of far more relevance to the average Indian than sending someone to the moon.

[vrb]

Not sure why India would want to do this - its a lot of cash to do whats been done already. Although within their capabilty, India would probably do better to put the money into looking at renewable energy, energy effieciency etc. I'd would argue that it is of far more relevance to the average Indian than sending someone to the moon.


All true. I suspect on of the reasons is to test the capability of their new launchers (GSLV series). Remote sensing is of huge importance to a country like India. Also any new technologies used may be transferable to other areas. Money is being put into areas like renewable energy. Anyway the ISRO budget is peanuts compared to other countries investments in space and also provides technical experience to scientists and encourages youngsters to get involved in science.

Imagine if Britain had an active space program, not just building world class satellites and instruments (Beagle 2 excepted). I'm sure that a lot more youngesters would be interested in science as a career.

[annihilation]

Interesting, we are seeing the SPace Race all over again, but this time, between China and India.

Kinda cool.

CHina has a lot more extensive program though than India's. I wish them the best of luck!

Same here, I hope it also spurs the US into going back into the space exploration program.

[mi35d]

We already are...

Orion is the vehicle NASA’s Constellation Program is developing to carry a new generation of explorers back to the moon and later to Mars. Orion will succeed the space shuttle as NASA's primary vehicle for human space exploration.

http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/exploration/mmb/orion_announcement.html

[2Sheds_Jackson]

Good lord - for all the criticism that NASA has faced for being a boutique program in a country that has real problems - China and India racing to the Moon seems even more idiotic. They both have poverty and social problems that make the poor in the US look positively wealthy.

[Lazy Lob]

All true. I suspect on of the reasons is to test the capability of their new launchers (GSLV series). Remote sensing is of huge importance to a country like India. Also any new technologies used may be transferable to other areas. Money is being put into areas like renewable energy. Anyway the ISRO budget is peanuts compared to other countries investments in space and also provides technical experience to scientists and encourages youngsters to get involved in science.

I think the big difference here is that the US moon program developed spankin’ new technologies where as both the Chinese and Indian programs are more than likely using “off the shelf” components adapted to the new “mission”. I don’t think we will be seeing much spin off tech from either of these programs.

Bear in mind that the mayor cost of the moon landings was life support and safety margins; getting the astronauts there and back alive. So a moon program makes little sense if all you want is to advance other areas of technology.

[Ordie]

I nominate Apu Nahasapeemapetilon as the first Indian on the moon.

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/4/47/Apu.png/495px-Apu.png (http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/4/47/Apu.png)

[Satellite Weapon]

Indian approves first manned space mission
http://www.iol.co.za/index.php?set_id=1&click_id=31&art_id=qw1162977120194B212

[Vorian]

I hope there is a new space race India and China perhaps?? When will US or Russia begin to think about Mars?

[budgie]

Not sure why India would want to do this - its a lot of cash to do whats been done already. Although within their capabilty, India would probably do better to put the money into looking at renewable energy, energy effieciency etc. I'd would argue that it is of far more relevance to the average Indian than sending someone to the moon.

In a country of over a billion with something like 400 million below the poverty line, I could think of better ways to spend that money.

[Satellite Weapon]

When will US or Russia begin to think about Mars?
President Bush and his vision for Mars (some are critical of the plan and Bush-Snr tried to push the same mission about 14 years ago)
http://www.globalsecurity.org/space/systems/vse.htm

China and Russia are planning a joint mission to Mars (China don't have a lot of experience but are growing quick with a huge economy, Russians got all the know-how but lack the might ever since the USSR fell)
http://www.marsdaily.com/reports/China_And_Russia_To_Launch_Joint_Mission_To_Mars_999.html

[AK74]

Of course we do, that's why we're outsourcing NASA to India
http://static.flickr.com/102/290507227_129bcafd86_m.jpg

http://www.indiadaily.com/editorial/10-05c-04.asp http://science.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=06/05/09/1914236

American Astronut : 'New Delhi we have a problem'

Automated Arjun-Raj : I'm sorry our call centers are busy, please hold

HAHA!!! thats gotta be the NASA joke of the year ^^

[brigadeotg]

In a country of over a billion with something like 400 million below the poverty line, I could think of better ways to spend that money.

Well, we the citizens want the govt to do more in this regard. We do it with our own money with our own people. So what is your problem?

BTW, those of you criticizing NASA, US Govt etc are plain and simple delusional. The amount/quality of research being done in the US and budget allocated to this endeavour is simply mind-boggling. India's space research is a tiny percentage of what is being done by NASA et al. It will take years to even arrive at where the US is at right now. This is obvious, it seems, to everyone but people on this thread.

[Durandal]

It will take years to even arrive at where the US is at right now. This is obvious, it seems, to everyone but people on this thread.

Not really, depending on what an Indian space program wants to achieve. India has a vast amount of resources, the most important of which, is scientists...you got em for certain.

A valuable space program isn't just about sending dudes to location X, its also about scientific surveys and research. There is a LOT of off the shelf tech already out there to get a good foundation and as several of our U.S. missions have proven, you can do a lot on a shoe string budget and get back LOTS of data.

India has a long way to go, but its bell curve is MUCH smaller than the U.S., Russia's, or the E.U.'s in getting there...they all started when the tech was low and the costs for such endeavors was much much more.

Good luck. The Space Program is going to be a fraction of government money relatively speaking and chances are the gains will be much more than handing out 3 dollars to each of the 400 million people the other guy is bitching about.

Cheers and good luck.