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New Member: janet Dsouza, India
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| | Bangalore: Moon mission may lift off Oct 19 |
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| Bangalore/New Delhi, Sep 18 (IANS) Weather permitting, India's maiden moon mission, Chandrayaan-1, may lift off Oct 19 from Sriharikota in Andhra Pradesh, scientists associated with the odyssey indicated Thursday.
"The tentative date is Oct 19," they said in Bangalore after completing all the work on the cuboid-shaped 590 kg spacecraft that will carry 11 payloads.
Meanwhile, the government Thursday approved a sequel to the mission few years down the line.
"The union cabinet today gave its approval for undertaking lunar mission Chandrayaan-2 and upgrading the associated existing ground segment at a total cost of Rs.425 crores (Rs.4.25 bn)," Information and Broadcasting Minister P.R. Dasmunsi told reporters in New Delhi after a cabinet meeting chaired by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.
Chandrayaan-1 will be launched by indigenous Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) and will carry payloads of six foreign countries - the US, Britain, Germany, Sweden and Bulgaria - apart from those of India.
Scientists said that the Chadrayaan-1 spacecraft will be shipped later this month, most likely on Sep 30, to the Satish Dhawan Space Centre at Sriharikota for the launch.
"We have completed the integration of the satellite," Chandrayaan-1 director M. Annadurai told reporters at ISRO Satellite Centre in Bangalore.
Chandrayaan-1, estimated to cost nearly Rs.4 billion, will beam back digital elevation maps of the moon and its mineral concentration, as also carry out environmental studies and measure radioactivity on the lunar surface.
It will try to find the traces of atomic elements such as Radon, Uranium and Thorium. | |
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| TINKU, India |
Sep 20, 2008 |
| CONGRATULATIONS TO OUR SCIENTISTS AND THEY ARE SHOWING THE WAY TO THE MILLIONS OF HUNGRY PEOPLE AND HOMELESS PEOPLE |
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| V.Dsouza, Switzerland |
Sep 19, 2008 |
I would like to remind everyone on what happened in the 60ies with the Moon Landing Program of the US. It cost 1 Billion Dollars at that time and people thought it was too much. And, when the Astronauts came back from the moon with some pieces of moon rocks, people said, is this why we have paid 1 B$ of tax payers money?
The fact is that the whole moon landing program spawned enormous amount of high-tech industries in the US which created thousands and eventually millions of jobs. Some of the things you take today for granted were results of that program : Plastic bags to store food in the fridge, frozen prepared food, secure and cheaper material to make planes and cars etc, etc.
Many European scientists and engineers migrated to the US. The US finally established itself as the uncontested technology leader in the world. (Keep in mind that the US was nowhare close to it until and much after the world war). The U technology companies that helped in the program became world leaders. So..? was it worth 1 Billion Dollars? |
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| Arun/Oman, Oman |
Sep 19, 2008 |
| Mr. Manik, till date scientists have not found any "NEW LIFE" on the moon. |
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| S. D' Souza, Udyavar, Udupi, India |
Sep 19, 2008 |
Shenoy Maam on our moon mission
When I initially looked at the photograph from the published news article it reminded me, with a slight snigger, of my “Americans’ fake moon landing” posts on EYT last month (I would like to call it “American taxpayers mooned by the NASA”). The photograph does look like it is taken from ‘Bombay-Rava Studio’, …oops, sorry, Kantirava studio in Bangalore. However, since it’s being launched from SriHarikota I assume it is one of those GSLV/PSLV based i.e. unmanned.
I am always in for inventions and discoveries that result in the paradigm shift in our daily lives e.g. Electricity, air travel, fossil fuel, internet, wireless technology to name a few. However, I am in the splits on this one -India spending 500 Crores of tax payers’ money when there are far more important things to worry about, such as basic infrastructure -food, water, roads etc, hence I am not too sure if it makes proper justice to a person in India who goes to bed without food in the night when the government spends a huge chuck of its annual budget on such risky programs. I am more inclined towards Mr. Kamath’s stand.
In my opinion such risky, uncharted space research programs should be privately funded by big companies in return for a portion of the equity (I am not too sure if it’s already being the case).
By the way, Chris has brought up a very interesting topic of human genome project. There is a huge hue and cry over this Embryonic Stem cell research project in the West (when I say West, my globe starts from Asia, not from Australia). Believers in the west (Christians predominantly) want the project banned where as the scientific community want this research encouraged and funded. Protesters say that using embryonic cells from the early stages of the foetus for scientific research is unethical -they compare it to killing a human being, however there is a growing debate as to at what point in time after fertilization does life come into existence in the womb. Scientists say it’s not until 6 weeks (I could be wrong) where as the protesters say it starts from day one. It’s a very tough call really, even for an enlightened soul in this world to answer that question.
