India readies 1st moon mission in Asian space race

[cosmicone]

Source: AP/Yahoo

NEW DELHI – Scientists have better maps of distant Mars than the moon where astronauts have walked. But India hopes to change that with its first lunar mission.

Chandrayaan-1 — which means "Moon Craft" in ancient Sanskrit — is scheduled to launch from the Sriharikota space center in southern India at 8:20 p.m. EDT Tuesday in a two-year mission aimed at laying the groundwork for further Indian space expeditions.

Chief among the mission's goals is mapping not only the surface of the moon, but what lies beneath. If the launch is successful, India will join what's shaping up as a 21st century space race with Chinese and Japanese crafts already in orbit around the moon.

The United States, which won the 1960s race to send men to the moon, won't jump in this race with its new lunar probe until next spring, but it is providing key mapping equipment for India's mission.

Read more: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20081021/ap_on_re_as/as_indi...

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Hurray for India

[livelongandprosper]

1. This is ridiculous.

In a country where 60% live in poverty this is their biggest problem?

[bloomington-lib]

2. Makes sense to me

Everybody will be in competing for the rights to Helium 3.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Helium-3

[byronius]

6. You've just educated me. Thanks.

[Sirveri]

8. Have they even managed to get a He3 Rx working?

I know they have it in theory, but there is a ton of stuff in theory that works like B11 fusors and such. I guess I'm just wondering if you've heard anything new which I might have missed.

[cosmicone]

5. Technology lifts people out of poverty - doh n/t

[smitra]

10. Poverty rate in India

Moreover, according to the CIA World Fact book, the poverty rate in India is 25% (2007 estimate).
A far cry from 60%.

https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-fact...

[Bhaisahab]

11. From the same story:

<SNIP>

The mission is not all about rivalry and prestige. Analysts say India stands to reap valuable rewards from the technology it develops and, according to Pace, it already shows increased confidence in difficult engineering and quality control.

"Each nation is doing its own thing to drive its research technology for the well-being of that nation," said Charles Vick, a space analyst for the Washington think tank GlobalSecurity.org.

"Traditionally, for every dollar put into space research, we get that much more back," he said.

India is also collaborating closely with other countries on the mission.

Of the 11 instruments carried by the satellite, five are Indian, three are from the European Space Agency, two from the U.S. _including radar that can search for ice under lunar poles — and one from Bulgaria.

<SNIP>

Isn't it strange that while on the one hand the country is aiming for the moon and on the other extremist Hindu outfits are dragging it to the stone age? What's that saying about India being a land of paradoxes....?

[Parche]

3. No Outsourcing Space?

[byronius]

4. The payoff in technology and prestige from these missions will outweigh costs.

Moon-mining is going to be highly profitable soon enough, along with asteroid-belt tugs pulling iron-nickel planetoids into orbit around Mars.

I didn't realize there were other crafts orbiting the moon. Holy shit.

We'd better get a move on to Mars.

[jeff30997]

7. K&R

Great news.It's weird to think that Scientists have better maps of Mars than the moon.

I wonder if they'll find a black monolith ?

[lovuian]

9. They want to see whats on the moon

for themselves and to mine