In this file picture taken on September 11, 2013, scientists and engineers work on a Mars Orbiter vehicle at the Indian Space Research Organisation's (ISRO) satellite centre in Bangalore. PHOTO: AFP
The Mars Orbiter Mission blasted off from the southeastern coast with the satellite scheduled to start orbiting Mars by September, searching for methane and signs of minerals.
"This is our modest beginning for our interplanetary mission," said Deviprasad Karnik, spokesman for the state-run Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO).
Only the United States, Europe, and Russia have sent probes that have orbited or landed on Mars. Probes to Mars have a high failure rate and a success will be a boost for national pride, especially after a similar mission by China failed to leave Earth's orbit in 2011.
India's ties with its neighbour are marked as much by competition as cooperation. Government scientists deny any space race, but analysts say India has stepped up its programme because of concerns about China's civilian and military space technology.
The probe's 4.5 billion rupee price tag is a fraction of the cost of NASA's MAVEN mission, also due to launch in November. Analysts say India could capture more of the $304 billion global space market with its low-cost technology.
The Mars mission is considerably cheaper than some of India's more lavish spending schemes, including a $340 million plan to build the world's largest statue in the state of Gujarat, including surrounding infrastructure.
Even so, it has drawn criticism in a country suffering from high levels of poverty, malnutrition and power shortages and experiencing its worst slowdown in growth in ten years.
India has long argued that technology developed in its space programme has practical applications to everyday life.
"For a country like India, it's not a luxury, it's a necessity," said Susmita Mohanty, co-founder and chief executive of Earth2Orbit, India's first private space start-up. She argued that satellites have broad applications from television broadcasting to disaster management.
India's space programme began 50 years ago and developed rapidly after Western powers imposed sanctions in response to a nuclear weapons test in 1974, spurring scientists to build advanced rocket technology. Five years ago, its Chandrayaan probe landed on the moon and found evidence of water.
The relative prowess in space contrasts with poor results developing fighter jets by India's state-run companies.
The Mars Orbiter Mission plans to search for methane in the Martian atmosphere, the chemical strongly tied to life on Earth. Recent measurements made by NASA's rover, Curiosity, show only trace amounts of it on Mars.
India's mission will also study Martian surface features and mineral composition.
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Who says India is poor country. If all the money from swiss bank comes back every Indian is a millionear. Polititons represented this subcontinent as poorest part to the world weather Indian or Pakistan and US takes advantage of this.
@Abu Noor: I hope one day India and Pakistan joins hands to excel.
@Zaid Hamid: ya its big deal for India, with success of this mission it is expected that India will be having a business of 300billion dollars. which can change the country economy. investment on education and technology will never go waste.
by sending a mission to mars for 73 million India can easily take over the competition and gain the 300 billion dollar space industry. Now many countries that couldnt afford to send satellites to space can benefit from india( if it costs 73 million for mars it would be less than half to send satellites to earths orbit.)
Update: according to ISRO, 'the third orbit raising manoeuvre of Mars Orbiter Spacecraft, starting at 02:10:43 hrs (IST) on Nov 09, 2013, with a burn time of 707 seconds has been successfully completed. The observed change in Apogee is from 40186 km to 71636 km.'
Update: according to ISRO website, "the second orbit raising maneuver of Mars Orbiter Spacecraft, starting at 02:18:51 hrs (IST) on Nov 08, 2013, with a burn time of 570.6 seconds has been successfully completed.The observed change in Apogee is from 28814 km to 40186 km."
@Hameed: I appreciate your comment about our achievements. Thanks.
@Pankaj: Well said Pankaj.
@naeem khan Manhattan,Ks:
I don’t hear Chinese opting for sending probes to Mars,
Please get your ears checked, it seems you are getting hard of hearing. Once your hearing improves, you will notice,
A. China is the 3rd Country in the World to put humans in space orbit.
B. They are constructing a Space Station- 3rd Again.
C. Sending a manned mission to the Moon.
D. Launching Mars and beyond space probes.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinesespaceprogram
Happy Hearing Again.
@sterry: The mission is under (ISRO) Indian Space Research Organisation. ISRO owns a Company called Antarix Corporation. It is involved in Marketing. Of technology transfers, space products, technical services etc. It can help another country, university, broadcaster, research institutions to carry their satellites to space by selling place on ISRO rockets-at a price. Quite a few customers have used that service. Profits-after accounting for expenses, are modest (about 2 Billion rupees annually) but it's a start. In India it is called a "Navratna" (profit making) company of government. With each additional successful endeavour in space ISRO gains more credibility & Antarix Corpn becomes more confident to market its products & will be able to defray the cost of most of ISRO's future space programme.
