# India launches moon mission
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/india-launches-moon-mission/837707
**Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
**Created:** [July 27, 2019, 1:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/india-launches-moon-mission/837707 "2019-07-27T13:02:54Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@mandala](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mandala)
#### Post date: [July 27, 2019, 1:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/india-launches-moon-mission/837707/1 "2019-07-27T13:02:54Z")
India [launched its second moon mission](https://www.universetoday.com/142963/indias-chandrayaan-2-is-heading-to-the-moon/) a few days ago. This time the mission involves a soft landing on the lunar south pole, followed by the release of a rover that will scoot around on the lunar surface for (a paltry) 14 Earth days. It looks like the rover is entirely solar powered and will die out when the moon rotates into the night. Wonder why India couldn’t come up with a decent nuclear battery pack. Also there will be no sample return, so data will be limited.
50 years after NASA put people on the moon, other countries are struggling to even land there. In retrospect, what a grand achievement it was for NASA! I hope the Artemis missions will eventually involve a permanent lunar settlement. This may be Trump’s only good decision.
It seems too far-fetched to be able to colonize Mars without first building permanent facilities on the moon, particularly factories to manufacture components.
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### Author:  [@jaycat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jaycat)
#### Post date: [July 27, 2019, 1:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/india-launches-moon-mission/837707/2 "2019-07-27T13:12:30Z")
[Two-thirds of people in India live in poverty: 68.8% of the Indian population lives on less than $2 a day. Over 30% even have less than $1.25 per day available - they are considered extremely poor.](https://www.soschildrensvillages.ca/news/poverty-in-india-602)
But they found enough money to shoot a rocket into outer space. Yippee!
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### Author:  [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)
#### Post date: [July 27, 2019, 1:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/india-launches-moon-mission/837707/3 "2019-07-27T13:24:37Z")
> [@jaycat](#):
>
> [Two-thirds of people in India live in poverty: 68.8% of the Indian population lives on less than $2 a day. Over 30% even have less than $1.25 per day available - they are considered extremely poor.](https://www.soschildrensvillages.ca/news/poverty-in-india-602)
>
> But they found enough money to shoot a rocket into outer space. Yippee!
> [@Wikipedia](#):
>
> Estimates of the number of people in the United States living in poverty are nuanced. One organization estimated that in 2015, 13.5% of Americans (43.1 million) lived in poverty. … The 2010 census data shows that half the population qualifies as poor or low income, with one in five Millennials living in poverty.
[Americans are dying because they cannot afford insulin](https://www.cardiovascularbusiness.com/topics/lipids-metabolic/americans-dying-because-cant-afford-insulin)
India Lite
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### Author:  [@mandala](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mandala)
#### Post date: [July 27, 2019, 1:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/india-launches-moon-mission/837707/4 "2019-07-27T13:54:52Z")
> [@jaycat](#):
>
> [Two-thirds of people in India live in poverty: 68.8% of the Indian population lives on less than $2 a day. Over 30% even have less than $1.25 per day available - they are considered extremely poor.](https://www.soschildrensvillages.ca/news/poverty-in-india-602)
>
> But they found enough money to shoot a rocket into outer space. Yippee!
Pot calls the kettle black. Pentagon’s $686 billion budget is beyond obscene, driving a vast military-industrial complex at the expense of 40 million+ ordinary Americans who can’t get enough food. Poverty and homelessness in the US is rapidly rising. Maybe we should wind up NASA, the world’s costliest space agency. That should help with the poverty.
