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Indian Martian exploration program
- Thread starter JAISWAL
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Kranthi
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Dude I do know that Agni is a spin off of ISRO projects...and I do know that when ISRO has great record of launching multiple sattelites in one go, DRDO is still grappling with the MIRV tech.. But we have to understand that projects have their own complexities..
One way of getting things done is to encourage even in failures.. And the other way is to set some competition (build up private sector). DRDO has neither.. Except for navy, no other armed wing backs DRDO in its failures. GSLV has worst record.. But it has been succeeding lately.. I'm eagerly waiting for Mark-III to take off.. We all have the confidence that ISRO will pull this off, even after looking at the bad record of GSLV. Just have faith in the scientists buddy..
ISRO projects can fail and the results are not catastrophic.. Some of the Chandrayaan payloads failed too early but we have nothing to lose.we can build better next time.. But most DRDO projects are those which will be put to combat use and there should be no margin for error. Assume failure of FCS on tejas when in flight. Can u just leave it and say ya we'll build it better next time ??. Tejas has a clean record of 0 accidents since its first flight 14 years ago. All these have to be factored in. Hence it takes time to get things right.
I'm not advocating for DRDO nor I'm against ISRO.. All are indian scientists and all came from those same educational institutions and universities. Where do u think ISRO scientists came from ? Cybertron ?
U back them up and have faith, and they'll not disappoint u.
U say u want products that are 10 times cheaper than similar things out there... MOM is 10 times than 'MAVEN'. Fine.. U'll have an F-22 equivalent that has a life time half that of F-22, 25% of the payload of F-22, half stealthy compared to that of F-22, and just one engine of course.. Sure it will be 10 times cheaper..
MOM and MAVEN are different all together.. We can achieve Maven kind of mission at about half the cost of Maven for sure but not 1/10. The launch using ATLAS 5 itself costed double that of the whole MOM mission. GSLV, required for Maven kind of mission, will also cost much more than PSLV and the additional payloads n all will increase the cost manifold..
I do have faith that the next Nirbhay launch in October will be a success which is worth comparable to GSLV, given the complexity and its importance to our armed forces.
ISRO and DRDO must compete among themselves. Go ISRO.. and Go DRDO..
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ladder
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I doubt, planetary movements provide a limited window of opportunity, doubt DRDO has that kind of restriction.
(Anyways, don't want to get into the debate why there are delays in DRDO.)
thethinker
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Good reply to all those holier than thou, self-righteous Western media houses and their general ignorant population.
Mangalyaan: Why Western criticism to India's Mars mission is blatant racism
Editor's Note: This article was originally published in November 2013, when the Mangalyaan was launched from Earth. It has been republished in light of the success of the India Mars mission.
India has now successfully launched its mission to Mars. The mission was achieved at an extraordinary low price tag of $74 million – one-tenth of what a similar mission would cost NASA or ESA. If this successfully reaches Mars, India will be the first country to have the Mars mission succeed on the first try.
The provocation:
Just as quickly as the rocket sped off, Western journalists who marveled the moon walk in their childhood are engaging Indians in an unnecessary provocation. And these are not coming from cheap tabloids, but reputed media houses. It is not the criticism that rankles, but how crudely they are hitting below the belt.
This author chose to include poverty right in the headline: "India Mars Mission to Launch Amidst Overwhelming Poverty."
What a refreshing headline! Not even poverty. It has to be "overwhelming poverty". Who are we to launch into space? Should we not ask our British colonial masters before doing anything?
Apparently the other countries engaging in scientific research face no poverty. Apparently, space has something to do with poverty. Apparently, it is between funding Isro and solving poverty. You cannot do both. No sir, no. Next time, when you write about something that Britain did well, sure to remember to randomly incorporate the poverty of Birmingham and the riots of London into the title.
"England wins 10 Olympic golds amidst all the poverty"
"NASA begins its moon mission despite failing to manage hurricane relief"
"European Space Agency launches a satellite despite the inability to control religious riots in Paris and Tottenham, London".
This CNN author didn't even pretend to hide the racist idea:
Is India's Mars mission the latest escalation in Asia's space race?
For a country like Australia, the space aspirations are extremely pragmatically driven. On the other hand, a country like Malaysia is intent on putting astronauts in space — that's very prestige-oriented.
Apparently, brown people's ambitions to reach space is not pragmatic enough. Apparently, the $75 million spent on the Mars mission is the only thing that keeps us from building toilets.
This gentleman at The Guardian makes a thinly-veiled threat: "ISRO to launch India's first spacecraft to Mars: Critics of Britain's aid programme in the country have also been angered by the mission. The UK gives India around 300m each year."
