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| India debates manned space flight as its lunar mission readies | ||
| 2004-11-21 | ||
| India's space agency is ready to send a man to space within seven years if the government gives the nod, while preparations have already begun for the launch of an unmanned lunar mission, a top official said. Madhavan Nair, chairman of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), the country's premier space agency, said the scientific community in the country had already started a debate on the manned mission. "The question of a manned mission is glaring before us now," Nair told AFP ahead of a lunar conference which kicks off in the northern Indian city of Udaipur on Monday. "The thought process has begun and various agencies have come up with ideas. Whether it is now or later is a question to be considered," Nair said. "We have not taken it up to the government level yet. But if we are asked to ... and are given adequate funding, we can achieve it in six to seven years from today," he said. India sent its first astronaut, Rakesh Sharma, aboard Soviet spacecraft Salyut 7 in April 1984 while another astronaut, Kalpana Chawla, was killed along with six others in the Columbia shuttle disaster in February last year. Nair said "a lot of debate" had to take place in India before a final decision is taken on a manned space flight. "The benefits and the costs involved have to be examined. Various facilities and equipment such as a space capsule for human habitation, shielding, control and safety features have to be built—a large amount of funding is required," he said. India's unmanned lunar flight, Chandrayaan (Moon Journey), slated to launch by the end of 2007 or early 2008, was on schedule, Nair said. "The design work for Chandrayaan has been completed and we are in the phase of implementing various types of prototypes," he said. "Building instruments and calibrating them to match exact conditions on the moon is a big challenge. "We do not expect any difficulty with respect to the spacecraft and launch vehicle. The acquisition of land for deep space exploration has also been completed. Things are progressing well for the targetted launch latest by early 2008," he said. The mission, to place a 525 kilogram orbiter using an indigenously-built polar satellite launch vehicle, is slated to cost the agency 83 million dollars. The satellite will go around the polar orbit about 100 kilometers above the moon. Critics have slammed the mission saying it is outdated and the organisation was wasting its money from a limited budget of 25 billion rupees (543 million dollars) allotted by the government. They say cash-strapped India should not undertake the mission but instead restrict its space programmes to satellite launches and use its funds for social welfare.
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| Posted by:Steve White |
| #12 Frank, Merlin? Is that the dude with a funny hat, that pulled rabits out of it? That depends how you regard time. Some physicists claim time is not. In that case there is no difference between events in the past, present and future, it is only our focus that chains them in the order that suits best to our makeup. In other words, he may be in a state that would be very close to the Schroedinger's Cat. |
| Posted by: Uthar Pendragon 2004-11-21 7:44:04 PM |
| #11 Uthar, how's Merlin? |
| Posted by: Frank G 2004-11-21 7:32:53 PM |
| #10 Well, it all may be a moot point. Here is a story: A lady I know has been having a reccurent dream since she was a kid of 9 years old. The deram is the same, in its character. She walks on a beach in White Rock, BC. She has always a flash of a map of the area, something like a bird-perspective view. When she was young, the area has been mostly empty. Then she dreams of something (a building, a park or a structure) being built. Then in the span of a year or two, it really goes up. The dream ends by her walking on a beach and the waters suddenly recede by a mile. She does the bird-eye view once more and ses all the structures in place at the time. Then she is on a top of Mount Seymour and looks down on the Fraser Valley and sees a tidal wave approaching, like a big wall, it then roars almost beneath her. Later, there is water all over the valley, reaching to Hope (150km east from Vancouver). Only tops of some highest buildings are visible and many bodies litter the surface. There are only two structures that are not yet in place. One is being built at the moment, the other one may go up in the middle of 2006. She says she feels that the time frame is really near. She also notes that somehow she knows Japan will be mostly gone, just