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Strangely, I'm not seeing a wide enough condemnation of this. Another country is building destructive weapons, bringing down LEOs; how is this a good thing? All

Strangely, I'm not seeing a wide enough condemnation of this. Another country is building destructive weapons, bringing down LEOs; how is this a good thing? All the while the region suffers from chronic poverty, poor access to clean water and basic services. Sending a science mission to space is great and rightly lauded, this is wasteful and energies spent better elsewhere.

FreedomToCreate 8y ago
Advancing your countries technological capability and dealing with one of the largest populations living in poverty are two separate endeavors. Expecting a country to abandon growth in one sector to improve another is not really sensible. Both challenges are being tackled simultaneously. The US conducted Apollo and the Mars missions, spending billions while people in Skid Row or Detroit live in 3rd world level poverty.
gnarmis 8y ago
This is a common argument (bordering on memetic and cached) and well, the budget for ISRO is about 170M USD, rounding up and considering steady increases lately. That 1:9 compared to recent outlay for just healthcare in the budget, after some basic googling. And strategically, India’s historically wanted increased self-sufficiency after the colonial era, and you need deterrence and military power to protect your own interests. So, it seems to just follow from basic needs and doesn’t seem to be out of whack. ISRO handles a ton of commercial launches too, and space industry is growing more and more — makes economic sense to continue to compete and iterate.
sbmthakur 8y ago
> Strangely, I'm not seeing a wide enough condemnation of this. Another country is building destructive weapons, bringing down LEOs; how is this a good thing? I've seen some criticism from certain individuals. However, I haven't read any condemnation from any Western government(as yet). I'm not sure but Western governments(or at least the US government) was probably taken into confidence either before the event or soon after the test. Considering that China already has this tech, it becomes paramount for India to have it. I think this is generally supported by the US(the government) as well. > All the while the region suffers from chronic poverty, poor access to clean water and basic services. Developing such such security apparatus doesn't mean we are ignoring poverty and other essential things. Both can be done simultaneously, just like the US did(explained by a sibling comment).
i2shar 8y ago
So you mean US shouldn't spend a dime on technology before the last homeless person in SF is rehabilitated?
yumraj 8y ago
Once you see it in the context of protecting your country from hostile and belligerent neighbors, you will realize that it is not at all wasteful, rather is absolutely necessary.
nashadelic 8y ago
Here it is: “India anti-satellite missile test a 'terrible thing,' NASA chief says” https://www.cnn.com/2019/04/02/india/nasa-india-anti-missile-test-intl/index.html https://www.cnn.com/2019/04/02/india/nasa-india-anti-missile...

FreedomToCreate 8y ago

Advancing your countries technological capability and dealing with one of the largest populations living in poverty are two separate endeavors. Expecting a country to abandon growth in one sector to improve another is not really sensible. Both challenges are being tackled simultaneously. The US conducted Apollo and the Mars missions, spending billions while people in Skid Row or Detroit live in 3rd world level poverty.

gnarmis 8y ago

This is a common argument (bordering on memetic and cached) and well, the budget for ISRO is about 170M USD, rounding up and considering steady increases lately. That 1:9 compared to recent outlay for just healthcare in the budget, after some basic googling. And strategically, India’s historically wanted increased self-sufficiency after the colonial era, and you need deterrence and military power to protect your own interests. So, it seems to just follow from basic needs and doesn’t seem to be out of whack. ISRO handles a ton of commercial launches too, and space industry is growing more and more — makes economic sense to continue to compete and iterate.

sbmthakur 8y ago

> Strangely, I'm not seeing a wide enough condemnation of this. Another country is building destructive weapons, bringing down LEOs; how is this a good thing? I've seen some criticism from certain individuals. However, I haven't read any condemnation from any Western government(as yet). I'm not sure but Western governments(or at least the US government) was probably taken into confidence either before the event or soon after the test. Considering that China already has this tech, it becomes paramount for India to have it. I think this is generally supported by the US(the government) as well. > All the while the region suffers from chronic poverty, poor access to clean water and basic services. Developing such such security apparatus doesn't mean we are ignoring poverty and other essential things. Both can be done simultaneously, just like the US did(explained by a sibling comment).

i2shar 8y ago

So you mean US shouldn't spend a dime on technology before the last homeless person in SF is rehabilitated?

yumraj 8y ago

Once you see it in the context of protecting your country from hostile and belligerent neighbors, you will realize that it is not at all wasteful, rather is absolutely necessary.

nashadelic 8y ago

Here it is: “India anti-satellite missile test a 'terrible thing,' NASA chief says” https://www.cnn.com/2019/04/02/india/nasa-india-anti-missile-test-intl/index.html https://www.cnn.com/2019/04/02/india/nasa-india-anti-missile...