Indian Manned Space Mission
India wants to put a man on the moon. It is an ambitious project that will push the country’s technology and scientific think tanks to their limits and beyond. Above all, it is a tremendous financial commitment that the country can ill-afford.
The US put a man on the moon- but to put it in context, it was an all out penis waving competition between the Russians and the Americans. The Russians were the first to put man into outer space. JFK, one of the more prominent penises of the century (literally) retaliated with his goal of "landing a man on the moon and returning him safely to the Earth". This “mine is bigger than yours” competition was the backbone of the Cold War, the Arms Race, and the Star Wars (Strategic Defense Initiative) program.
A country of over a billion people with a major proportion of those living on under a dollar a day can ill afford a program that will have a limited contribution to scientific know-how. The lunar mission is a hole in space that we would be putting taxpayers’ money into. The money spent on the program could bet better utilized building systems that won’t crash into the sea because of a motor malfunction. even the "ambitious" LCA project went far beyond predicted cost and time allotments- what could be in store with this "ambitious" project?
I don’t intend to belittle our space program- it has over the years revolutionized Telecommunications and Remote Sensing (spying). But to join a “mine is as big as yours” chorus 51 years after the first man walked on the moon is stupid enthusiasm. The country has under-funded healthcare, social security and defence budgets. The money that would be put into that hole in space would be better invested in revenue generating telecommunications satellites or dismantling an SU 30 and learning to build it at home.
The US put a man on the moon- but to put it in context, it was an all out penis waving competition between the Russians and the Americans. The Russians were the first to put man into outer space. JFK, one of the more prominent penises of the century (literally) retaliated with his goal of "landing a man on the moon and returning him safely to the Earth". This “mine is bigger than yours” competition was the backbone of the Cold War, the Arms Race, and the Star Wars (Strategic Defense Initiative) program.
A country of over a billion people with a major proportion of those living on under a dollar a day can ill afford a program that will have a limited contribution to scientific know-how. The lunar mission is a hole in space that we would be putting taxpayers’ money into. The money spent on the program could bet better utilized building systems that won’t crash into the sea because of a motor malfunction. even the "ambitious" LCA project went far beyond predicted cost and time allotments- what could be in store with this "ambitious" project?
I don’t intend to belittle our space program- it has over the years revolutionized Telecommunications and Remote Sensing (spying). But to join a “mine is as big as yours” chorus 51 years after the first man walked on the moon is stupid enthusiasm. The country has under-funded healthcare, social security and defence budgets. The money that would be put into that hole in space would be better invested in revenue generating telecommunications satellites or dismantling an SU 30 and learning to build it at home.
posted by Ajit Nathaniel at 8:22 AM
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