@sterry: Well just because Pakistanis have limited understanding about the importance of space missions or they are incapable of launching of their own or piggyback on someone else, does not mean space missions are waste of money. It is a quest and human civilization always have been inquisitive about surroundings. India has means and talent to work on both front simultaneously, towards social fronts and scientific fronts. Going by your logic Pakistan should have been investing in dams rather in nuclear assets but tell me honestly how many Pakistani think their dams as superior assets than their nuclear assets?
@polpot: If India or Burma sends a mission to Mars, why should we question our nation. It has nothing to do with us and we still thank Jinnah for Pakistan because we don't see India as our nation but a British colonial creation! As for whether it's a good idea to have a useless mission to Mars when Indians arestarving and aid agencies have to help India, I''ll leave it for you to decide.
Let us wait for the Mars Orbiter vehicle to arrive at its destination before we start commenting on India's Achievement. . Cheers
@polpot: Gen Kayani and his generals will soon announce next acquisition of a C41 Cargo plane or Thunder/F16 aircraft. They will go with much fanfare to receive it and it will make headline news in Pakistani newspapers.
Other big news generally seen in Pakistan papers is Gen Kayani being visited by international dignitaries and him meeting Pakistani PM on all national policy making decision meetings. Nation cannot do without the COAS. He contributes so much to Pakistan.
Nation is very hopeful of COAS of using his superior Army power to clean FATA, Waziristan and Swat of all terrorists because he recently admitted after 12-14 years that Taliban are Pakistan's biggest enemies. Civilians should have checked with COAS before starting peace talks with the Taliban.
@Kamal: But where are the words of encouragement? Progress starts in small measures and it all comes together and the combined success and its impact on society sometimes goes beyond what was visualized. Today everybody wants to go to US because it is a land that provides opportunity, security, freedom. Why there is opportunity there? Because of technological discoveries and high quality education that begets more new investment which increases employment and brings more people above the poverty line & creates even more opportunities for others. The increased wealth allows government to provide more services. Development of any kind- societal or technological gives you status & brings hope which in turn brings influence in the international comity that attracts even more collaboration & investment from outsiders and thus even more prosperity.
Every day american drones are sending a pakistani to mars. So what is the big deal in indian un manned mars mission ?
@greg: Nasr with 60km ? Mars 780million km
@Anshuman Tripathy: Congrats My Dear. Well done.
Regards G.M Leghari
I congratulate India. It is realy a big achievement. I know, how hard it is for any national space agency to launch this kind of mission especially from South Asia.
@Tobe: You are absolutely correct that is why NASA (an agency of USSR) is helping in tracking, communication and sharing data.
@Jat:
Why to worry it’s made in Russia mission.
Please India, do not make Pakistan your neighbor on Mars, otherwise same situation have to suffer !!!!
@Xnain: Oh! Did ISRO scientists miss that? Hope their calculation have taken your tips of speed of light. Everyone knows the main challenge would come after 25 days when the spacecraft leaves earth's orbit for 300 day journey to Mars. But in a sequential set of activities first thing comes first. The launch must be successful first followed by placing the vehicle in geo stationery orbit and then the second push. We will keep our fingers crossed for early December effort.
For the kind inform to all those are crying about poverty in India, especislly my Pakistani brothers, the total budget of ISRO is only 0.34% of the national budget of India. This may a big amount for Pakistani economy but a small and good long term investment for India.
Indians spend more than 50 Billion rupees on firecrackers on a single day (Diwali) and. 4.5 billion rupees on a space mission is like peanuts for a country of India's size. To all those who are criticizing India's Mars mission, did US tackle all its social-economic problems before landing on Moon in 1959?! Did Pakistan wipe off its poverty and other socioeconomic issues before building commercial malls, theaters and cricket stadiums? No, all economic growth, dealing with issues like poverty and scientific research and exploration is all done in parallel otherwise a country faces the risk to be left behind in a certain field.
BTW talking from a cultural perspective, Indians are specially keen on astronomy and cosmology. Our days are named after planets, Hindu scriptures have thousands of astronomical references which have been verified over the time using modern science. We are very curious when it comes to space exploration. Its not a race of any kind with China, US etc. The sole motive of this is to satisfy our own curiosity.
@salman:
A mission to Mars automatically qualifies as global news. You should come out of your cave more often.
@Raj - USA: China did try but it was Russians who failed them and after that they did not try and may not try for a while. I mean well for India or even Pakistan to spend the money on alleviating poverty etc. It is all feel good thing, and who wants to be spending money by asking India to launch their probes to mars. Let the Americans and the Russian waste their money as they could afford to do it. If you look at the recent American's budget, you will see that outlays for NASA has been curtailed substantially. I stand corrected for Chines try and failure and do say that it is a great acheivent for Indians.