Britain threatens to pull its aid. This is ghastly. What would India do without all these do-gooder British aid? The Indian economy of 1 trillion pounds was badly depending on these 300 million pounds that comes with no strings attached. We are an ungrateful bunch, aren't we? We are supposed to surrender our national priorities and research work and listen to our ex-colonial masters for a paltry 300 million.
This Economist article is more subtle and even more racist:How can poor countries afford space programmes?
What if the 16,000 scientists and engineers now working on space development were deployed instead to fix rotten sanitation?
Someone from Oxford wants to know why don't we all Indians work on toilets and potty research?
If this author lived at the time of Renaissance, s/he might have written:
Newton, Michelangelo and da Vinci are wasting time instead of building toilets.Poverty should indeed be an excuse to postpone great achievements. Right?
These achievements are the ones that are keeping our kids smiling and hopeful. This kid has an extra inspiration now. She has extra hope.
The double standards:
This event is monumental for us Indians. Imagine how the Americans felt when they first landed on moon. This is a landmark work for Indian scientists and I am filled with pride, just as the 1960s Americans were filled with pride as Armstrong made his stride. Sure, America had plenty of issues in 1969 – Vietnam war, civil rights, inflation, unemployment. But, those negative news could wait another day. It was time to enjoy the moon.
Actually, these commentators give a squat about India. They don't have any history of commenting on India's social needs. This is just outright racism clothed in a patronizing tone. To me they just look like sore losers and cry babies.
The cost:
Many of these journalists cribbing about the cost seem disconnected from India. We spent 450 crores on this mission. Let me put that in context. One of the local cricket teams – Mumbai Indians – alone is worth 1000 crores. Ambani built a home in Mumbai for 5000 crores. Every single day, Indians buy gold jewelry worth 1500 crores. An upcoming Bollywood movie (made about space) is costing over 500 crores. And finally, the Indian central government budget is 17 lakh crores (I actually rounded off this figure and that round-off error alone could fund 130 such missions).
India doesn't have more toilets, not because we don't have extra 450 crores, but because of our poor execution of things. Don't heap your blame on poor Isro for India's social conditions (ironically, a non-trivial portion of this poverty & hunger is due to the colonization under a power from where you are writing these articles).
Not to be outdone by the firangis (foreigners), our Indian wannabes joined action:
Amidst euphoria, some voices question cost of Mars Mission
Social activist Harsh Mander termed the mission as a "remarkable indifference to the dignity" of the poor.
Arre! Poor are so hurt now, ouch because of some big words! Of course, when Mr. Mander teaches from an AC classroom at a business school or gives lectures from comfy podiums, the dignity of the poor is not so much hurt.
An ex-ISRO head was quoted extensively by everyone: "It is not value for money"¦ It is more disturbing that somebody is making a claim that they are going to find presence of life on Mars. This is really moonshine."
Moonshine? Wow! Of course none of this bitterness and disgruntlement is due to him being an ex-employee who was expelled from ISRO after the S-band scam. He carries out an open war with the current Isro chief and of course we can expect him to be unbiased & honest in this issue.
Why India needs a Mars program:
It is exciting for children and teenagers, many of whom might take up a career in science, technology and research. These kids deserve an inspiration in the sky. If we can get a couple of hundred of these kids into hard sciences, the mission would have paid for itself completely.
Isro is already using the technology to help other countries put their equipment in space (for a lucrative fee, of course). If we continue to innovate in cost and speed, we could become a big hub for space projects. That would mean employment for 1000s of engineers and lot of foreign money.
India needs to prove its technological capabilities as it is building up the technology hub of the future – not just space, but everything. If you could launch a Mars mission at the cost of setting up ERP in an enterprise, you could build anything. There are both direct and intangible effects of this demonstration. This would really benefit India's tech companies. This is actually rocket science! Again more money.
India needs to spend on research to master the science of the future. NASA had plenty of spin-offs resulting out of its space program that advanced other fields such as medicine, apparel, food and navigation.
We could have made the "Model T" of spacecrafts – inexpensive and quick. The mission was completed in just 14 months and $75 million with little prior expertise. More importantly, the mission got off the ground on the first try. China, Japan and Russia have had to abort Mars missions in the past 2 decades due to launch failures. That is an outstanding engineering feat worth of salute.
Indians have always been fascinated by space since antiquity. Our ancient scientists spent all their lives looking at space. In the recent times, scientists such as Subramaniam Chandrashekar (Nobel laureate in astrophysics), SN Bose (Boson was named after him) have electrified the field. This mission is deeply fascinating even from a cultural perspective.