scattered tiny islands here and there. She kept her dream logs and I've seen one writen by a child's hand from early 60's, on aged paper. All I can say is that she is not making anything up. I am not sure what kind of event may cause effects she describes. An impact of some large asteoid body, or a cataclysmic eruption somewhere in Pacific region, maybe. She does not know herself, she does not interpret, just records it. Logically, if the Fraser Valley would be flooded by a cover of, approximately, 100-150m, it is reaonable to assume that other places would be affected in a similar fashion as well, perhaps most of them located in the Pacific Rim, but to a lesser degree in more remote places from the locus of the disturbance. All lowlands may take a hit, everywhere. India is rather close and most populated in just these types of locations. But even areas that are relatively remote may not be safe--a large chunk of Netherlands is below see water level. I don't want to make an impression that I bought the story hook, line and sinker. Although I know of many instances when some predictions were made--it was always a short time frame before the event--this one stands out by its remoteness for the event time frame, but also by the body of details that are vry specific, as opposed to vague gut feeling, 'blackness' and 'inability to breathe' and other such descriptives. I for myself decided not to take chances and move into mainland in the next year or so. It is up to you what you do with this story. I just had to tell it. Just in case... |
| Posted by: Uthar Pendragon 2004-11-21 7:22:44 PM |
| #9 Perhaps a a manned orbit by 2008, I think that's pushing it. Boosters don't exsist yet. |
| Posted by: Shipman 2004-11-21 5:10:21 PM |
| #8 Good Heavens! Some one is willing to retrive a lost lover with powerfull Spells! |
| Posted by: Shipman 2004-11-21 5:08:38 PM |
| #7 This was discussed pretty extensively in a string at the now-moribund Nuclear Space message board: India plans manned moon mission before 2015 This includes my analysis of how this can be done in short term, and for a modest budget, if existing hardware were combined with a relatively simple NERVA-type (nuclear-thermal) upper stage, something India is quite capable of building. |
| Posted by: Atomic Conspiracy 2004-11-21 4:23:25 PM |
| #6 details, details. |
| Posted by: Frank G 2004-11-21 10:26:01 AM |
| #5 Various facilities and equipment such as a space capsule for human habitation, shielding, control and safety features have to be built Yes, these are all important for the tricky live thru it part of the problem. |
| Posted by: Shipman 2004-11-21 10:19:50 AM |
| #4 They'll be happy to "manage" the social programs, of course... yeah...Monday thru Thurs from 9-3 with two hour lunches and time off for 3 month holidays, pregnancy leave, ailing family member leave, etc. Oh...and you can't fire them - ever. |
| Posted by: 2b 2004-11-21 7:57:26 AM |
| #3 The time I spent in India was a great experience . This is a country that has come along way since our Imperial rule ended ( Im British , as most of u have gathered) . They are at the forefront of software writing , their industry is good , the people are keen , the population is rising and competing with China on size/growth rate . It is a very diverse culture that has , over time , learnt to live with itself , apart from Muslims (who like to piss on everyone) . All in all , I look to India as the main player in that region which the west should look to . They want , what we want basically . |
| Posted by: MacNails 2004-11-21 5:03:59 AM |
| #2 Mankind's oldest problem, literally, continues to become more and more crucial - as the speed of change accelerates. "They say cash-strapped India should not undertake the mission but instead restrict its space programmes to satellite launches and use its funds for social welfare." "We get the same wanker argument in the US." Indeed. This is the crowd who produce nothing, zip, nada, zilch, yet scream for others to provide. They'll be happy to "manage" the social programs, of course... When boiled down, this is the bunch who would demand and consume next spring's seed corn in some winter festival of stupidity. Let's see what India's made of - and where it can go. The test, the real test of a society to change, grow, and prosper, is its ability to balance the effect of its cultural baggage and customs, natural inertial brakes, against the need to adapt to changing circustances, grasp fleeting opportunities, and risk the pathfinder role. |
| Posted by: .com 2004-11-21 4:47:11 AM |
| #1 More, please, and faster. The more shots we take at this, the better. |
| Posted by: Dishman 2004-11-21 4:08:34 AM |