And Pakistanis are still squabbling over sighting of the moon!! LoL!
@JAX, most sensible comment in my opinion. ...Indian.
@naeem khan Manhattan,Ks: John F Kennedy was asked a similar question when he announced the lunar mission. Google his response. It is instructive.
Also you are clearly not thinking of scale. This program had a onetime cost of 450 crore or $750 million. This - in a country with GDP of close to 2 trillion. Yes India needs to focus on removing poverty but it is not as though if this project had been nixed, suddenly all poor would become rich. Someone else has pointed out and I will restate, India spends 900 crores on Hajj subsidy each year. Do you think that too should be removed. Gil India has no poor people whatsoever?
@Sonny: The story behind Pakistan is not about Kashmir with India. It is within. It has all to do with power. Establishment has brainwashed its populace with Kashmir that they will always be in power. Remove this equation and they will loose power.
@naeem khan Manhattan,Ks
Chinese failed in their mission to Mars. Please do a bit more research before making a claim. And as for Pakistan, India did not push it to do anything. You wanted to compete with India and developed and tested your nuclear missile, cos of the so called threat from India. All the lacks you are talking about are present in your country and in China as well. The question is what is the respective country doing about it. India develops its indigenous space program to improve technological expertise and working on upliftment of its people. It is slow no doubt but it slowly inching towards success. What is Pakistan doing about all the problems it faces? And "waste" as you say about all the money, let time decide whether it was an investment or wastage.
To all Pakistanis concerned about the lack of toilets in India and prevalent hunger: Very few people understand new economy. When computers came some parents thought it is only to play video game. Same video game technology led to drone. Mission to mars is not only to develop new technology but also to advertise to rest of the world that if we can successfully send orbiter to Mars than for sure we have the technology and track record to send your satellite in the orbit too. This kind of advertisement builds trust and confidence in the mind of new customers. Microwave, laser and various software came out of work done in NASA for space mission. In future India can earn more than ten times from doing business in satellite launching rather than begging.
@naeem khan Manhattan,Ks: You say that you have not heard of China having a Mars program. You are so ill informed. This is what BBC says:
The USSR, Russia, US, Britain, Europe, Japan and China have all launched missions to Mars There have been around 40 missions (but the total depends on how they are added up) More than half the world's attempts to reach the Red Planet have failed Only the US, USSR and Europe have been successful to date
Link:http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-24729073
India is trying to get a share of the $340 billion market and it makes lot of sense to invest $72 million. Yes $72 million, a very small amount is what this Mars program has cost India.
Earlier Mars missions of China and Japan failed. China's probe could not leave the earth orbit.
Missions like these are for gaining scientific knowledge and provide huge encouragement to students and scientists. Missions like these are not for those who believe that all knowledge is in one book. It is not for those who cannot think beyond toilet and keep spreading Polio.
India launches mission to Mars +++++++++++++++++++++++ Pakistan trying to connect Lahore to Islamabad by train.
@pakistan: like the fox concluded - these grapes are really sour.
What a fascinating discussion, with responses from both graceful and graceless people...many graceful Pakistanis congratulating India, many graceful Indians accepting it and wishing Pakistan would join this race too to better humankind. Many graceless Pakistanis burning with envy, and many graceless Indians gloating about their achievement. Btw, if you watch the movie Gravity, or for that matter any photo from space, you cannot see any border between India and Pakistan. It is one continuous landmass.
@gp65: Pakistan spends a modest 2.7% of it's GDP on defense, which compares favorably with India's 2.5 percent. When one translates it into actual amount the difference turns out to be huge, due to India's higher GDP.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Listofcountriesbymilitary_expenditures
@Naeem Khan take it easy brother. Who said Indians are not working on other development activities. Your comments sound very small minded. We should congratulate them or stay quiet.
Many of you here are making a case for India stop spending money on space programs and instead use that money on its poor. I will assume they really mean well for Indian poor.
Having said that, scientific advancement and poverty reduction are not zero sum game. As the article states, India can now go after the lucrative space business and make much more than what they have spent launching these missions. The success of space program might encourage more people to take up scientific careers.
Besides, you just can't argue that if there was no space program, the millions of dollars saved will be automatically invested in poverty reductions schemes. Poor management skills, corruption, lack of vision and uneducated/uninformed masses are the real reason behind poverty.
