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What's even more fascinating is that ISRO survived at all, through the cold war. The fact that India has a fledgling space program, despite its problems, strike
by enupten 12y ago
What's even more fascinating is that ISRO survived at all, through the cold war. The fact that India has a fledgling space program, despite its problems, strikes me as rather inspiring.
The fact that it was done cheaply stems partly from the fact that there is a factor of ~5-10 between the purchasing-power and corresponding USD value (which is why engineers in India seem to be paid lower in dollar terms).
- deleted 12y ago[deleted]
- th3iedkid 12y agoone more surprise : despite the amount of rampant corruption at top-levels in places like ISRO , its still working out excellent!
- gnurag 12y agoCitation needed, or I call BS on this.
- th3iedkid 12y agothis one on spectrum allocation to help generate revenue: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Another-spectrum-scam-hits-govt-this-time-from-ISRO/articleshow/7445139.cms http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Another-spectrum-sc...
- gnurag 12y agotell me, did you google for "isro scam" or do you actually understand spectrum pricing and antitrust laws?
- nkoren 12y agoI've done a lot of work with the Indian government, and yes it can be very corrupted. But from what my friends at ISRO have told me -- and I believe them -- it is a meritocracy of the highest order. Its consistently excellent performance over the years is further testimony to this. ISRO should be an inspiration to the rest of India.
- tubelite 12y agoThe reddit AMA by 3 young ISRO engineers just after the MOM launch was pretty good. http://www.reddit.com/r/india/comments/1ujcmo/we_are_three_isro_scientists_here_to_answer_your/ http://www.reddit.com/r/india/comments/1ujcmo/we_are_three_i... The salary they mention is IMO very competitive with software jobs, at least at the entry level (http://www.reddit.com/r/india/comments/1ujcmo/we_are_three_isro_scientists_here_to_answer_your/ceipzs5 http://www.reddit.com/r/india/comments/1ujcmo/we_are_three_i...)
- pm90 12y agoWell, kind of. Remember that these are some really smart kids. The salary mentioned in the salary is equivalent to $10,000 p.a (@exchange rate of 1$ = 60 rupess). Not a lot of money at all.
- praneshp 12y agoThat's a pretty stupid way to look at it. Compare it with salaries in India, not with USD. It's a lot of money (vs a young Software Engineer in India) if you live in a government sponsored apartment, and get other government benefits too.
- enupten 12y agoThat's the equivalent of $50000 in Purchasing Power; so it's not as bad. Although to be fair, a lot of commodities appear to cost a lot more in India, because they are tied (legally or otherwise) to the outside world (blame Indira and her kin!).
- swatkat 12y ago@enupten, Following books provide an excellent insight on ISRO's beginnings and growth. They are a superb read: "A Brief History of Rocketry in ISRO" by P V Manoranjan Rao, P Radhakrishnan "India's Rise as Space Power" by UR Rao "Wings of Fire" by Dr. A. P. J. Abdul Kalam, with Dr. Arun Tiwari
- prakashk 12y agoThanks for the recommendations. While searching for these, I found what appears to be a pretty comprehensive list of books on Indian space program here: http://forum.nasaspaceflight.com/index.php?topic=33814.0 http://forum.nasaspaceflight.com/index.php?topic=33814.0
- pjc50 12y agoIs it by any chance connected with the need to produce nuclear ballistic missiles, for basically the same reasons as the other cold war powers?
- adityab 12y agoNope. The agency that deals with missiles and such is the DRDO [1]. ISRO is a totally non-commercial, purely research-oriented organization. [1]: www.drdo.gov.in/