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Indian Mission Enters Mars Orbit


Waspie_Dwarf

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India's first Mars satellite 'Mangalyaan' enters orbit

India has successfully put a satellite into orbit around Mars, becoming the fourth country to do so.

The Mangalyaan robotic probe, one of the cheapest interplanetary missions ever, will soon begin work studying the Red Planet's atmosphere.

A 24-minute engine burn slowed the probe down enough to allow it to be captured by Mars' gravity.

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i just heard this on the News, and it's pretty amazing. They said that India managed to do this with a 10th of the costs of the recent MAVEN Mission. Congratulations!

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i just heard this on the News, and it's pretty amazing.

Absolutely. And to do it at their first attempt is impressive too. The Americans, Soviets/Russians and Europeans have all had their share of Mars-related failures.

They said that India managed to do this with a 10th of the costs of the recent MAVEN Mission.

True, but I understand its suite of instruments is somewhat less complex than those of MAVEN. This is not to take anything away from the mission, as the data it gathers is going to contribute to increasing our knowledge of Mars.

Congratulations!

Agreed.

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Congrats indeed, quite a feat!

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And to do it at their first attempt is impressive too. The Americans, Soviets/Russians and Europeans have all had their share of Mars-related failures.

There is a lot being made about India being the first nation to orbit a spacecraft around Mars on their first attempt. The key word here is NATION. The European Space Agency (ESA) also placed a spacecraft, Mars Express, in orbit around Mars on their first attempt. The only European failure was the small Beagle 2 lander. Carried with Mars Express this was a small, low cost attempt to land on the planet.

It's also worth noting that the Soviet Union and the USA had carried out fly-by missions before they attempted orbiting the planet. Many of these failed due to launch vehicle failures.

The first US attempt to place spacecraft in orbit around Mars was a pair of spacecraft, Mariner 8 and Mariner 9, launched 3 weeks apart in May 1971 (in the sixties and seventies it was common to launch space probes in pairs due to the high failure rate). Mariner 8 was lost in a launch failure but Mariner 9 did achieve Mars orbit.

Why India is so pleased with this achievement is because their Asian rivals, China and Japan, have both attempted to send spacecraft to Mars and have both failed.

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NASA Administrator Statement About India's Mars Orbiter Mission

The following statement is from NASA Administrator Charles Bolden about India's Mars Orbiter Mission (MOM):

"We congratulate the Indian Space Research Organisation for its successful arrival at Mars with the Mars Orbiter Mission.

"It was an impressive engineering feat, and we welcome India to the family of nations studying another facet of the Red Planet. We look forward to MOM adding to the knowledge the international community is gathering with the other spacecraft at Mars.

"All space exploration expands the frontiers of scientific knowledge and improves life for everyone on Earth. We commend this significant milestone for India."

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If India can afford a space program, why are we sending them billions of dollars in foreign aid?

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If India can afford a space program, why are we sending them billions of dollars in foreign aid?

The short answer is you don't give them billions of dollars in aid.

US aid to India has reduced year on year from $126.7 million in 2010 to a proposal level of $91 million in fiscal year 2014.

The purpose of aid to developing nations is to help them develop. The fact that India is now capable of placing a satellite in orbit around Mars shows that they HAVE developed. This fact, and the fact that the USA (like the UK) are steadily reducing the aid rather suggests that the aid money has been well spent.

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I bet it costed much less than Nasa to do so. I am curious what was the total cost?

Edited by qxcontinuum
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I bet it costed much less than Nasa to do so.

Well as it is far less capable than NASA's missions, far less sophisticated than NASA's missions and comes from a nation with far less labour costs than the USA of course it is cheaper.

I am curious what was the total cost?

But not quite curious enough to follow the link and read the BBC article the original post links to it would seem.

If you had been a lit bit more curious you would have read this paragraph:

The total cost of the Indian mission has been put at 4.5bn rupees ($74m; £45m), which makes it one of the cheapest interplanetary space missions ever. Nasa's recent Maven mission cost $671m.
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Why India's Mars mission is so cheap - and thrilling

India's space programme has succeeded at the first attempt where others have failed - by sending an operational mission to Mars.

The Mangalyaan satellite was confirmed to be in orbit shortly after 0800, Indian time. It is, without doubt, a considerable achievement.

This is a mission that has been budgeted at 4.5bn rupees ($74m), which, by Western standards, is staggeringly cheap.

The American Maven orbiter that arrived at the Red Planet on Monday is costing almost 10 times as much.

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India's Mars satellite 'Mangalyaan' sends first images

India's space agency has released its first picture of Mars, taken by its satellite which entered orbit around the Red Planet on Wednesday.

"The view is nice up here," tweeted @isro. A handful of images have been sent by the Mangalyaan probe so far.