Wish the mars mission is not marred by technical glitches, which happened earlier in some other ventures. India did sent a mission to moon in year 2009, which failed . The failed moon mission, Chandrayaan I, is a good example of where India went wrong. The $82 million mission was assigned the task of mapping moon’s surface so that Indian scientists could prepare for sending a manned mission to the moon by 2013. The craft lasted in space less than a year before Indian scientists lost all contact. Mission aborted and expensive equipment lost. To understand that vanity was a large undeclared part of this space mission, just see the reactions of Indian officials after the embarrassing news. Al news about its failure was blocked and media was asked to remain shut.
http://www.scientificamerican.com/blog/post.cfm?id=indias-first-moon-mission-ends-prem-2009-08-31
@naeem khan Manhattan,Ks: I don’t hear Chinese opting for sending probes to Mars
Just because you don't hear, or in this case didn't hear, does not mean there was no sound. It just means that you are deaf, and maybe a little blind.
Read about Yinghuo-1
For all the Indians comparing this with Pakistan.. FYI we never have been actually ahead of India in any thing really. It has never been justified to compare yourselves to us really. Apart from the fact that we could have been in a far better position have we had better and sincere leadership and clearly defined policies. But the fact that many of you do feel the need to compare yourselves with us and even make fun of our problems like terrorism and worldly loneliness gives me a strange sense of pride that we still are a big headache (the word i would like to use is sensored by ET) for you! Grow up india and look at your neighbour china please...
@naeem khan Manhattan,Ks: Hi dear "Ignorance is bliss" is true in your case. India is not wasting her money but investing it in one of the fastest growing Industry that is Space and Technology. India have earned a lot by sending satellites of other country in orbit. Use google to find this information. and please read book and newspaper to find that China had tried to send probes on mars but failed in 2011. Indian government carefully investing its money in all field, Including social infrastructure, defense and technology, You don't need to be economist to understand that why sendig this mission is important not only for India but for all world. Go and study India's budget to find about it's spending in different areas. go and do some study before posting comment.
Congratulations to India and the Indian people for striving forwards and into space. Well done!
@Kamal: To put this in perspective, India's GDP (nominal) in 2013 is 1.4 trillion. The cost of this space mission is $74 million only.
In terms of %, this works out to be 0.000052% of GDP. That's how tiny this amount is.
And if you stack it up to national pride, encouragement of the sciences, there is no dollar value that will account for something so priceless.
For all the those commenting here this mission is India and India's alone.No one should get jealous or pleased by it. As far as India is concerned we must remember that the reason why US is respected today is because its advanced technology so if India is following a path of progress there is nothing wrong with it. I find one Pakistani's comment very fair that hopefully India will divert more funds to such missions than military. But same is true for Pakistan. There is a lot of poverty on both sides of LoC and yet both countries spend more on military than on reducing poverty. We were brothers once so why are we fighting.
We are fighting over something which could have been resolved long time back through talks if it was not for our arrogant and corrupt politicians. Terrorism is costing both nations in different ways and it will be stupid to blame each other. I met a lot of Pakistanis in London and they are quite sensible when taking about India-Pakistan issues. What good will come out of war- we have fought 3 and yet nothing resolved. We need strong decision makers on both sides who have the guts and will to ignore emotions and resolve matters as mature people. I hope peace returns to these two glorious nations in our lifetime.
@Abid: Good one ! :)
@Indra: If you have the command to understand English, please read my comment before asking me your question.
Pakistan has its own Mars. It is called Waziristan. You can plan for years to reach there.
How do these Indians accomplish all this in spite of not having the right religion and stuff?
Why spend money on wasteful projects while the same money could have been spent on poverty stricken segment of the Indian society. India started the nuclear program in the 70s and pushed Pakistan into developing her nuclear program. I don't hear Chinese opting for sending probes to Mars, they are busy raising the standard of living of their own people. India does things like this to make feel good, the fact is that it is still considered one of the most poverty stricken country, there is rampant poverty, lack of education, lack of infra-structure, lack of health facilities, lack of sanitation, lack of clean drinking water, highest on abortion chart, rampant rapes of women and low living standards because of their producing babies like no other country does, they have no idea what family planing means. I say go ahead and waste your money just to feel good. These are the facts and you guys in India know it very well, just look around you and you will understand what I am talking about. If Pakistanis opt for some stupid thing like this , I will say the same thing about them too and don't think they can't do it, their nuclear program should be an eye opener for those who will be posting nasty remarks now about me.
ETBLOGS1987
To all Pakistanis concerned about the lack of toilets in India and prevalent hunger:
Speaking of hunger, education and health - both India and Pakistan have problems. India invests a much greater percentage of its GDP in its social infrastructure compared to Pakistan and a lower percentage of its GDP in defense.
