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An Indian On the Moon By 2020 299

Posted by kdawson from the joining-the-club dept.
turgid writes, "The Hindustan Times reports that the Indian Space Research Organization plans to land an Indian on the Moon by 2020. First, experiments will be conducted to launch, orbit, and recover a capsule. Plans are to launch an Indian into space in 2014. Manned orbital missions will be launched, initially for a day, but eventually lasting a week or more. Expeditions to the Moon are expected to last 15 days to a month." The article doesn't estimate the cost of such a program. The US Apollo program cost about $135 billion (in 2006 dollars), according to Wikipedia.
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An Indian On the Moon By 2020 More

An Indian On the Moon By 2020

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  • First Lunar Casino (Score:5, Funny)

    by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday November 08, 2006 @05:38AM (#16764903)
    ... oh, you meant the other kind

    • Re:First Lunar Casino (Score:5, Funny)

      by eclectro ( 227083 ) on Wednesday November 08, 2006 @06:31AM (#16765237)
      ... oh, you meant the other kind

      Yea, they're gonna put a call center on the moon. Nobody will ever know.
    • The dot, not the feather...

    • Re: (Score:2, Funny)

      by Anonymous Coward
      First message from the moon.

      "hi, this is ramji. as per specification, i opened the door, then i walked down the steps, and i put my left foot on the surface. I used my right foot, and then both feet at the same time, as written into the test cases. but i can't find the lunar module back.

      please advice."

      • PLEASE HELP....URGENT!!! (Score:5, Funny)

        by 4D6963 ( 933028 ) on Wednesday November 08, 2006 @08:19AM (#16765743)

        Hi Friends,

        Request some urgent help with this matter.

        Am on moon, and I would like to know the procedure in getting back to Earth. I have been landed rocketship, how can i do. Please somebody can help me with my condition?

        Please kindly advice.

        Rashpal

        • Re: (Score:3, Funny)

          by Linker3000 ( 626634 )
          Dear Rashpal,

          Thank you for contacting the Space Administration Contact Centre. We understand you have a problem with your Earth Backup . Our Web site (www.faqinguseless.universe) contains many useful guidelines for Earth Backup. We also recommend restarting your rocketship as this cures most problems.

          We trust this automated response has covered your enquiry and so will close your case immediately in the hope you'll give up and not bother us again.

          Please take the time to click [this link] and complet
    • First Lunar Motel?

  • Americans beaten to space again (Score:5, Funny)

    by BadAnalogyGuy ( 945258 ) <BadAnalogyGuy@gmail.com> on Wednesday November 08, 2006 @05:38AM (#16764907)
    Americans haven't been to the Moon in decades. I think we could possibly recruit Indians for space travel here in the U.S., but I think they'd have reservations.
  • The article doesn't estimate the cost of such a program. The US Apollo program cost about $135 billion (in 2006 dollars), according to Wikipedia.

    Yes, but considering that, much like the elephant population, these estimates have TRIPLED IN THE LAST SIX MONTHS, I'm guessing that cost is closer to $405 billion.
    • Score:2, Interesting

      Some moderators are very gullible. Or can't read. I'm not sure which. I did think your comment was funny, though.

  • China, India, wtf??

    • Re: (Score:2, Interesting)

      by Threni ( 635302 )
      > China, India, wtf??

      India isn't outsourcing it. It would only be outsourcing if another country got them to do it. Most of the science America did was always outsourced anyway - except that the people were brought to the US to perform it there rather than doing it in their native countries.

  • It's cheaper the second time (Score:5, Insightful)

    by melonman ( 608440 ) on Wednesday November 08, 2006 @05:52AM (#16765011) Journal

    A lot of the cost of the American space program was developing technology that is now commonplace. The Indian IT team will have better equipment on day one than the US had on the day of the lunar landing, for example. India is no slouch in telecoms terms either.

    Also, there was a lot of experimentation involved in the first space exploration that doesn't need to be done again. We know how to make space suits, and, thanks mainly to the Russians, we know a lot about the effects of long-term zero-gravity trips on the human body.

    And even if America and Europe don't play ball (which is depressingly likely on past form), I'm sure the Russians will be willing to hand over as much technology as the Indians don't feel like reinventing.

    So it won't be cheap, but I'd expect it to be cheaper in real terms than the first race to the moon.

