India’s Mars mission
No longer is space the exclusive domain of rich countries. India should be proud of its institutions, its scientists and its government (the mission began under the previous Congress-led coalition) that made this endevour possible. It is an oft-heard complaint that money that was spent on the mission, $74 million, could have been spent elsewhere. The response to that charge bears repeating: it is miraculous that only $75 million was spent on this programme, making it the cheapest so far.
Second, of course the money could have been spent on any other over-burdened sector in a country where 300 million people still live below the poverty line, but there are certain things that cannot be quantified that easily — self-esteem and national pride, for example. The collective pride over this achievement transcends all those barriers — class, religion, caste, language — that have hampered India’s progress since its inception. Almost a billion and a half people can declare themselves to be amongst the newest members of a very short list of countries with a viable space programmes. Of course this gives Pakistan plenty of soul searching to do. Our own nascent space agency, Suparco, still occupies itself with weather patterns and tracking natural disasters, which should be overseen by a separate body. Given the litany of Pakistan’s problems, the country hardly looks at the world outside of itself — other worlds, in this case. These problems keep Pakistanis in a constant state of crisis management, always worrying about the immediate rather than the future. This seems unlikely to change soon.
Published in The Express Tribune, September 26th, 2014.
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@Anjan, I appreciate your understanding. I wish others especially in Pakistan had a similar mindset. This is not about national pride, it is about complex space science. i.e. it is as the saying goes, about "rocket science". I wish other nations had the same yearning for learning as the Indians have & had, and proved it beyond any doubt. This is the real achievement. Discovering happiness, contentment, achievement, in furthering knowledge. I wish Pakistani's will someday change their mindset and achieve something that they as a nation can be really proud about, just as the indians have.
@Harkol: " Religion requires a man to surrender rationality and put his faith in what was written/said thousands of years ago." ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ My 2 cents: Different religions have different degrees of scientific temperament. Eg: Zen which is almost metaphysical....the sound of one hand clapping.
@Toticalling: " But Pakistan is also good in many things." ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ I fully support your stance.
@GP65
Another way, to put USD 74 Million in perspective besides Government of India’s expenditure on education is to look at GOI’s Haj Subsidy.
In 2011 the GOI’s expenditure on subsidising Muslims to go to Saudi Arabia for the Haj was INR 6.85 Billion or about USD 114 Million.
I would rather spend triple of USD 74 Million for going to Mars but would begrudge spending even a dollar to.subsidise religious junkets.
@Bharat R:
Exploring the space is the ultimate proof that science works and Religion is fundamentally flawed.
Religion requires a man to surrender rationality and put his faith in what was written/said thousands of years ago.
Science on the other hand keeps proving there are newer frontiers and what believed to be true earlier wasn't. Thus, science in a way is a self-correcting religion (faith).
The reason countries should invest in science ($74million is a small amount) is to guard against their own societies become stagnant and irrational.
Where fresh water doesn't come in - old water turns stale. And theological states that put their focus on religion, tend to deteriorate as they can't reinvent themselves.
This is the significance of science/research, and this is why India needs to spend more and more on these fields (not on defence but on pure sciences).
@AVPMPolpot: Sarcasm noted. Cheers.
Great achievement. But Pakistan is also good in many things. One is giving too much importance to religion. Banning YOU Tube and quietly blaming US for ISIS. Others are down to earth and doing something for this life.
I remember December 2010 tweet of Salmaan Taseer, former Governor of Pakistan’s Punjab Province who was gunned down for blasphemy by his Police bodyguards.:
"Why does India make fools of themselves messing in space technology? Stick 2 bollywood my advice."
That kind of attitude will ensure nothing much coming out of SUPARCO.