If you think Pakistan does not have a problem with toilets - you are wrong. You are just more familiar with India's problems because India acknowledges the problem and works to address them which results in a lot of articles in Indian media on the issue. http://tribune.com.pk/story/424180/toilet-facilities--a-luxury-for-most-pakistanis/
Meanwhile... Pakistan debates whether Hakimullah Mehsud is a martyr or not. We should stop comparing ourselves to India if we can't agree on matters of national security and integrity. We are on the path of nations like Somalia, Yemen, North Korea, and Iraq if we isolate ourselves from the rest of the world by falling prey to nationalistic but empty jingoism, sectarian strife, and tribalism. If we insist on letting the obscurantist and confused leaders like the Maulana, the Khan, and the JI luminaries shape our national narrative, very soon we'll be racing to the bottom with the failed states of the world.
It is things like this launch which show India is in a different league than say Ghana, Ivory coast or even Pakistan. Yes, there is poverty, much of which will remain for a long time though numbers keep dropping. That India is keeping up with the best in technology demonstration is heartening. In future, those with technology will have a clear advantage over those that don't. The days of colonization are over. This is the century of technological progress.
wow we hv done tremendeous job, we will successfull insha allah jai hind
Someone asked: what is the big deal? In future, as resources become scarce on earth, nations who can send missons into deep space may find a way of tapping minearls from there. Mars, moon etc may have rare minerals. Did not this article state that there is a $ 304 billion space market to capture? So, it is not all about prestige.
Toilet has been mentioned so many times now I am curious what percentage of pakistani have access to toilet and clean water??
@Hello: We are here to see: What Pakistani's are feeling about the news ? Are they feeling enough jealousy or not :)
@Pro: The website may have been unavailable for a very short duration of time but i still don't understand what does this have to do with the space program, it may have been unavailable due to high traffic during that time or anything else. What you are is sounds completely illogical and irrelevant, if you judge the prowess of an institute by its website then i am lost of words. Think before you say or write anything.
Dr AQ Khan who helped Pakistan in making of atomic bomb is working overtime to beat India, has made a rocket which will run on water shall be launched after one month and will reach mars atmosphere earlier than the Indian one.
@Zen: Can you prove that a VAST majority of Indian Muslims are Mullahs(bearded or burqa clad).Prove it first.Any place outside UP or lets say North Kerala.
Very proud to be an Indian origin....thou Pakistani.
If past Indian technological marvels are anything to go by, it wont be long before it burns up in space!
ETBLOGS1987
Rakib: "An error had taken place & you have helped correct it politely. That is the most informed & civilised response I have read here so far."
There is no doubt that the response you pointed out was the most detailed and informed. But I differ with your attempt to characterise @Xnain's original mail as 'an error' and the responses as uncivilized. @Xnain did not make an error. He rudely tried to correct @Jat and question his knowledge and it turns out all the while that it is he not @Jat who was wrong. It is his rudeness that drew the strong responses not the error.
Well done Indians. Great accomplishment. What I wanted to say next, I am certain my comment will not be posted. So I stop at just the congrats to Indians.
What a senseless waste of money for a country that cant feed its own people!
@Pakistani: nobody stop you to live with your unique mindset.
Just a passing thought. How nice it would be if in some future date India and Pakistan can launch a joint space mission. No harm dreaming kufr thoughts;)
For India this is not just another milestone, it is in fact a tour de force. India is grappling so many problems such as rampant poverty, poor infrastructure and an unstable neighborhood. She has achieved so much because she has set her priorities right: the constitution is secular - at least in theory; the state does not act as a rent seeking watchman and so on and so forth.
@Altamash Nadeem: Lol. I tell you what travels at speed of light. Its called Photon. To make things clear to you, speed of light cannot be breached.
Again, at speed of light mass doesnt convert in to energy. If that was the case then breaking the light barrier would be possible and solve our energy crisis.
At speed of light mass becomes infinite, it doesnt convert in to energy.
12th grade science my friend. No wonder you guys are still trying to figure out if moon came out or not while other nations are sitting on the moon.
Feed your 800 Million poverty stricken people first. Living a life less than dollar a day and having no toilets in their homes. Priorities all gone wrong.
@Shahid: China should permit these developments instead of making it as dependent and favour.