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### Author:  [@mandala](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mandala)
#### Post date: [July 27, 2019, 2:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/india-launches-moon-mission/837707/5 "2019-07-27T14:01:01Z")
> [@kayaker](#):
>
> [Americans are dying because they cannot afford insulin](https://www.cardiovascularbusiness.com/topics/lipids-metabolic/americans-dying-because-cant-afford-insulin)
>
> India Lite
Not India Lite. The US is in a class of its own here. Insulin in India costs a tiny fraction: about $40 for 5 vials of 3ml each. A session of hemodialysis costs $20 in India and $5000 in the US. There is really no comparison here. India is becoming richer and the US poorer. Time to wind up that space program… 😃
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### Author:  [@kanicbird](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kanicbird)
#### Post date: [July 27, 2019, 2:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/india-launches-moon-mission/837707/6 "2019-07-27T14:25:17Z")
> [@mandala](#):
>
> India …
>
> 50 years after NASA put people on the moon, other countries are struggling to even land there…
Even us. Lets put this is perspective.
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### Author:  [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)
#### Post date: [July 27, 2019, 4:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/india-launches-moon-mission/837707/7 "2019-07-27T16:17:51Z")
> [@mandala](#):
>
> A session of hemodialysis costs $20 in India and $5000 in the US.
Uh, no. You’re off by a factor of 10. A session of hemodialysis costs $500 without insurance, or $72,000 a year for three sessions a week. Still expensive I know, and potentially financially crippling.
[Cite.](https://health.costhelper.com/dialysis.html)
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### Author:  [@mandala](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mandala)
#### Post date: [July 27, 2019, 5:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/india-launches-moon-mission/837707/8 "2019-07-27T17:11:14Z")
> [@cochrane](#):
>
> Uh, no. You’re off by a factor of 10. A session of hemodialysis costs $500 without insurance, or $72,000 a year for three sessions a week. Still expensive I know, and potentially financially crippling.
>
> [Cite.](https://health.costhelper.com/dialysis.html)
OK, that’s right, my bad. With everything so expensive, it is understandable that the [movie Gravity cost more than India’s Mars shot](https://money.cnn.com/2014/09/25/news/india-mars-cost/index.html). It didn’t do much there, except orbit Mars (and [greet the Rovers](https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Namaste-Howdy-Mangalyaan-Curiosity-Rover-engage-in-space-talk/articleshow/43314271.cms)) but getting there was a huge achievement. NASA could cut some cost by letting Indian rockets haul some stuff on the cheap.
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### Author:  [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)
#### Post date: [July 27, 2019, 5:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/india-launches-moon-mission/837707/9 "2019-07-27T17:15:17Z")
> [@jaycat](#):
>
> [Two-thirds of people in India live in poverty: 68.8% of the Indian population lives on less than $2 a day. Over 30% even have less than $1.25 per day available - they are considered extremely poor.](https://www.soschildrensvillages.ca/news/poverty-in-india-602)
>
> But they found enough money to shoot a rocket into outer space. Yippee!
Note that the whole mission cost less than $150 million, or about ten cents per capita.
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### Author:  [@paulmarkj](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/paulmarkj)
#### Post date: [July 29, 2019, 5:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/india-launches-moon-mission/837707/10 "2019-07-29T17:36:33Z")
> [@jaycat](#):
>
> [Two-thirds of people in India live in poverty: 68.8% of the Indian population lives on less than $2 a day. Over 30% even have less than $1.25 per day available - they are considered extremely poor.](https://www.soschildrensvillages.ca/news/poverty-in-india-602)
>
> But they found enough money to shoot a rocket into outer space. Yippee!
Advancing engineering in India will benefit everyone there. Advancing their status in the world will also. One in seven people in the world is Indian, and they have very advanced technologies, but who knows that? who thinks about looking to India for technology links? and conversely, how many don’t take them seriously? This programme is a great a advertisement for India.
India will not come out of poverty until the advance technologically.
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### Author:  [@bobot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bobot)
#### Post date: [July 29, 2019, 5:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/india-launches-moon-mission/837707/11 "2019-07-29T17:41:17Z")
> [@mandala](#):
>
> …It seems too far-fetched to be able to colonize Mars without first building permanent facilities on the moon, particularly factories to manufacture components.