On the benefits side of the project, we have excellent opportunities in the field of medicine and health. As you might be aware these embryonic cells are so special and a biological marvel in the sense that the same cells can transform into any part of our body, including human brain, kidneys, liver, heart etc so there are tremendous opportunities to find cure for many incurable illnesses we have today such as Alzheimer’s disease, cancer, liver diseases etc. Embryonic cells can grow back a faulty part of the brain for example, which when considering today’s technology is almost a miracle.
My overall inference is that gap between science and religion is diminishing.
PS. It’s good to see you back in EYT. It wasn’t the same in the past one month or so without you. ;-) |
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| Manik, India |
Sep 19, 2008 |
| Can v send Bajrangis to the moon? |
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| rmn, UK |
Sep 19, 2008 |
| I want to reply to shenoy to say that this launch is carrying 12 paid loads half of them of foreign countres including to two from Nasa. so you can imagine effect this will have on space outsourcing to india and could be ponttential earner for india. also the main task of this experiment is to fin He-3 and possibility to transport it to earth. india wants to use it to fuel nuclear plants. |
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| kamath, India |
Sep 19, 2008 |
It is not being naive about science, i feel that India has much bigger problems to tackle than to focus on the moon.
I agree on people saying that this programme would bring benefits on the Technology front, but the question is will it help the poor and homeless?
Why are we comparing ourselves against what other countries are doing? The same other countries do not have millions of hungry and homeless people who are dying each day like in India. the other country people are better protected against poverty. And their govt has better rules in place.
Let us for once step into a hungry and poor person's shoes ... All he is bothered about is how to stay alive and how to get his next morsel.. he cares a damn whether someone has gone to the moon or not ....and India has millions of people like them.. so why not use this money in probably creating projects which would generate more jobs for such people?
Before comparing to other countries, we should first see what is the state of our country and deal with issues of much high priority than wasting money on such projects. |
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| VIPUL, India |
Sep 19, 2008 |
| CONGRATS TO OUR SCIENTISTS. IT WILL BE BIG ACHIEVEMENT FOR INDIA IF ALL GOES AS PLANNED. PEOPLE WHO SAID THAT ITS A WASTE OF MONEY ARE PEOPLE WHO DON'T KNOW ABOUT SCIENCE. THEY JUST SEE HOW MONEY GOES BUT THEY DON'T KNOW HOW IT WILL BRING BENEFITS IN TECHNOLOGICAL FRONT. 500 CRORES IS NOT A BIG AMOUNT FOR COUNTRY LIKE INDIA. JUST SEE HOW MUCH OTHER COUNTRIES SPENDING IN SPACE SCIENCE..COMPARE TO THEM WE ARE SPENDING NOTHING. |
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| Shenoy, India |
Sep 19, 2008 |
Even though I tend to think like Kamath maam, I am not sure if the adventure is a total waste. There is a high probability that it will go waste. It is true that others have already done it. So why try reinventing the wheel?
Science is always fascinating and evolving. Who knows? Our scientists may make some land mark observations which others may not have done before. An experiment is done so many times before one gets it right. One can get it wrong 700 times in the process. In other words we also learn how not to do it as well.
Five hundred crores can help improve the infrastructur. True. It is a small amount for a large country. It may be a huge amount for an individual.
I wonder what will be the view of scientists like Dr Abdul Kalaam in this matter.
Any views Chris Rego, Nitsua Qatar, Souzam from Udyavar? |
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| kamath, India |
Sep 19, 2008 |
There goes 500 crores of public money into waste.
Do we consider a a huge technology step if Chandraayaan is a success? who is going to benefit by reaching the moon? Is it just a competition with other countries who have already done it?
Instead dont u think if India tries to eradicate poverty, it will indeed be a huge step for mankind? Imagine what impact would 500 crores make for the poor and homeless?
It is really a shame, we are spending so much money just to show other countries, that even we can reach the moon. |
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| mkmanohar, Saudi Arabia |
Sep 19, 2008 |
| Congratulations to ISRO and all its Scientists and Engineers and wish you all success in your endeavour to reach the moon and beyond. |
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| Harshil Shukla, India |
Sep 19, 2008 |
| If Chandrayaan-1 successed then this will be a huge lap in technology and also opens doors for our next generation scientist. We hope that this must be a big success. And also this project will create a good impact on other countries which are thinking that India is not so good ahead in technology. |
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