@AJ: Hey dude, Zahid sahab's dream / nightmares / fantasy stories will now extend to extraterrestrials conspiring with RAW / CIA / MOSSAD to defame Pakistan.... Imagine how much more entertaining that will be... God! even cartoon network will be boring when compared to Zahid sahab's antiques on National TVs of a certain country!! Gosh! let me grab some popcorn now itself!
if its done completely by them then kudos to indians!hope we come out of cruise missiles
@Altamash Nadeem: Light years is a measure of distance and represents the distance that can be travelled y an object travelling at speed of light in one years. No one is making the case that Chandrayaan can travel at speed of light But simply debunking Xnain's claim that the distance from earth to Mars is around 1.3 light years.
Congratulation India.I think this time you've done something really significant and hopefully this may be a turning point in our regions history.
@salman: Why is E.T so obsessed with India. What this news is to do with Pakistan ? who cares really
Why are you commenting on a news article that you don't care about ?
Why are your parents so obsessed with India; they named you after one of India's biggest movie stars ?
@Xnain: "Months? Even an object travelling at the speed of light would take around 450 days to reach the mars"
You clearly are clueless. The distance between earth and Sun is 8 light minutes and you are saying that our closest planet Mars is 450 light days? np
This is a great achievement for India. Rs. 4.5 billion is just about $75 million and it is a great achievement for India. Hat's off to the great Indian scientists. As someone has pointed out here, it will encourage Indian students in their education and gain more scientific knowledge, the results of which will be huge.
Why is E.T so obsessed with India. What this news is to do with Pakistan ? who cares really
Why is it such a big deal in Pak. And who is stopping Pak from launching their own rocket / satellite. Please go ahead Pak - with our blessings.
@Altamash Nadeem: SIR, i respect your concern but he was trying to correct others without knowing or by chance missing basics. You can see he wasn't polite at all but i stand by you on this one that all the discussion should be done in a civilized manner.
One more thing sir according to Einsteins theory of relatively speed of light in vaccum is the upper limit for speed of any object in any frame. But attaining speed of light doesn't mean that mass will get converted to KE(kinetic energy), neither speed of light is a prerequisite to mass-energy conversion. You can see this in nuclear reactions such as fission and fusion in which fraction of mass gets converted into energy and in that neutrons do attain a high speed but not speed of light. Another simple example is binding energy of nucleous.
Ricky @et please publish for the sake of proper discussion.
@Ch. Allah Daad: Congratulations to Indians. Advancement in science and technology benefits everyone.
Thank you.
Congratulations from all well-meaning Pakistanis accepted happily. But a little premature; as we will know about the success of the mission on or just after 24th September, 2014.
@Ayesha:
A matter of note: Please search for 'global hunger index' and see which country is ranked 22nd with hungriest of all people. It is Pakistan.
India is doing very well on the hunger front in the past decade. It still has lot of poor, but hungry - they are not. There are various subsidy programs of govt. which has all but irradicated hunger.
thank you.
@Maria: I think you peoples die with jealousy for indian achievements rather than drone strikes
Congrats India!!. Setting up right priorities always pay. Hopefully we Pakistanis will get our act together before modern cities sprung up in Mars.
The only way pakistan can launch an orbitor into mars is to sleep and dream of..
@Zaid Hamid: Zaid sahib I am sure this is a conspiracy by RAW/Moussad/CIA to malign Pakistan :)
When are we sending our biggest missile up? Send it at a slightly faster speed and aim it towards Mars. I am sure it will reach there much before the Indian pretender. Hurry! And no need to load a nuclear toy. indians will not be there. Pakistan Zindabad!
India supports TTP and they too have no toilets yet you call them martyrs.
They are going to the Mars, we are going to stop NATO supply. I think we can't grow up. :( :(
@Ayesha: Chill Baji.
@Ayesha: How ridiculous…
You want ridiculous ? How does calling a murderer of tens of thousands of Pakistanis, a martyr sounds like ? A tip for you - if you keep quiet; no one will know how ridiculous you are...
the only person in the history of Pakistan who gave importance to missile technology and did some serious research was Wladyslaw Turowics who diedin an unfortunate accident
If Waar can invest 25 Crore in a film. Then why our government cant spend 400 Crore to send a rocket in the mars. Its not expensive. 41 times it was attempted and failed 35 times. Indian rocket is gonna lost in sky as well. This is just a Marketing. Just like an Empty glass sounds more.
They do not have money to feed their people but they want to spend billions of dollars on space mission. How ridiculous...
Good going India.Our next missions priority should be to send humans into space.Pakistan lacks the capability nor the finance to build even a mini satellite or SLV by itself.There country is declining in every aspect.
Pakistanis were left fuming in their own bile and vitriol. I bet, more Pakistanis will die out of jealously, than ever done by Taliban blast or US Drones.
@Our game our rules!: Providing toilets to their 50% deprived public would have been a better idea.
Next time, we will hire you as a consultant; you seem like someone who has spent his whole life researching toilets and the related stuff...