    And I'm taking as read that the Indian space program really has the same motivation as European and American space exploration, ie it's an excuse to pour lots of state funding into your high-tech industries, which gives you more competitive terrestial technology as a spin-off. In other words, this is probably more about kick-starting the Asian airliner industry than about photos of Indians eating poppadums in a crater.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by mpe ( 36238 )
      Also, there was a lot of experimentation involved in the first space exploration that doesn't need to be done again. We know how to make space suits, and, thanks mainly to the Russians, we know a lot about the effects of long-term zero-gravity trips on the human body.

      Not that a trip to the Moon (and back) involves especially long periods of zero-gravity.
      There is also a lot of existing knowlage about docking vehicles in space. Even if the Indians were to use a different approach from that of the US with re

    • ... this is probably more about kick-starting the Asian airliner industry ...

      China is already making good headway in the market for small to medium sized turboprop airliners and transports so quite frankly my money is on the Chinese in that particular race. Their aviation industry is more mature than that of India and has proven it self to be able to tackle more sophisticated projects. The same goes for the Russians. Strangely enough, while they took large chunks of the automobile and shipping markets by st

      • Developing, building and selling airliners is linked heavily to other activities, in another words companies like example Boeing and Airbus doesn't just build airlines, they are involved in much more activity. Boeing is the second largest defense contractor to US army. Airbus is subsidiary of EADS (European Aeronautic Defence and Space Company) which is a large defence and armaments company supplying many European armies. Also both Boeing and Airbus get government subsidies in a form or another. Boeing gets

    • Re: (Score:3, Interesting)

      by 1u3hr ( 530656 )
      probably more about kick-starting the Asian airliner industry

      Rocketry has more immediate applications. India's neighbours Pakistan and China are both nuclear and India has been in shooting wars with both of them not long ago. A civilian space program can give you a cover to develop lots of technology useful for the military.

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by mpe ( 36238 )
        Rocketry has more immediate applications. India's neighbours Pakistan and China are both nuclear and India has been in shooting wars with both of them not long ago. A civilian space program can give you a cover to develop lots of technology useful for the military.

        However quite a few of the things you'd need to build for a manned space program are of little use to the military. Warheads are rather more robust than humans, they also don't need to breath, drink or eat.

        • Re: (Score:2)

          by 1u3hr ( 530656 )
          However quite a few of the things you'd need to build for a manned space program are of little use to the military.

          Sure. But the boosters, guidance, etc are dual use. And satellites are vital to military intelligence.

          • Re: (Score:2)

            by 1u3hr ( 530656 )
            ctd... Analogous to nuclear power. Why doesn't anyone believe Iran just wants to build peaceful nuclear reactors? Because even if that's all they did, the infrastructure and knowhow give them a big start on building nuclear weapons.
    • And even if America and Europe don't play ball (which is depressingly likely on past form), I'm sure the Russians will be willing to hand over as much technology as the Indians don't feel like reinventing.

      You really don't keep up with current events, do you? The Russians won't hand over anything. Everything has a price when it comes from Mother Russia and nothing is free. However, I am sure that they will offer favorable terms to their Indian friends (they've been nominal allies for a very long time)
  • He was very clear about bringing them back again. The closest they get to that in this story is "The voyage to the moon will mean a mission of longer duration."
    Maybe this is a new way to help with overcrowding?
    Me, I'm just damn glad that in the unlikely event I get to go there in my lifetime (well, it won't be after) I'll be able to get a decent takeaway. Yummee.
  • NASA's planed [space.com] return to the moon is 2018. A few bad schedule slips at NASA could see Americans following Indians back to the moon. Both sides get bonus points for an Indian American on either mission.

  • Infrastructure Please? (Score:3, Informative)

    by Nabusman ( 942373 ) on Wednesday November 08, 2006 @06:16AM (#16765167)
    I've been in India for about a year now. These guys have horrible infrastructure: bad roads, horrible mass transport, not to mention spotty internet. Their education system is pathetic. Any task that involves the government (ie starting a business, importing something for use in a business) takes forever (despite all the bribes given). Yet these idiots are trying to put a man on the moon. Fix the basics first WTF are they doing? The people here are obsessed with copying America and Americans. The problem is that in 1969 America was pretty much set, there were not people killing each other in the country (Naxalites vs the Government), there was no "communist" part in power anywhere (the government right now is actually a colation government in which there is the moderate Congress Party and the leftist Communist party sharing power). In addition to all that why are they sending a person to the moon? Set up a new Hubble telescope or something. Sending someone to the moon is rather pointless, it won't achieve anything whereas a new hubble would maybe expand our knowledge of the universe.
    • We have too though. It's called MySpace.

