Before 1400s it seems almost impossible for Europeans to venture anywhere out of the Mediterranean sea. Within 200 years they had colonies in the Americas, Asia & Africa due to technological advances in navigation. Poverty & famines still existed in Europe at this time. The exploration was due to a race to exploit the riches of the unexplored world. The wealth was channeled back to Europe and today we do not see any poverty in the European countries involved in the early exploration. The current race is also about the same thing but on a different dimension. Development is about having a holistic view - all sectors need development and will be developed. The immediate spin off would be the multitude of research organizations that would want to pay ISRO to have a ride to the moon %u2013 this would enable a space related outsourcing industry to flourish producing jobs for the numerous unemployed people. The long term buy back would be mineral mining rights. Though we now have global agreements not to commercially exploit space, these ratifications are as good as the Treaty of Tordesillas between Portugal and Spain which was soon made defunct by the entry of England and Dutch into the exploration race. It would be within our best interest to see that the mineral rich South Pole area of the moon to be made a Union Territory of India within 30 years.
ISRO must focus on developing powerful booster rockets which could carry as much as five tons space orbiter which could go around the moon. One does not know how powerful is the best in the ISRO stable. I presume the GSLV is the most powerful one but that is so, I do not think it would be sufficient for the moon exploration project. Liquid propulsion in powerful booster rockets is an important focus for ISRO and I fervently hope they manage to develop one soon. S Rajendran
Congratulations to our scientists and government. I feel very proud to be an Indian. There are people with tunneled vision all the time. When India first her launched satellites there were lot of people crying about it. They said the same thing, "Its not in the interest of the poor people." Now all those people are comfortably sitting and watching satellite channels and crying about India's moon mission. Lot of people protested after India's nuclear experiment. But when Pakistan did the samething everyone agreed that what India did was right. So in short, there are some people out there to protest for anything because thats all they can do. They cant bring anything good for our country but just moaning and crying.
Guys why we are so happy about these projects. The fact is that we are 50 years behind USA and these so called new projects are so outdated and of no use.
RE:Chandrayaan-2
by Vincent Morris on Feb 05, 2007 05:15 PM Permalink
Not true. In the exploration of Helium-3 on the moon, we are No.2 in the world - just 1 year behind China. After China's and India's minerology missions to the moon, Japan, USA, and Europe are following in our footsteps to make a mineral map of the moon for He-3.
Remember guys, this new space race is for our survival (basic energy production) and not for the cold war as it was in the 1960s.
RE:RE:Chandrayaan-2
by saif kashmiri on Feb 05, 2007 09:44 PM Permalink
don't shoot out your mouth about that we are no2.anyway if moon mission is successfully implemented it will be a great movement for all of indians
When ever our scientist do something great, why are you crying about these starving..starving..? What you guys want the scientists do to stop starving? Do they need to explore most advanced CHAPPATHI %u2013 DAL CURRY or IDDALI VADAS? Stop yelling nonsense and do your duty. It is the job of those whom, you voted in election to do something for common public or poor people. There is a huge amount of energy source in moon. In next generation that is the source which will provide the energy needs of earth. So more than an exploration that is the necessity of India%u2019s future. If somebody sincerely want to stop anybody%u2019s starving go there and do something yourself. If you can%u2019t do it, then, nobody can%u2019t. That is it.
RE:What are you guys are expecting from a scientist?
by saif kashmiri on Feb 05, 2007 09:46 PM Permalink
well said .we need to have technology to complete with developed countries and secure our future
Chandrayaan missions have a vision for solving India's energy demands in the near future. The missions map the abundance of Helium-3 on the moon. He-3 is the best candidate for fusion power. India's growing economy needs energy and it cannot rely on fossil fuels, which are already on the brink of running out. What will you do when the fuels run out eh? Go back to the stone age?
We should be congratulating our scientists for having such a great vision for saving our country from sure economic meltdown.