@KJS: You are the best! The patience with which you have explained matters to @Xnain is exemplary. I wish I could learn that! An error had taken place & you have helped correct it politely. That is the most informed & civilised response I have read here so far.
@Indian Reader: Pakistan is shattered..! They can’t even stop american drone attack
You are wrong !! Imran Khan has already stopped the drone attacks, it is just that it takes 45 years for the news to travel from Waziristan to Islamabad.
@KAY: Every single country of our region is the victim of Indian state sponsored terrorism. Even own India people are the victim of Indian secret agencies terrorism. Recently your own government official stated in the your court that India itself is arranged Mumbai attacks. Have some shame will? obviously NO.
@JAX:
One drop of poison is sufficient to poison a pot of milk. An un-partitioned India would have been another Pakistan by now or even worse.
@JAX: thanks mate but no thanks!! It would have really sucked if OBL was found in some Nwest state "uttar pashchim pradesh"(current Pakistan) and the whole world would have been labeling us as a terrorist nation. so thank you so much for taking away all those problems.
I wish both countries develope but separately :)
@nononsense: Suparco has more immediate concerns and they have launched satellites successfully. If India wants to waste money on a useless mission , it is their perogative. The world wonders why a country where 500 million people don't have access to toilets or are sleeping on streets should even worry about wasting money copying the Chinese or Americans in their space program. They should focus on the streets of Indian cities. How sad and pitiful.
It's really poor that there are so many negative comments here. To all the indians posting, why do we connect an ISRO space launch with domestic issues in pakistan? Let's just give them some space to appreciate our achievement!
I am critical of a lot of policies adopted by Pakistan but this is not the right article to comment on them. This article is a positive one that all desis from both sides of the border should be proud of.
@zainsheikh88: If I had the money, I’d spend it decreasing poverty in the country…
From where will you get the money ? China, Saudi Arabia and United States - keep begging and wait...
@Suresh The outlay for this mission is half of what is spent every year to subsidize Hajj pilgrimage by India.
To all those fellow Indians who've replied to @Xnain.
Dear friends, please don't showcase your ignorance in your enthusiasm. No object can travel at the speed of light. PERIOD. At that speed matter turns into energy so there would be no 'rocket' left! I haven't dreamt it up, it's Einstein who came up with the theory.
E = MC(squared) E= Energy M = Mass C = Speed of Light.
Sadly you sound like Pakistanis who went all gaga over someone's claim of running vehicles on water. :) Fight ignorance, not each other.
Congratulations to Indians. Advancement in science and technology benefits everyone.
well done ....congrats to indian scientists and engineers.and a peice of advise to pakistanis....press your leadership to emphasise on science and technology.please dont try to demean the indian achievement through absurd comments.off course trolls from india also demean any positive development in pakistan...but receprocating in the same manner would be an act of stupidity.
@paki101: Gesh, you are so proud of your "MADE IN CHINA" toilets aren't you..
Why as Indians we are cribbing for $70 mn #Mangalyaan when we blew $1 bn in Diwali crackers which dont go 10 feet in the sky: U R Rao, ISRO scientist
Congratulations India for becoming the first Asian country to send a probe mission to Mars. I hope our neighbors will get inspired by our success and won't get jealous. :-)
India launches mission to Mars +++++++++++++++++++++++++ Pakistan launches mission to Swat:).
@Xnain:
excuse me!!!!!!!!!! educate yourself. light from sun takes alittle more than 8 minutes.
As India launches rocket to Mars, we should not forget lots of common men in fata launch hand held rocket launcher.
@Pro: this has done by them intentionally so that no... pak hackers can............U know what I'm trying to say. Secondly, let the mission complete successfully, as habitual, you pakistanis will start asking for your share of land on mars also:)
@Jat: Months? Even an object travelling at the speed of light would take around 450 days to reach the mars. And I hope you know what is the speed of light. The most challenging part is not the launch but the endurance and quality of instrumentation present in the launching craft. I hope low cost mission be able to survive space travel. NASA is not a high spending agency for nothing
Saw the entire thing from the build up to the count down to lift off. It was a combination of nervousness & immense pride for me. The 4 stages of the launch have been completed & The Orbiter has already been placed on a geosynchronous path around the earth's orbit and is on course to Mars. Now critics on both sides of the border will start nagging about the no. of toilets and number of people below the poverty line.The numbers of the former is increasing and the latter is gradually decreasing. Although our economy is starting to look up from the bust which happened recently,we have a long way to go before we sort the problems of corruption, poverty , casteism & implement a truly changed mindset inclined towards progress. These problems are not going solve themselves overnight and will take time.That doesn't mean we stop chasing feasible & cost friendly scientific endeavours which have immediate scientific & economic benefits to the nation. Cannot wait for the GSLV MkIII launch vehicle to get completed.This will mark the 1st step of launching many satellites into orbit (including the chandrayaan 2 moon rover) & eventually the Indian Human Spaceflight program that is planned for 2020
First phase completed successfully - good beginning.