Part of its mission is to study the Martian atmosphere for signs of life.

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QUOTE-

India's achievement is all the more

impressive because it cost only $74

million, a remarkably cheap figure

for a mission of this kind

.

$25m less than the budget for the movie 'Gravity'

.

but they weren't having to pay George C. loony's wages.....

.

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QUOTE-

India's space agency has released

its first picture of Mars, taken by

its satellite which entered orbit

around the Red Planet on

Wednesday.

.

expect a corner shop there by a week next friday.....

.

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Just wondering really, did the money for this come from the UK government?

Yes, because India has absolutely no economy of it's own. It's entire population are supported by UK aid and they are incapable of funding anything by themselves.

Meanwhile back in the real world...

Where do people get their ignorant ideas about countries like India?

India has a rapidly growing economy, is fast developing a technological base. It no longer asks for, nor needs aid from the UK, which will stop completely in 2015.

India has had a successful space programme for decades. It has built and launched it's own weather and Earth resources satellites, helping improve farming crop yields. It has built its own communications satellites, enabling every village in India to have a TV on which education programmes are broadcast.

No, the money did not come from the UK.

Edited by Waspie_Dwarf
typo.
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This is really amazing. Just wondering really, did the money for this come from the UK government?

.

not all of it Red, no.

.

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The short answer is you don't give them billions of dollars in aid.

US aid to India has reduced year on year from $126.7 million in 2010 to a proposal level of $91 million in fiscal year 2014.

The purpose of aid to developing nations is to help them develop. The fact that India is now capable of placing a satellite in orbit around Mars shows that they HAVE developed. This fact, and the fact that the USA (like the UK) are steadily reducing the aid rather suggests that the aid money has been well spent.

Well according to sources I checked, foreign aid to India in 2012 was $1,667,600,000.00 And if the aid money was well spent, why are a vast majority of it's citizens {still} living in adverse poverty?

Edited by praetorian-legio XIII
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Well according to sources I checked, foreign aid to India in 2012 was $1,667,600,000.00

Well done, you can use wikipedia. Now all you have to do is learn how to interpret that data correctly.

The figures I quoted were US aid to India. The figure you quoted are TOTAL aid to India from every nation on Earth. You are comparing apples and pears.

And if the aid money was well spent, why are a vast majority of it's citizens {still} living in adverse poverty?

As you can look things up on wikipedia maybe you should have checked India poverty levels too. If you had you wouldn't be continuing to make such posts which are so blatantly wrong.

Far from the vast majority of Indians being below the poverty line the figure is 21.9% for an international poverty line of $1.25 per day (which is the World Bank's official definition) and 32.7% for the poverty line set at $2 per day. Compare that to a "rich" country Saudi Arabia where it is estimated that over 33% of the population live in poverty,

Source: wikipedia

Moreover the rate of poverty in India has dropped steadily since the 1990s.

According to a 2011 poverty Development Goals Report, as many as 320 million people in India and China are expected to come out of extreme poverty in the next four years, with India's poverty rate projected to drop from 51% in 1990 to about 22% in 2015.

source: wikipedia

This is economics not magic, poverty doesn't just disappear over night, but a country that is reducing poverty is a country that is clearly doing the right thing.

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Well, I for one am glad they made it. Maybe this will help get NASA off their butt and actually get back into the space race.

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Well, I for one am glad they made it. Maybe this will help get NASA off their butt and actually get back into the space race.

You do realise that NASA have three spacecraft in orbit around Mars as well as two rovers on the surface don't you?

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Well, I for one am glad they made it. Maybe this will help get NASA off their butt and actually get back into the space race.

You do realise that NASA have three spacecraft in orbit around Mars as well as two rovers on the surface don't you?

Classic! :clap:

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Well done, you can use wikipedia. Now all you have to do is learn how to interpret that data correctly.

The figures I quoted were US aid to India. The figure you quoted are TOTAL aid to India from every nation on Earth. You are comparing apples and pears.

As you can look things up on wikipedia maybe you should have checked India poverty levels too. If you had you wouldn't be continuing to make such posts which are so blatantly wrong.

Far from the vast majority of Indians being below the poverty line the figure is 21.9% for an international poverty line of $1.25 per day (which is the World Bank's official definition) and 32.7% for the poverty line set at $2 per day. Compare that to a "rich" country Saudi Arabia where it is estimated that over 33% of the population live in poverty,

Source: wikipedia

Moreover the rate of poverty in India has dropped steadily since the 1990s.

source: wikipedia

This is economics not magic, poverty doesn't just disappear over night, but a country that is reducing poverty is a country that is clearly doing the right thing.

Do you have to be so rude and patronising?

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If India can afford a space program, why are we sending them billions of dollars in foreign aid?

Ok, millions.

I agree, why are we?

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