4 ms·

what about educating children in the vast slums of Mumbai... what about water supply to the villages afflicted with famine..

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lukevdp 14y ago
They're not mutually exclusive
PakG1 14y ago
Discussion done here: http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=4372563 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=4372563
- rikacomet 14y ago
  thanks a lot !
ankitaggarwal 14y ago
Launching such missions does not mean that other areas are being ignored. Stop comparing two completely different things. I am still skeptical about a successful Mars mission, but it will be good if we all be more positive about it.
EliRivers 14y ago
Where do you choose to draw the line in such cases? Every country makes this choice. Every country does some expensive things instead of spending that money on the poorest members of its society. If one advocates anything other than complete equality of living standards, sending a mission to mars whilst the poor go hungry is just a question of degree.
kamaal 14y ago
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mangalyaan http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mangalyaan The project cost is around 454 crore or what you could save by preventing a minor scam in our country. The way I see, this is chicken feed for a project of this importance.
kryptiskt 14y ago
And then you have a problem with unemployed aerospace engineers instead. Building a scientific and technological base in order to develop the country by necessity involves spending money on scientific and technological projects.
octotoad 14y ago
Yeah. The US sorted out all THEIR problems, like poverty and civil rights before they started building all those spaceshi...uhmm, wait...
- jswinghammer 14y ago
  The US was far richer than India is now when the space program began.
  - arjun88 14y ago
    But that was a different time, you can't compare India and US, Problems were different back then (mostly technical), and would it be even feasible to wait for becoming reach and developed before developing tech today? Actually spending to be a front runner in tech like this is not an expenditure, It's a well thought investment. Which i am sure will prove to be a good one, with long term returns.
InclinedPlane 14y ago
There will always be some excuse to avoid exploring, avoid scientific research, avoid creating art. There will always be a hungry mouth to feed, a diseased body to cure, a cold and lonely person with no home. And it makes sense to put a lot of resources toward such things. But it doesn't make sense to be consumed by them. To stop advancing, stop exploring, stop learning, stop growing, stop having fun, etc. India will only be spending something like 0.04% of its annual national budget on this Mars mission. That seems like a small price to pay for the benefits to national morale and inspiration it's likely to bring.

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lukevdp 14y ago

They're not mutually exclusive

PakG1 14y ago

Discussion done here: http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=4372563 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=4372563

rikacomet 14y ago
thanks a lot !

ankitaggarwal 14y ago

Launching such missions does not mean that other areas are being ignored. Stop comparing two completely different things. I am still skeptical about a successful Mars mission, but it will be good if we all be more positive about it.

EliRivers 14y ago

Where do you choose to draw the line in such cases? Every country makes this choice. Every country does some expensive things instead of spending that money on the poorest members of its society. If one advocates anything other than complete equality of living standards, sending a mission to mars whilst the poor go hungry is just a question of degree.

kamaal 14y ago

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mangalyaan http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mangalyaan The project cost is around 454 crore or what you could save by preventing a minor scam in our country. The way I see, this is chicken feed for a project of this importance.

kryptiskt 14y ago

And then you have a problem with unemployed aerospace engineers instead. Building a scientific and technological base in order to develop the country by necessity involves spending money on scientific and technological projects.

octotoad 14y ago

Yeah. The US sorted out all THEIR problems, like poverty and civil rights before they started building all those spaceshi...uhmm, wait...

jswinghammer 14y ago
The US was far richer than India is now when the space program began.
- arjun88 14y ago
  But that was a different time, you can't compare India and US, Problems were different back then (mostly technical), and would it be even feasible to wait for becoming reach and developed before developing tech today? Actually spending to be a front runner in tech like this is not an expenditure, It's a well thought investment. Which i am sure will prove to be a good one, with long term returns.

InclinedPlane 14y ago

There will always be some excuse to avoid exploring, avoid scientific research, avoid creating art. There will always be a hungry mouth to feed, a diseased body to cure, a cold and lonely person with no home. And it makes sense to put a lot of resources toward such things. But it doesn't make sense to be consumed by them. To stop advancing, stop exploring, stop learning, stop growing, stop having fun, etc. India will only be spending something like 0.04% of its annual national budget on this Mars mission. That seems like a small price to pay for the benefits to national morale and inspiration it's likely to bring.