  • Not even a remote chance that this could happen (Score:5, Informative)

    by 0Seeker0 ( 905487 ) on Wednesday November 08, 2006 @06:41AM (#16765293)
    Being an American of Indian descent who has spent time in India, I can assure you that this will never happen. India's infrastructure (electricity, roads, communications, etc.) is horrible, and the country refuses to adopt modern methods to improve its vast problems. For example, if a road needs to be build here in the US, the Dept. of Transportation (at whatever appropriate level of government) will assemble a crew of professionals that use modern road-making machinery and techniques. In India, because they wish to appease peasant laborers, only manual labor can be used. The same road that would take two weeks to build here would take over a year in India. Only the simplest of machinery would be allowed, with all the other work coming from unskilled day laborers using shovels and hand tools. The end result is a road that will only last 5 years at best, is not level and doesn't drain water, and took almost a year to build. This is the sad reality, and with the exception of the newest high-tech areas like Bangalore, this is the way projects are tackled in all of India, and it isn't going to change anytime soon. An Indian on the moon? Forget about feasability, I can't even imagine all the people that would need to be bribed to get the project off paper. EVERYTHING in India requires bribes, especially police and bureacrats.
    • This is the sad reality, and with the exception of the newest high-tech areas like Bangalore, this is the way projects are tackled in all of India, and it isn't going to change anytime soon

      They need a leader like Mahathir bin Mohamad [wikipedia.org]

    • Being an American of Indian descent who has spent time in India,

      Which, of course, makes you an expert in everything Indian, doesn't it.

      I can assure you that this will never happen.

      I suppose we'll just have to bribe our way through then, like you said; just give a huge mega offering to Chandra, the Moon God, and he might let us onto Chandralok (Moon).

      Or perhaps we could use manual labour? You know, if you stack a billion people up one by one, you can presumably reach a height of 10^9 * 160 cm.

  • Yea, there is famine occasionally in parts of india, from what i know.

    And each monsoon season, many people die due to lacking infrastructure.

    Shouldnt they better fix these first with the money rather then spending it landing a man on the moon ?
    • On the other hand - every year thousands of Americans die needlessly due to illnesses caused by smoking, alcohol, drugs, and poor nutrition (more often obesity than starvation). Shouldn't the US Government better fix these first with their money before spending on its space programme?
  • I read some of the comments
    - How the money needed to fund this project could be better used for other things like eradication of poverty, better infrastructure etc.
    - Some sly comments on corner side stores
    - etc.
    All I can say is, as a soverign country, with a govt elected by a democratic process, India is entitled to its opinion on all self sponsored projects. And for people who have not noticed, most facilities that you deem common are often byproducts of funding on defence and scientific projects.

    Sending a

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by saihung ( 19097 )
      You're right, India is a sovereign country and can do what it likes. But the rest of the world still has the right to make fun of them.
      Also, India still receives somewhere on the order of $3 billion a year in foreign aid. I guess they don't need this any more if they're sending people to the moon?
  • Isn't there a more modern motorcycle we could strap a rocket to?

  • 7/11 on the moon by 2020 (Score:3, Funny)

    by SystematicPsycho ( 456042 ) on Wednesday November 08, 2006 @07:42AM (#16765555)
    Thankyou come again.
  • So long as we get to keep the two we have in town. The last thing I want to do after 6 pints is trek all the way to the moon.

    Sorry, couldn't resist...

    The more the merrier in terms of getting people into space. The whole idea seems to have stagnated, and a bit of competition from other countries would go a *long* way to kicking off some sort of space race again. After all, the likes of Columbus didn't discover the new continents by dipping their toes in the water and then saying "well that was cool, but I
  • We didn't land on the moon, the moon landed on us!

    Y

  • An Indian on the moon by 2020 (Score:5, Funny)

    by Rogerborg ( 306625 ) on Wednesday November 08, 2006 @08:00AM (#16765643) Homepage
    All his extended family and friends by 2021.
  • I am thinking it is all paalitiks yaar. When Bush said put a man on mars in a decade, he was just cogging J F K. And our real PM Sonia Gandhi and the benami Prime Minister Manmohan Singh are just cogging Bush saying big big things to fool the junta.

