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2008-10-22 India-Pakistan

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Posted by john frum 2008-10-22 06:39|| || Front Page|| [11134 views ] Top

#1 Hurrah for India! Well done!

(Should we feel the teensiest bit sorry for Pakistan about this?)

Posted by trailing wife ">trailing wife 2008-10-22 12:39|| 2008-10-22 12:39|| Front Page Top

#2 Project director of Chandrayaan-1, M Annadurai rarely appears on television and not many of us know about him. He is the man in-charge of India's first satellite to study the moon.

Annadurai, the son of a school teacher, is a first generation engineer and comes from a small village in Tamil Nadu.

He doesn't have a foreign degree and spent the first few years of his life without seeing what a streetlight looks like.

"I think I was born and brought up in a small village called Kodavadi near Coimbatore, until the age of seven. I did not see street lights even in my village," said M Annadurai.

"But I had the fortune of seeing the moon, which was like a natural planetarium," he added.

Posted by john frum 2008-10-22 15:34|| 2008-10-22 15:34|| Front Page Top

#3 India to build new launch-pad, astronaut training centre

India plans to build a new satellite launch pad and a major training facility for astronauts as it proposed to undertake a manned space mission by 2015.

"It (the cost of setting up the launch pad) is around Rs 600 crore. A major national facility (for training astronauts) will be established here (Bangalore),Indian Space research Organisation Chairman G Madhavan Nair told PTI.

It would be the third launch pad in the Sriharikota spaceport on the east-coast in Andhra Pradesh, some 100 kms north of Chennai.

Nair said the manned mission has been approved by the Space Commission, and a formal government nod is expected in the next few months.

The Technologically-challenging manned mission (human space flight) envisages development of a fully autonomous manned space vehicle to carry crew (two members) to low earth orbit and their safe return to earth, development of critical/new technologies for crew module, service module, launch escape system, establishment of long-term facilities and identifying detailed elements required for undertaking the venture.

"Basically, technology elements required for development of habitable module is the top-most priority", Nair, also Secretary in the Department of Space, said.

"Technology elements required for improving the reliability of launch systems have been identified.Crew escape and mission management system has to be in place," he said.

In 2006, ISRO said the preliminary estimated cost for the manned space mission was Rs 10,000 crore spread over a period of eight years.

Posted by john frum 2008-10-22 15:37|| 2008-10-22 15:37|| Front Page Top

#4 John, Why not just buy the technology?

Posted by 3dc 2008-10-22 16:21|| 2008-10-22 16:21|| Front Page Top

#5 I'm no expert, but I would think they'd learn more if they developed the technology themselves as opposed to just buying it. And buying technology doesn't contribute to "national pride" nearly as much as doing it yourself, not to mention, making a statement to the rest of the world. Finally, they need to keep their engineers employed somehow.

Posted by sludge 2008-10-22 17:15|| 2008-10-22 17:15|| Front Page Top

#6 and lastly, it probably does cost them less to indigenously develop the technology than buy it.

Posted by sludge 2008-10-22 17:17|| 2008-10-22 17:17|| Front Page Top

#7 Werner von Braun on a trip to India told APJ Abdul Kalam "If you have to do anything in rocketry do it yourself ... you should always remember that we do not just build on success, we also build on failure".

Buying the technology won't build the research capability and the private sector spin-offs. ISRO does tech transfer to private industry in order to build an aerospace industry in India. The components of their rockets are now made by the private sector.

They developed heat resistant tiles for their SRE-1 experiment (which spashed down from orbit into Bay of Bengal) which may find use in a crew vehicle.

Posted by john frum 2008-10-22 17:43|| 2008-10-22 17:43|| Front Page Top

Posted by john frum 2008-10-22 17:44|| 2008-10-22 17:44|| Front Page Top

#9 Looks tidy, but what's that 60's looking piece of equipment behind the capsule on lower left? Oscilloscope?

Posted by General_Comment 2008-10-22 18:16|| 2008-10-22 18:16|| Front Page Top

#10 a Russian sooopercomputer. You asked, and I've got an attitude :-)

Posted by Frank G">Frank G 2008-10-22 18:37|| 2008-10-22 18:37|| Front Page Top

#11 Ok, maybe bought from the U.S. in the 60's - what is it doing in the Indian museum of national space achievements?? ;)

Posted by General_Comment 2008-10-22 18:41|| 2008-10-22 18:41|| Front Page Top

#12 INDIA has Chicoms its NE, Islamists and Maoists on multiple external and domestic fronts, Sikhs and Pakis on the LOC, and Christians, etc in-between, etc. > AGZ SUCH POTENT SECTARIANISM, INDIA NEEDS SOMETHING TO RESTORE THEIR SELF-ESTEEM, NATIONAL UNITY, + GEOPOL CREDIBILITY.
The USA is focused more on VENUS, MARS, AND OTHER EXPLORATION anyhoo, NOTSOMUCH THE MOON.

Posted by JosephMendiola 2008-10-22 19:33|| 2008-10-22 19:33|| Front Page Top

#13 NOTSOMUCH THE MOON.

However, if Chinese and Indians will make it to the Moon, the U.S. will make sure to quickly re-focus. NASA adminitrator, Griffin what's his name was just talking about it the other day.

Posted by General_Comments 2008-10-22 19:36|| 2008-10-22 19:36|| Front Page Top

#14 Fu ck NASA - I want private companies not nations doing space big time.
SpaceX is one of the bright spots.
Another Rutan.
Let NASA do science missions.
Let companies exploit and develop.

Posted by 3dc 2008-10-22 20:50|| 2008-10-22 20:50|| Front Page Top

#15 Double ditto 3dc.

Posted by Besoeker 2008-10-22 20:59|| 2008-10-22 20:59|| Front Page Top

23:58 3dc
23:57 Sherry
23:52 Don Vito Omeling5062
23:51 ex-lib
23:46 ex-lib
23:42 General_Comment
23:39 Betty
23:35 General_Comment
23:35 clipatuillath
23:34 JosephMendiola
23:31 USN, Ret.
23:24 Sherry
23:24 Betty
23:22 General_Comment
23:20 JosephMendiola
23:19 Betty
23:19 Steve White
23:17 General_Comment
23:17 Betty
23:15 JosephMendiola
23:14 USN, Ret.
23:13 CrazyFool
23:09 Betty
23:09 JosephMendiola