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India Plans to Launch Moon Mission in July
- lota-putty 7y agoIndia is very fortunate to attempt this feat* in 21st Century. 1. 1991 USSR Collapse 2. Technology today 3. NASA insufficient funding 4. Globalisation Visit public-hospital at any sub-district/Taluk or any public-school in a remote village. I mean, potential is very high but most of it is misplaced. Chandrayaan, Mangalyaan & Gaganyaan are easier today as opposed to improving public health & education.
- rockinghigh 7y ago> this feet Feat maybe?
- nilsocket 7y agowhat do you mean?
- rishav_sharan 7y agoNot sure what are you trying to say here? Do you mean that India should scrap such projects in favour of public health services?
- 0xFFFE 7y agoWhat,exactly, are you on about?
- swatkat 7y agoMoonshine.. maybe.
- oarla 7y agoThere's no evidence to prove that diverting funds to social programs instead of silly space missions will benefit the needy in the long run. Rather, investing in science and technology might solve these social problems. See response from NASA scientist to a nun for similar question. http://www.lettersofnote.com/2012/08/why-explore-space.html?m=1 http://www.lettersofnote.com/2012/08/why-explore-space.html?...
- nilsocket 7y agoISRO is also helping to launch satellite's designed by students for free. https://www.firstpost.com/tech/science/isros-new-pslv-variant-to-launch-power-student-satellites-for-free-starting-25-jan-5933331.html https://www.firstpost.com/tech/science/isros-new-pslv-varian... https://theprint.in/science/isro-to-launch-free-satellite-training-programme-for-students-from-developing-nations/72948/ https://theprint.in/science/isro-to-launch-free-satellite-tr...
- swatkat 7y agoChandrayaan-2 homepage: https://www.isro.gov.in/chandrayaan2-home https://www.isro.gov.in/chandrayaan2-home
- temptemptemp111 7y agoHaha - Right to #1 on HN... I can't believe you so-called engineers think we've ever been to the moon. Get out a piece of paper can calculate the fuel and weight of said fuel to get there. If you did it right, then it should take about a week. Wow...
- AFascistWorld 7y agoLooks like another PR move by the Modi government.
- swatkat 7y agoHow is this parent comment getting upvotes? Stop spreading false information. This mission was approved in 2008 by the then Prime Minister Manmohan Singh[0]. [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chandrayaan-2 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chandrayaan-2
- 0xFFFE 7y agoMission will be ready for launch in ~2 months time, how is this a PR move? Did you even read the article?
- vijaybritto 7y agoNo its not a move by his govt. This is a multi year effort. But you can be 100% sure that they'll project it as his victory. This is pretty common nowadays.
- Causality1 7y agoI'll be very happy if they pull this off without creating a massive cloud of orbital debris like their last "space triumph". https://www.nytimes.com/2019/04/02/world/asia/nasa-india-space-debris.html https://www.nytimes.com/2019/04/02/world/asia/nasa-india-spa...
- z3phyr 7y agoThat was the DRDO, analogous to USA DARPA. The Moon mission is from ISRO, analogous to NASA.
- Causality1 7y agoThat it was done isn't the issue. It's that nobody there acknowledged the problems it created and gave their complete approval. It doesn't bode well for their future attitude toward creating hazardous space junk.
- greglindahl 7y agoEveryone was wondering why ISRO launched the target into such an odd orbit.
- godelmachine 7y agoIMHO, DRDO cannot be equated with DARPA. DARPA tries to solve every challenge, irrespective of the field, by opening contracts to the national public and holding contests among them. The winning solution is often adopted for further enhancement.
- giis 7y agoBefore some western-media starts their well known statement like "India is a poor country and they need to focus on their healthcare, education etc before wasting money on Space projects like this". They need to examine themselves, "Have we ever said above statement when our country lobbying for multi-million/billion dollar defence deals from India?"
- tehlike 7y agohttp://www.lettersofnote.com/2012/08/why-explore-space.html?m=1 http://www.lettersofnote.com/2012/08/why-explore-space.html?... Reminds me of this letter, from Dr. Ernst Stuhlinger to a nun with similar question.
- patatino 7y agoYou could just adopt that statement to our western problems. "We should focus on depression, loneliness and providing for veterans before wasting money on space projects like this".
- sn41 7y agoI like to think: "We should focus on depression, loneliness and providing for veterans while also investing money on space projects like this".
- patatino 7y agoI also think that's the right approach.
- dvdbloc 7y agoI think you could argue we need to focus on our healthcare and education as well
- baroffoos 7y ago.