It will be a grand moment for the Indian subcontinent if and when the probe is inserted successfully in the intended orbit around Mars.
I am surprised it is unmanned. With the population of beasts and humans they have, a few on a one-way mission to Mars would not be missed. Their problem is in their villages and their downtrodden but they continue to defy domestic logic by spending big dollars on such missions. We should be encouraging them. Let them overspend in Space than on the military
Congradulation India for the successful mission to mars at the first stage
We are busy fighting with hakimullah, but india gone leaps and bounds and now they are sending mars orbitor to mars today, unbelievable what they have achieved ! We are testing our missiles which are no use for day to day life for our people or our nation.
Saw the entire thing from the build up to the count down to lift off. It was a combination of nervousness & immense pride for me. The 4 stages of the launch have been completed & The Orbiter has already been placed on a geosynchronous path around the earth's orbit and is on course to Mars. Now critics on both sides of the border will start nagging about the no. of toilets and number of people below the poverty line.The numbers of the former is increasing and the latter is gradually decreasing. Although our economy is starting to look up from the bust which happened recently,we have a long way to go before we sort the problems of corruption, poverty , casteism & implement a truly changed mindset inclined towards progress. These problems are not going solve themselves overnight and will take time.That doesn't mean we stop chasing feasible & cost friendly scientific endeavours which have immediate scientific & economic benefits to the nation. Cannot wait for the GSLV MkIII launch vehicle to get completed.This will mark the 1st step of launching many satellites into orbit (including the chandrayaan 2 moon rover) & eventually the Indian Human Spaceflight program that is planned for 2020.
@Zaid Hamid:
The big deal is that the Indians will be enouraged in their engineering ventures and local manufactring. no one should think that Indian plans to sent half of its population to the red planet, which by the way will not be bad at all.
Rex Minor
@PRO - maybe its the internet at your end? The website opens just fine here~!
@Pro: Just before the launch, it was announced on TV it was due to unprecedented response to its website.
pakistan launched nasr missile as a reply to India's mars mission.
First and only South Asian to have presence in space faring nations list. India needs to invest in GSLV and basic sciences in the deemed universities to do any meaningful research on the outer planets.
India is a poor country and ideally it should be spending all its resources on creating social infrastructure to uplift its economy and create jobs to ensure poverty is beaten.
However, the experience suggests that if you do not leverage your capabilities you will be discriminated against. Nehru did not do an nuclear test (even as Homi Baba was ready to do so) because his 'sensibilities' did not let him do it. And when the NPT was finalized, India was designated as a non-nuclear power, because it hadn't conducted nuclear test before 1968, while China was admitted to 'nucler club' because it had done so in 1964.
Nehru's stupidity cost India. Fact that India conducted nuclear test just 2 year after the NPT was adopted by major powers did not count.
If you are late to join a technology race, you may be barred by discriminatory regime. India is thus justified in joining the space race, because as one of the biggest nations in the world it can't loose any possible advantage in future.
Condradulation ISRO for putting orbitor into space successfully.
Mashallah, Allah has blessed India.;)..
Congratulations ISRO!
watched upto stage 3, tension was palbable, was tense too, at every stage !!!! and it takes 45days to know where the sat would be!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! fingers going to be numb being crossed for 45days !!!!
Now what would Pakistan launch as a response. I wish terrorists could be tied to this rocket.
@Pro: The website is very much running. Did your government banned ISRO website in Pakistan?
Good luck India.
And Pakistanis can't decide on which day moon is sighted.
@Pro: you can expect traffic on isro website today! If you are trying to open it from pak maybe you are filtered! and it happens that if you have problem in your feet then you stop eating or combing hair ? Space mission is our pride ! poverty is problem .we have to face both.
@Abu Noor: it is not an effort to join the big league,,,it is an effort to overcome biggest demon called ignorance!!!
What is big deal in it?
What can you expect from the mission when even the website of Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) is unavailable? http://www.isro.org/. Mindless and shameful mission. Instead of searching life in the sky, it could be better to care for miserable life on their own earth.
Welldone India! Hardwork always pays. Regardless of its results, your efforts to join the big league are commendable.
Am nervous waiting for the launch - watching it live - will be many months before we know if the mission is successful or not...