That kind of attitude is reinforced by Pakistan’s obsession with seeking Military equality with India. Thus Pakistan’s riposte to the launch of India’s Mars probe was launching a Hatf-IX missile while Pakistan’s riposte to Mars orbit insertion of India’s probe was also a Hatf-IX missile launch. This obsessive military mindset is not conducive to progress.
http://tribune.com.pk/story/627387/pakistan-successfully-test-fires-hatf-ix-ispr/
http://tribune.com.pk/story/767512/pakistan-successfully-test-fires-hatf-ix-2/
I remember December 2010 tweet of Salmaan Taseer, former Governor of Pakistan’s Punjab Province who was gunned down for blasphemy by his Police bodyguards.:
"Why does India make fools of themselves messing in space technology? Stick 2 bollywood my advice."
That kind of attitude will ensure nothing much coming out of SUPARCO.
That kind of attitude is reinforced by Pakistan’s obsession with seeking Military equality with India. Thus Pakistan’s riposte to the launch of India’s Mars probe was launching a Hatf-IX missile while Pakistan’s riposte to Mars orbit insertion of India’s probe was also a Hatf-IX missile launch. This obsessive military mindset is not condusive to progress.
http://tribune.com.pk/story/627387/pakistan-successfully-test-fires-hatf-ix-ispr/
http://tribune.com.pk/story/767512/pakistan-successfully-test-fires-hatf-ix-2/
" India should be proud of its institutions, its scientists and its government "... ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ On a plane what you say is of course true. But on another level India should be proud of its Secular Democracy...should be proud of the idea of India. India has so many imperfections..but the idea of India is perfect....Pls view M.J.Akbar on Youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_XieVcOXZoU
@AVPMPolpot: Poverty alleviation is not as easy as you might think.But it is a social and political issue..And that doesn't mean the scientific progress need to stop.There is hardly any comparison between India and Pakistan as far scientific progress.
@MsGP65: My apologies if again in my posting above I have inadvertently ( or intentionally) hurt anyone with my insensitivity and arrogance. +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Blame it on the Indians who sent a satellite to Mars!.
Dimensions of Poverty: Money spent on Mars vs Toilets. ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ If u have no money thats incidental poverty...can be easily corrected. If you have no education, no insight no yearning for knowledge thats structural poverty which no one can cure. (Courtesy my Professor at College). Now u can arrive at who is structurally poor and who is incidentally poor between India and Pakistan.
Progress and alleviation of poverty are not two mutually exclusive things as the editorial has rightly pointed out. Hopefully, India can address both going ahead. But by any yardstick, sending a craft to orbit around Mars at the very first attempt is a mindboggling achievement. It costs Rs.6 per km - cheaper than a rickshaw ride. But I would have preferred it, if they had not cut corners on the onboard camera.
India’s education budget is 4.1% of GDP or around $74 billion a year. Budget for this mission was $74 million. Thus this budget was 0.1% of India’s education budget. Even if it achieved nothing more than motivate more students to learn science – it would have earned its return merely as an initiative in education. This is not even considering the enhanced scientific capacity.
Separately, the Indian PM has just launched a 'Make in India' initiative. What better advertisement of India's ability to world class manufacturing apability at a cometitive cost than this iniiative? Even the space market is around $30 billion. If this project allows India to capture even 1% of the market or $300 million, it will pay for this project many times over.
It is not about "self-esteem and national pride" ... it is about validating understanding of hardcore space science, complex mathematical calculations, besides mechanical, chemical and communication engineering ... !!
"Second, of course the money could have been spent on any other over-burdened sector in a country where 300 million people still live below the poverty line, but there are certain things that cannot be quantified that easily — self-esteem and national pride, for example. The collective pride over this achievement transcends all those barriers — class, religion, caste, language — that have hampered India’s progress since its inception."
This is a very important point brought out by this editorial. Such self-esteem and national pride brings in a sense of belonging and national spirit amongst all its citizens. This goes a long, long way in eradicating internal and external threats. It in fact saves huge amounts of money that would be otherwise spent to tackle such threats.
Mars is no priority for Pakistan +++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Fighting Polio is.