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- happy-go-lucky 7y ago> ISRO’s next priority is the $1.4 billion Gaganyaan mission, which aims to put three Indian “gaganauts” -- at least one of which will be a woman -- into orbit. According to this wiki https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Astronaut https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Astronaut, they are vyomanauts, coined from the Sanskrit word व्योमन् (vyoman meaning 'sky' or 'space'). The wiki has some interesting terminology as to what spacecraft crew members are called by different space agencies. Dryden preferred "cosmonaut", on the grounds that flights would occur in the cosmos (near space), while the "astro" prefix suggested flight to the stars. In English-speaking nations, a professional space traveler is called an astronaut. NASA applies the term astronaut to any crew member aboard NASA spacecraft bound for Earth orbit or beyond. By convention, an astronaut employed by the Russian Federal Space Agency (or its Soviet predecessor) is called a cosmonaut in English texts. The word is an anglicisation of the Russian word kosmonavt Polish uses kosmonauta and astronauta, and the two words are considered synonyms. In Chinese, Yǔ háng yuán (宇航员, "Space-universe navigating personnel") is used for astronauts and cosmonauts in general, while hángtiān yuán (航天员, "navigating outer space personnel") is used for Chinese astronauts The term taikonaut is used by some English-language news media organizations for professional space travelers from China. With the rise of space tourism, NASA and the Russian Federal Space Agency agreed to use the term "spaceflight participant" to distinguish those space travelers from professional astronauts on missions coordinated by those two agencies. and the Indian Space Research Organisation hope to launch a spacecraft in 2022 that would carry vyomanauts, coined from the Sanskrit word व्योमन् (vyoman meaning 'sky' or 'space'). In Finland, the NASA astronaut Timothy Kopra, a Finnish American, has sometimes been referred to as sisunautti, from the Finnish word sisu.
- rishav_sharan 7y agoA proper terminology would be "Vyom" + "maan" (like shaktiman - someone with shakti/power). Vyoman. almost sounds like Woman. :D Even sounds similar to "Viman" (Vee-maan) which stands for planes/flying ships in sanskrit.
- happy-go-lucky 7y ago> Vyoman. almost sounds like Woman. :D The word vyomanaut (vyo‧ma‧naut) is a portmanteau of Sanskrit vyoman (sky or space) and the suffix -naut which forms nouns meaning a voyager.
- sidcool 7y agoThis will inspire a generation of Indians. If any country can have a space program, they should. Like Elon Musk says, solving one problem after another is necessary but not sufficient. People need to feel hopeful about the future. The 1969 Moon landings have inspired a whole generation in the West. Despite of the high costs, we are still reaping its benefits. I am a huge fan of all agencies, ISRO, NASA, ESA, CNCA, Roscosmos etc.
- samrohn 7y agoThe first mission in this series Chandrayan-1(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chandrayaan-1 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chandrayaan-1) had provided more evidence of presence of water on moon https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lunar_water https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lunar_water
- tauwauwau 7y agoJust going to leave it here Quotes from anime Space Brothers Tomii Ryūnosuke: The American thinker Buckminster Fuller once called our planet "Spaceship Earth." On the other hand, British scientist James Lovelock stated that our planet was a life form named Gaia. I was always puzzled by the contrast between spaceship and life form. But the British scientist Richard Dawkins helped tie it together. Humans can be considered the Earth's genes. The planet is trying to self-replicate. That is natural behavior for a life form. Tomii Ryūnosuke: Michael Ende once compared humans to cancer cells, but I believe that humans are germ cells. However, there is the possibility that any of us could become the cancer cell that destroys Earth. Tomii Ryūnosuke: If we are truly Earth's genes, the purpose of space exploration is because mutation is necessary.
- InterestBazinga 7y agoWhy is there so much hostility against an achievement that is still pretty rare? How many countries out of all the countries can boast about their space program? Why does everything have to be so political. People are ready to take a Jab at Modi's govt at every single opportunity.
- thewhitetulip 7y agoThey are taking a jab at Indian government. They took a jab even when Modi was not in power because the "west" says "India is a poor country and should focus on food security than space program" It is pure racism? I'm not sure of the exact term. P.s. I remember such a cartoon when India had asked for some missile technology few decades ago. It is not about Modi but about general attitude of the west towards India
- hobofan 7y agoI don't think it's racism, just media-reinforced ignorance, and a disconnect that's normal with such a big geographic disconnect and a rapidly changing country.
- thewhitetulip 7y agoYes, even I was not sure if it is racism these days. But it was racism back then. These days it is just the mentality stuck in the 70s!