OK, I’m no astronomer. Wouldn’t that be like having a rest stop at the end of your driveway for a trip to the grocery store?
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### Author:  [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)
#### Post date: [July 29, 2019, 6:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/india-launches-moon-mission/837707/12 "2019-07-29T18:18:50Z")
I’m no astronomer either, but the Moon has a smaller (shallower?) gravity well, so launching from there should be easier than doing so from Earth.
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### Author:  [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)
#### Post date: [July 29, 2019, 6:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/india-launches-moon-mission/837707/13 "2019-07-29T18:19:10Z")
> [@bobot](#):
>
> OK, I’m no astronomer. Wouldn’t that be like having a rest stop at the end of your driveway for a trip to the grocery store?
Getting away from earth’s gravity uses a huge amount of energy. There almost has to be a workaround to make space travel practical. How to move heavy stuff to Mars? Construct it on the moon or a man made sarellite.
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### Author:  [@bobot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bobot)
#### Post date: [July 29, 2019, 6:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/india-launches-moon-mission/837707/14 "2019-07-29T18:46:21Z")
Well that makes some sense. Sounds expensive, but I’ll let the pros figure that out.
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### Author:  [@scr4](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scr4)
#### Post date: [July 29, 2019, 6:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/india-launches-moon-mission/837707/15 "2019-07-29T18:52:07Z")
> [@mandala](#):
>
> Pot calls the kettle black. Pentagon’s $686 billion budget is beyond obscene, driving a vast military-industrial complex at the expense of 40 million+ ordinary Americans who can’t get enough food. Poverty and homelessness in the US is rapidly rising. Maybe we should wind up NASA, the world’s costliest space agency. That should help with the poverty.
You do know NASA is not part of the Pentagon, right? And that the Pentagon’s budget is 30x larger than NASA’s?
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### Author:  [@Bijou\_Drains](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bijou_Drains)
#### Post date: [July 29, 2019, 9:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/india-launches-moon-mission/837707/16 "2019-07-29T21:39:50Z")
a lot of space missions like satellite launches are no longer run by NASA. SpaceX and the Euro Space Agency now handle many launches to make money.
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### Author:  [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earl_Snake-Hips_Tucker)
#### Post date: [July 29, 2019, 9:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/india-launches-moon-mission/837707/17 "2019-07-29T21:42:45Z")
I think the Moon (from previous history on this board) would be a bad place to launch a Mars mission because of its inclination. You’ll more fuel to account for that, and it doesn’t get long before it starts getting ugly. Not that any of the alternatives are particularly pretty.
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### Author:  [@Two\_Many\_Cats](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Two_Many_Cats)
#### Post date: [July 30, 2019, 12:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/india-launches-moon-mission/837707/18 "2019-07-30T00:10:53Z")
Does this mean the sacred cow is jumping over the moon?
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### Author:  [@jaycat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jaycat)
#### Post date: [July 30, 2019, 1:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/india-launches-moon-mission/837707/19 "2019-07-30T01:14:16Z")
> [@paulmarkj](#):
>
> \*\*\*Advancing engineering in India will benefit everyone there. Advancing their status in the world will also. \*\*\*One in seven people in the world is Indian, and _ **they have very advanced technologies,** _ but who knows that? who thinks about looking to India for technology links? and conversely, how many don’t take them seriously? This programme is a great a advertisement for India.
>
> _ **India will not come out of poverty until the advance technologically.** _
(Bold italics mine.) So … India has very advanced technologies. But they need to advance technologically. But… they have . . . huh?
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### Author:  [@Lucas\_Jackson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lucas_Jackson)
#### Post date: [July 30, 2019, 2:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/india-launches-moon-mission/837707/20 "2019-07-30T02:39:22Z")
> [@mandala](#):
>
> India is becoming richer and the US poorer. Time to wind up that space program…
What, and lose all the benefits to the average Joe the space program provides?
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