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So we should drop everything and focus on that alone? We are also struggling with a massive brain drain. Such missions are going to inspire an entire generatio

So we should drop everything and focus on that alone? We are also struggling with a massive brain drain. Such missions are going to inspire an entire generation and maybe create a sense of satisfaction and achievement. I, for one, do not doubt the importance of those in nation building. Extrapolating from the words of Dr N D Tyson, the total spending on such space missions is not as high as we may think it is. India's GDP is good enough to not look at a space mission with a jaundiced eye.

kranner 14y ago
> drop everything and focus on that alone? Strawman. I'm not suggesting dropping everything. I'm only opining that a mission to Mars should be of lower priority than fulfilling basic infrastructure needs, which may be a source of satisfaction to a larger chunk of the population than the much smaller elite that can actually understand what a mission to Mars is all about.
- biggfoot 14y ago
  Fair enough. You have a valid point. Do consider then, that the projected cost of this space mission IS far lesser than what India spends on lot of the basic infrastructural needs that you point out are missing. They are missing, yes, but if you only look at present day snapshot it won't give you the entire story. However marginal it might seem, especially to a first-world citizen (I mean no sarcasm when I say this) education is getting better every year, employment is on an average getting better. Agricultural outputs are worrying but we have had massive monsoon shortages of late. Almost everywhere the situation is made worse by corruption at every level. But we can't stop trying to fix things. As someone else points out on this thread, in the grand scheme of things this is an insignificant cost. FWIW some really intelligent high-school students might just decide their future based on news of such missions.
- vidarh 14y ago
  Maybe. But consider the cost here is comparable to building anything up to at most a few tens of miles of decent quality highway. It's a tiny investment to start with. And this money does not magically dissipate - a lot of it effectively functions as subsidies to create high-tech jobs in the country, and a decent chunk of it will find its way back into government coffers as tax. Demonstrating the ability to send probes to Mars could also do wonders for Indian companies that wants to compete for international satellite launch business, for example. It could be a waste, but it could also very well turn out to have a good enough ROI to increase the amount of cash available for basic infrastructure needs.
  - option_greek 14y ago
    Good point. I don't understand the anti space exploration crowd's argument of putting poverty before space. It's not like they are bundling 80 million dollars into a hollow spaceship and dumping it off on mars.

kranner 14y ago

> drop everything and focus on that alone? Strawman. I'm not suggesting dropping everything. I'm only opining that a mission to Mars should be of lower priority than fulfilling basic infrastructure needs, which may be a source of satisfaction to a larger chunk of the population than the much smaller elite that can actually understand what a mission to Mars is all about.

biggfoot 14y ago
Fair enough. You have a valid point. Do consider then, that the projected cost of this space mission IS far lesser than what India spends on lot of the basic infrastructural needs that you point out are missing. They are missing, yes, but if you only look at present day snapshot it won't give you the entire story. However marginal it might seem, especially to a first-world citizen (I mean no sarcasm when I say this) education is getting better every year, employment is on an average getting better. Agricultural outputs are worrying but we have had massive monsoon shortages of late. Almost everywhere the situation is made worse by corruption at every level. But we can't stop trying to fix things. As someone else points out on this thread, in the grand scheme of things this is an insignificant cost. FWIW some really intelligent high-school students might just decide their future based on news of such missions.
vidarh 14y ago
Maybe. But consider the cost here is comparable to building anything up to at most a few tens of miles of decent quality highway. It's a tiny investment to start with. And this money does not magically dissipate - a lot of it effectively functions as subsidies to create high-tech jobs in the country, and a decent chunk of it will find its way back into government coffers as tax. Demonstrating the ability to send probes to Mars could also do wonders for Indian companies that wants to compete for international satellite launch business, for example. It could be a waste, but it could also very well turn out to have a good enough ROI to increase the amount of cash available for basic infrastructure needs.
- option_greek 14y ago
  Good point. I don't understand the anti space exploration crowd's argument of putting poverty before space. It's not like they are bundling 80 million dollars into a hollow spaceship and dumping it off on mars.