- briandear 7y agoHaving spent considerable time in India, I might argue that running water and sanitation might be a bigger accomplishment than landing on the moon. Much of India is profoundly poor — some of the worst absolute poverty I have ever seen anywhere on Earth. Sending rockets to space seems to be a mission of vanity and pride more than an actual benefit to the Indian people.
- thewhitetulip 7y ago
- jillesvangurp 7y agoIt's indeed "the west" that's in need of advice like this. I'd be a bit weary of neo-colonialist arguments like this as well. There's a sense of entitlement there that is increasingly at odds with the facts. I think the west might need to wake up to the notion that increasingly China, India and others are running the show according to their own agendas rather than following in the footsteps of the west. A lot of the CEOs of companies like Google, Microsoft, etc. are Indians. Lots of Indians are also active in core industries in the US and the EU. Likewise, lots of Chinese can be found across our industries at all layers and both are primary customers for our best universities. Both have the education, expertise, and economies to produce a moonshot. And neither of them is lacking in ambition. I think it's become more a question of when than if, and sooner rather than later. Either way, there's a new space race on and I think this is a good thing. We've been stuck not getting back to the moon mostly for budgetary and other non technical reasons. It's about time people go back there.
- thewhitetulip 7y agoThe "west" is busy with their political agendas. Mr Trump thinks Mars is a part of moon. And NASA isn't getting funding due to myriad reasons Countries like India take pride in space achivements and defense related ones That's why India China are shooting ahead while west is seemingly lagging behind I read somewhere that ISRO is able to launch satellites at fraction of a cost as compared to SpaceX.
- sgift 7y ago"Shooting ahead" == repeating what the west did 50 years ago. Interesting definition of shooting ahead. The west (as if that's even a coherent body for topics like this) has many problems. Being overtaken by India isn't one of them. So far it's all "we want to do this, we want to do that" - I want to be a billionaire, doesn't make me one. We'll see if they can pull it off. > I read somewhere that ISRO is able to launch satellites at fraction of a cost as compared to SpaceX. Extraordinary claims require extraordinary proof.
- thewhitetulip 7y ago
- varshithr 7y ago> Chandrayaan, which means “moon vehicle” in Sanskrit Doesn't Chandrayaan mean a journey to the moon?
- spdebbarma 7y ago"Chandra" [चन्द्र] is one of the Hindi/Sanskrit words for the Moon. Other examples are chaand and chandni. "Yaan" [यान] means vehicle/coach.
- gingabriska 7y agoChandrayatra means journey to moon.
- deleted 7y ago[deleted]
- ngkabra 7y agoThat would be Chandraayan: moon + journey/path. Chandrayaan is moon + vehicle.
- sn41 7y agoChandraayana would mean "Journey by/to the moon" as in Ramayana or Uttarayana. Chandrayaana means moon vehicle. The thing that annoys me is that ISRO uses Hindi naming convention rather than the Sanskrit. Visarga is a thing.
- bmurali3 7y agoIndia has to push on all fronts. Increasing momentum in tech advancements is especially important. Focusing only on poverty/water scarcity/culture would be narrow minded. Besides, I can't imagine how exhilarating it will be for the engineers actually working towards this. I'm sure engineers here will relate with the need to "implement it themselves" when trying to understand or build confidence in a particular area/concept. It does not matter that it has been done before. Why should it just be for acknowledgement from other countries?
- coldtea 7y ago>India has to push on all fronts. Increasing momentum in tech advancements is especially important. Focusing only on poverty/water scarcity/culture would be narrow minded. Why? There's tons to do at that level, and money can be much better invested there (with huge returns even for tech and innovation) than some me-too moon landings. You get more innovation by getting people out of poverty and into tech school, than by sending some mission on the moon with people starving...
- chauhankiran 7y agoThe space program department[1] is under prime minister authority. So, this is the obvious one. [1]. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Second_Modi_ministry https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Second_Modi_ministry
- remyanair 7y agoIndia should leave no stones unturned and should use every effort to become a nation that stands ahead in space exploration. https://www.keralaholidays.com/ https://www.keralaholidays.com/
- zaszrespawned 7y agoThis is quite valid. Kerala does have a lot of space.
- remyanair 7y agoYes Kerala is known for its natural beauty. If you plan your next vacation do consider Kerala. To know more about Kerala do visit https://www.keralaholidays.com/ https://www.keralaholidays.com/
- tibbydudeza 7y agoThe budget of ISRO (their NASA) for what they have accomplished is amazing. It is critical for India to retain the talents of own people rather let them be poached by HB1 visa's and eventually emigrating to the US.