Indian Satellite Lost in Launch Explosion 208
An anonymous reader writes "BBC News is reporting that the recent communications satellite launch in India has met with disaster. The satellite, designed to enhance India's telephone and communications network, was lost when the rocket carrying it veered off course and exploded. This is the second disappointment in recent launch attempts, coming just one day after the failed long-range ballistic missile test launch."
It isn't as easy as it looks... (Score:5, Insightful)
Certainly, the ESA and NASA have something to be proud of when they actually manage to get stuff into orbit
-Erwos
Props to India for trying (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:disappointment? (Score:4, Insightful)
From the Article:
"It came a day after a test-fire of India's longest-range nuclear-capable ballistic missile ended in failure."
Yep, it didnt get much press, guess no one cared since it was a "friendly" country testing this time.
Re:well (Wrong) (Score:5, Insightful)
Nasa is looking to outsource even more! [msn.com]
The article title made me laugh in light of your comment. [fcw.com]
Like almost every other branch of the government, NASA does outsource. They contract out the building of almost any sort of vehicle out to private companies who are all competing for it.
Now if you think I'm just picking apart your statement for fun, you're only half right, look at this:
[indiadaily.com]
In light of this article, scary.
Re:It isn't as easy as it looks... (Score:3, Insightful)
It certainly isn't as easy as it looks but it's certainly cheaper (and hence easier in this case) than it costs. The Nazis under Hitler were producing V2 rockets at the rate of about 800/month which cost orders of magnitude lower [about $13,000 / rocket after the first 5000 according to the article linked below] than current rockets back in the 1940s and which could reach low Earth orbit. Modern rockets are definitely better equipped, but still the costs for unmanned rocketry can be brought down a LOT if more launches were made and the error margin was allowed to be lowered a bit.
(Granted, this commentry is about launchers that put payload in low Earth orbits, and the Indian rocket was likely one which put payload in a GTO. The point still is valid.)
John Walker has a good article [fourmilab.ch] about this.
Re:disappointment? (Score:2, Insightful)
Some animals are more equal than others.
Re:It isn't as easy as it looks... (Score:5, Insightful)
And that was just a single stage sounding rocket too; not even in the same category as an orbital flight.
P.S. I'd have started this post with "you might even say 'it IS rocket science" but another poster took that joke already...
Re:well (Score:5, Insightful)
"India's six remote-sensing satellites - the largest such constellation in the world. These monitor the country's land and coastal waters so that scientists can advise rural communities on the location of aquifers and where to find watercourses, suggest to fishermen when to set sail for the best catch, and warn coastal communities of imminent storms (see "Eyes in the sky"). India's seven communication satellites, the biggest civilian system in the Asia-Pacific region, now reach some of the remotest corners of the country, providing television coverage to 90 per cent of the population. The system is also being used to extend remote healthcare services and education to the rural poor."
Or this about PSLV [wikipedia.org]
"It was developed to allow India to launch its Indian Remote Sensing (IRS) satellites into sun synchronous orbits, a service that was, until the advent of the PSLV, commercially viable only from Russia"
Re:India keep wasting money in pissing contests (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:well (Score:5, Insightful)
This is what keeps me coming back to
Your post was:
concise, informative, not insulting/derogatory, and directly addressed the point.
I heartily give you A+ since I have no mod points to give.
Re:You know, there are protocols. (Score:1, Insightful)
don't worry, we're still a developing country (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:Indian Astronauts (Score:5, Insightful)
It is a non-event because ... (Score:2, Insightful)
1) India is a sovereign country. Enough said.
2) India lets all its neighbours know of the missile tests in advance.
3) India is a democracy, unlike its neighburs. Enough said.
4) India has a no-first use policy as far as Nukular Weapons are concerned.
5) India has enough (internal) things to worry about. "War on Terror" anyone?
You know, for all the high IQs around here, I am disappointed.
Re:disappointment? (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:well (Score:5, Insightful)
The Loss of Mars Observer [msss.com]. Oops.
Whatever Happened to the Mars Polar Lander? [space.com] Double Oops.
NASA's metric confusion caused Mars orbiter loss [cnn.com]. Durh...
Space exploration -- even just putting stuff into orbit -- is a risky proposition at the best of times. Any agency pushing the envelope of what they've done before is bound to have some failures, but this is sometimes the price you pay for eventual success.
Re:Stop crying. (Score:1, Insightful)
so what is this doing on slashdot?
http://politics.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=05/07
Please don't make stupid excuses.
Also, I am sure, 9/11 and Madrid and many other blast were on Slashdot... I just don't want to waste time finding the links to state the obvious.
SO who should stop crying now?
Re:Mumbai (Score:1, Insightful)
When taken over one month period, that is about the same lethality as you can expect from car traffic.
Don't overhype the effects of terrorism. That is what the terrorists are after. By overhyping it, you are only helping them.