To hell with these scientists. they waste most of the time in writing papers, stupid documentation and getting more degrees, awards etc than doing any useful work. i will be proud of them if whatever they do is useful to the poor fellow beings. these kind of projects will help only these guys. not to the public.
RE:To hell with these scientists
by suhas natyan on Feb 05, 2007 05:50 PM Permalink
Dear Mr. Krishna, By reading your views it seems that you are DEPRESSED person and may have some lack of knowledge. DO YOU KNOW HOW A COUNTRY PROGRESS, HOW ITS POOR PEOPLE GET THEIR FOOD??? WHY WE HAD A GLORIOUS PAST?? OK so please allow me to tell how a country progress in brief. People of a country progress if a country is progressing in research which can be in any field science, arts, technology, religion, spiritualism and lot of other things and ofcourse agriculture too. Who made England, France, USA, Germany and other countries so big. Well when all of its people work together and it progress in each and every field then a country has a golden future. I want to write a lot but the space and time is less. May be you use lot of things that we IMPORT in some way or other(Check them) and they are made by the scientists of other countries and we pay a lot for them. If we make all things of our own and other countries BUY them then we will have a good time. MY DEAR THEY ARE SCIENTIST NOT POLITICIANS, please congratulate and encourage them and sorry if i hurt your feelings.
RE:To hell with these scientists
by on Feb 05, 2007 04:49 PM Permalink
Mr Krishna you have beautiful name,derived from the great epic Mahabharth. A country cannot live on its past glory allow the hard working scientist of our country to carve greater glory to the nation which has given such great epic like Mahabhath and Ramayan. Post script about wiping out poverty, there are people like you who should volunteer your service in kind and sweat for upliftment of poor fellow beings Ravi Shankar
RE:To hell with these scientists
by Vincent Morris on Feb 05, 2007 03:50 PM Permalink
Do not talk without reading the facts. Chandrayaan missions have a vision for solving India's energy demands in the near future. The missions map the abundance of Helium-3 on the moon. He-3 is the best candidate for fusion power. India's growing economy needs energy and it cannot rely on fossil fuels, which are already on the brink of running out. What will you do when the fuels run out eh? Go back to the stone age?
We should be congratulating our scientists for having such a great vision for saving our country from sure economic meltdown.
RE:To hell with these scientists
by hrisheekesh kanakathidathil on Feb 05, 2007 07:59 PM Permalink
when sir vikram sarabhai launched first isro mission several people did ask y a bullock carting nation needs satelites?? looking back now we can really see how shortsighted such a question was.the fact is that it requires vision to foresee what these things can do.now india is not only launching the satelite on its own but also launches the satelite of othercountries. Regarding the criticism of 50 year old technology do understand that launching such a huge thing (worth several elephants weights)is no childrens game and nobody is going to give you the technology and it is never reinventing the wheel.even if you are reinventing the wheel it is your own wheel, made for you only and for your strategic interest. when somebody says that we need to allevioate poverty first and only after that shud we enter into these things forget the fact that by that time we will be very far behind.The real concern should not be whether there should be satelite technology or not but how well we should spend our resources.people who shout poverty of india are nothing short of a cynic
Ok. we reach the moon. after that? we can certainly invest in good projects. not fancy ones. build bigger and better satellites. it will be useful. what will one get if we go to the moon? except that some so-called scientists pat themselves and get recognition. These kind of expeditions like chandrayaan, human cloning(CCMB) etc should be treated as fancy projects devised by few scientists who are doing them for their own fame and benifits and wasting public money. The money can be spent on poor people who don't even have shelter. we are employees who are paying taxes and we demand that our hard earned money should not be wasted for the interests of these selfish people.
RE:whats th use?
by Vincent Morris on Feb 05, 2007 03:45 PM Permalink
Obviously you have a very restricted tunnel vision. Exploration of new frontiers open up new riches that will benefit every human, including your common man.
Ever wondered what you will do when we run out of fossil fuels? The moon is rich in Helium-3, which will power the new generation of fusion reactors, which will supply India's power demands.