    Glossary:

    yaar: Punjabi for friend.

    cogging: copying/imitating/aping. IIT Madras slang

    benami: Owning property in the name of a trusted flunky

    big big: Repeated adjectives to replace the adverb very is a common Indianism.

    junta : (the j is j not h) Hindi for

  • Orbit!

    Why dont they just team up with China who are planning a moon walker sooner? And Indian and Chinese can do it at the same time. Better yet get both nations to team up with NASA and perhaps they could do it around 2010?

    Better yet, forget about moon walks, orbits etc and team up with NASA and a host of other nations and help the human race advance as one!
  • Reminded me of the old joke of Tenzing and Hillary climbing Everest to find a Mr. Hare Ram Patel running a Quickie Mart.

    Don't mean this as a racist joke.... Indians are just fantastic entrepreneurs... :-) As someone said, "Indians are like sand, they get everywhere..."

    I remember back-packing thru Libya only to find myself eating Chicken-Tikka-Masala at the remote oasis of Jughbub. Turned out the family running the place were descendants of an Indian soldier from Ludhiana who fought the Germans (Rommel et al

  • Biggest marketing budget EVAR! (Score:3, Interesting)

    by d0n quix0te ( 304783 ) on Wednesday November 08, 2006 @09:36AM (#16766313)
    I have to admit this is a shrewd marketing move by the Indians. If this succeeds, it will put the world's eyes on the sub-continent. It will do well to further reinforce India's image as a technology leader.

    Everywhere I travel, people already speak-of India's software prowess. If this really goes forward it will establish India as a leader in aerospace, mechanical and electrical engineering... However that is a big 'if'... Not that I doubt the collective brain power in the country. Right now, the President of India is a PhD in Rocket Science (he ran the space research program at ISRO (the indian equivalent of NASA) and the Prime Minister is an economist from Cambridge. Together, you have a couple of Brainiacs in charge. This seems to be exactly the kind of things a couple of PhD's would dream about... (Reminds me of that episode of Simpsons where they put John Frink and Skinner in charge...!). Anyway, given the back stabbing that is Indian politics, such outstanding individuals at the helm should not last very long. Once they are gone, so goes the dream....

    Great, more American and European jobs to shift to Bangalore and Hyderabad!

  • chandrayaan (Score:2, Informative)

    by stilladummy ( 1024533 )
    The manned mission seems to be an extension (though a gaint leap) from the unmanned mission [wikipedia.org], which has been in the works [hinduonnet.com].

    NASA seems to be interested [hinduonnet.com] in sending their payload on the mission. Also http://www.hinduonnet.com/thehindu/thscrip/print.p l?file=2006051307181100.htm&date=2006/05/13/&prd=t h& [hinduonnet.com] Read current science article [ias.ac.in] for scientific need and international collaboration (there seem to be countries other than US, Russia, and iRaq) on unmanned mission.

    Most points on the debate (poverty

  • "One a these days, Aishwarya, on a these days....bang! zoom! - to the moon!"
  • Next think you know, the US, China, Russia, and India are going to be staking claims on the moon.
  • ... because the head of Dell's support has just been informed that all that 'lunar land' he bought from the ads in the back of the Fortean Times isn't really legal.
  • The Chinese have a similar time table, but arent pushing it too fast. They have a manned launch every 2-3 years, two so far. The US space program averaged about three per year during the sixties race and shuttle heyday.

    The reason I heard is that the Chinese central R&D program is not very large. Their space program falls under the military.

  • I can just hear it... (Score:5, Funny)

    by steevo.com ( 312621 ) on Wednesday November 08, 2006 @12:47PM (#16769805)
    "Thiruvananthapuram, we are having a problem!"

  • just a new spacerace (Score:2, Insightful)

    by Blu-Ray ( 906616 )
    (most) Americans seem totally America obsessed, there is more in this world than just the USofA

    India is ususally more concerned with local politics,
    that is they are dealing with countries like Pakistan and China

    they feel ususally threatened by China as does any other country over there, china being an expansionist power on their borders. Also they want to compete with china on equal footing. like with the nbr of people within their borders and likewise on the spacerace front..

  • I am still waiting to see "Jews in space!!!"
  • As is typical - Slashdot leaps before it reads.
     
    This isn't a plan by 'India' - it's a pipe dream (and an unfunded one at that) by the head of the Indian equivalent of NASA. Move along folks, nothing to see here.

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