India Lands on the Moon

Occams Barber · Aug 24, 2023

23 August 2023

India Lands on the Moon

India has become the first country to land near the Moon's south pole, just days after a Russian spacecraft crashed trying to reach the area.

The spacecraft Chandrayaan-3 will now spend two weeks looking for frozen water, which could support astronauts on future Moon and Mars explorations.

India Prime Minister Narendra Modi hailed the success, while scientists and officials clapped, cheered and hugged each other as the spacecraft landed.

The success puts India in the league of space powers, and it's become only the fourth country to successfully land on the Moon following US, China and the former Soviet Union.

This was India's second attempt to land a spacecraft on the moon and comes less than a week after Russia's Luna-25 mission failed.

Source

'Witnessing history': India celebrates being first to ever land on south pole of the Moon

India becomes the first country to land near the Moon's south pole, just days after a Russian spacecraft crashed trying to reach the area.

www.abc.net.au

d taylor · Aug 24, 2023

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In other words India can now shoot a rocket up into the sky out over into the ocean, so people think they are going to the moon

Occams Barber · Aug 24, 2023

d taylor said:
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In other words India can now shoot a rocket up into the sky out over into the ocean, so people think they are going to the moon

I understand they set out to prove that the Moon wasn't a chapati.

OB

dzheremi · Aug 24, 2023

But is it made of paneer? That's the real question!

Seriously, though, congratulations to India! That is impressive.

stevil · Aug 24, 2023

In a way, great achievement to India.
But I also do think of the poor conditions many in India live in.
India should be investing in infrastructure and poverty.

Pommer · Aug 24, 2023

stevil said:
In a way, great achievement to India.
But I also do think of the poor conditions many in India live in.
India should be investing in infrastructure and poverty.

My (rather limited) understanding of India’s internal ethos precludes this since it interferes with their spiritual practices vis-a-vis, “karmic Justice” and the like?

MehGuy · Aug 24, 2023

Good for them.

durangodawood · Aug 24, 2023

Pretty cool.

I wonder if the timing relative to the Russia attempt was based on political considerations? Or astronomical considerations? Or cosmic coincidence.

It makes the Russia failure stand out even more.

adrianmonk · Aug 24, 2023

d taylor said:
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In other words India can now shoot a rocket up into the sky out over into the ocean, so people think they are going to the moon

What do you mean ? Why would India want to shoot a rocket into the ocean ?

stevil said:
In a way, great achievement to India.
But I also do think of the poor conditions many in India live in.
India should be investing in infrastructure and poverty.

India is definitely investing in infrastructure. They have lifted 415 million people out of poverty over the past 15 years. It is a country of ~1.4 billion people so this takes time. From what I have read, there are many space startups that have popped up over the past 3-4 years. This will improve research into technology that can benefit other industries. Just like how research done by NASA has helped other industries here in the US.

Maybe I am biased because I am originally from India, but reading comments by people in the West that India needs to fix all other problems before investing in technology is incredibly patronizing.

durangodawood said:
Pretty cool.

I wonder if the timing relative to the Russia attempt was based on political considerations? Or astronomical considerations? Or cosmic coincidence.

It makes the Russia failure stand out even more.

Chandrayaan-3 was launched in July, Russia's Luna 25 was launched in August. They took different trajectories and the Russian mission arrived first. The next Luna mission is scheduled for 2028 or 2029. India's previous attempt in 2019 failed. The 3rd mission was supposed to be in 2021, but COVID changed that. The extra time was helpful in fixing the software bugs and updating the landing trajectory. The mission was scheduled to land at the start of the Lunar day, so that the rover can have 14 earth days of sunlight for its solar panels.

In any case the more countries that are able to develop space technology the better. These investments improve the R&D capabilities of the country and allows more complex missions to be shared between nations. New industries are created, and with it comes jobs. With better jobs, more people get lifted out of poverty.

stevil · Aug 24, 2023

adrianmonk said:
India is definitely investing in infrastructure. They have lifted 415 million people out of poverty over the past 15 years. It is a country of ~1.4 billion people so this takes time. From what I have read, there are many space startups that have popped up over the past 3-4 years. This will improve research into technology that can benefit other industries. Just like how research done by NASA has helped other industries here in the US.

Maybe I am biased because I am originally from India, but reading comments by people in the West that India needs to fix all other problems before investing in technology is incredibly patronizing.

I stayed in India for 6 weeks. I had a glimpse.
I don't mean to be patronising. I live in a country that is in many ways more advanced than India, our general infrastructure is better than India's.
But I would be shocked if my country decided to spend this kind of money on a moon landing.

Occams Barber · Aug 24, 2023

stevil said:
I stayed in India for 6 weeks. I had a glimpse.
I don't mean to be patronising. I live in a country that is in many ways more advanced than India, our general infrastructure is better than India's.
But I would be shocked if my country decided to spend this kind of money on a moon landing.

India's GDP is more than 13 times the size of New Zealand's.

This means that the cost of the Indian space program is a drop in a very big bucket. The overall economic impact of the space program is relatively small.

Similar spending by NZ would have a significantly bigger economic impact on the country. You should be shocked.

OB

stevil · Aug 24, 2023

Occams Barber said:
India's GDP is more than 13 times the size of New Zealand's.

This means that the cost of the Indian space program is a drop in a very big bucket. The overall economic impact of the space program is relatively small.

Similar spending by NZ would have a significantly bigger economic impact on the country. You should be shocked.

OB

I'd be shocked if NZ wasted a 13th of that money on such a project.

Chesterton · Aug 24, 2023

Landed on the moon. The moon? Could they be a little more specific? Surely they're not talking about that same old moon.

friend of · Aug 24, 2023

I love that India has a space program. Congratulations!

Occams Barber · Aug 24, 2023

stevil said:
I'd be shocked if NZ wasted a 13th of that money on such a project.

I have it on good authority that NZ is secretly stockpiling a supply of heavy-duty rubber bands in preparation for a moon shot in 2025.

OB

Chesterton · Aug 24, 2023

Occams Barber said:
I have it on good authority that NZ is secretly stockpiling a supply of heavy-duty rubber bands in preparation for a moon shot in 2025.

OB

I have it on good authority that Australia is planning a mission to land on the sun. When reminded that they will burn up, Australia said they'd thought of that, and that's why they're planning to go at night.

Pommer · Aug 24, 2023

d taylor said:
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In other words India can now shoot a rocket up into the sky out over into the ocean, so people think they are going to the moon

Is the earth an oblate spheroid?

Pommer · Aug 24, 2023

Chesterton said:
I have it on good authority that Australia is planning a mission to land on the sun. When reminded that they will burn up, Australia said they'd thought of that, and that's why they're planning to go at night.

They say that an individual photon takes about 10000 years to make it’s way from the core of Sol to where we perceive it as “light”, so the greenery I saw today could have been reflected light from the past? And still I think that that joke is older.

Occams Barber · Aug 24, 2023

Chesterton said:
I have it on good authority that Australia is planning a mission to land on the sun. When reminded that they will burn up, Australia said they'd thought of that, and that's why they're planning to go at night.

And take bulk supplies of SPF50 sun-screen and a hat. We're not stupid.

OB

d taylor · Aug 25, 2023

Pommer said:
Is the earth an oblate spheroid?

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Of course not, but to you it is, that is why you can watch this video of this fake moon landing and believe it is actually real.
Video: India Successfully Lands Spacecraft on Moon’s Surface

India Lands on the Moon

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