Imagine the potential for humanity if we could launch hundreds of inexpensive missions in our search for alternative life forms and alternative planets. Four years ago, India helped confirm that there is water on moon – the confirmation of which has eluded global researchers for five decades. This mission sent to detect methane could be the start of a new life for Indian science. Aryabatta and Bhaskaracharya would be really proud of the lads who worked on this mission.
We need our Renaissance. We have to start breaking the chain of poverty by thinking outside the box. That would mean boldly assertive. People in other walks of life can surely draw inspiration from our scientists. This day is so refreshing although I have zero connection with anything Isro did. If we can reach Mars, we can do anything – from politics, arts to science & sports.
Outsiders have no idea of what this all means to Indians. Even a poor, hungry kid could dream for a Math Olympiad, can't she? In the same way, even a poor hungry nation can participate in a scientific mission, can't we?
We launched a peace project – not a bomb. We didn't go around fighting a poor country citing the presence of fake WMDs. We didn't build a vessel to conquer unsuspecting third worlders. We launched a mission to help humanity and the advancement of science. More importantly, we launched it with our money. We didn't ask for your money nor help. Who are you to patronise us this way?
These journalists are like the rich bullies who enter a poor man's house and mock at the books kept by the poor man – "You poor people can't afford to eat rich food and you can afford to buy more books?"
Yes, these journalists pretty much appear to me like those bullies.
Mangalyaan: Why Western criticism to India's Mars mission is blatant racism
Editor's Note: This article was originally published in November 2013, when the Mangalyaan was launched from Earth. It has been republished in light of the success of the India Mars mission.
India has now successfully launched its mission to Mars. The mission was achieved at an extraordinary low price tag of $74 million – one-tenth of what a similar mission would cost NASA or ESA. If this successfully reaches Mars, India will be the first country to have the Mars mission succeed on the first try.
The provocation:
Just as quickly as the rocket sped off, Western journalists who marveled the moon walk in their childhood are engaging Indians in an unnecessary provocation. And these are not coming from cheap tabloids, but reputed media houses. It is not the criticism that rankles, but how crudely they are hitting below the belt.
This author chose to include poverty right in the headline: "India Mars Mission to Launch Amidst Overwhelming Poverty."
What a refreshing headline! Not even poverty. It has to be "overwhelming poverty". Who are we to launch into space? Should we not ask our British colonial masters before doing anything?
Apparently the other countries engaging in scientific research face no poverty. Apparently, space has something to do with poverty. Apparently, it is between funding Isro and solving poverty. You cannot do both. No sir, no. Next time, when you write about something that Britain did well, sure to remember to randomly incorporate the poverty of Birmingham and the riots of London into the title.
"England wins 10 Olympic golds amidst all the poverty"
"NASA begins its moon mission despite failing to manage hurricane relief"
"European Space Agency launches a satellite despite the inability to control religious riots in Paris and Tottenham, London".
This CNN author didn't even pretend to hide the racist idea:
Is India's Mars mission the latest escalation in Asia's space race?
For a country like Australia, the space aspirations are extremely pragmatically driven. On the other hand, a country like Malaysia is intent on putting astronauts in space — that's very prestige-oriented.
Apparently, brown people's ambitions to reach space is not pragmatic enough. Apparently, the $75 million spent on the Mars mission is the only thing that keeps us from building toilets.
This gentleman at The Guardian makes a thinly-veiled threat: "ISRO to launch India's first spacecraft to Mars: Critics of Britain's aid programme in the country have also been angered by the mission. The UK gives India around 300m each year."
Britain threatens to pull its aid. This is ghastly. What would India do without all these do-gooder British aid? The Indian economy of 1 trillion pounds was badly depending on these 300 million pounds that comes with no strings attached. We are an ungrateful bunch, aren't we? We are supposed to surrender our national priorities and research work and listen to our ex-colonial masters for a paltry 300 million.
This Economist article is more subtle and even more racist:How can poor countries afford space programmes?
What if the 16,000 scientists and engineers now working on space development were deployed instead to fix rotten sanitation?
Someone from Oxford wants to know why don't we all Indians work on toilets and potty research?
If this author lived at the time of Renaissance, s/he might have written:
Newton, Michelangelo and da Vinci are wasting time instead of building toilets.Poverty should indeed be an excuse to postpone great achievements. Right?
These achievements are the ones that are keeping our kids smiling and hopeful. This kid has an extra inspiration now. She has extra hope.
The double standards:
This event is monumental for us Indians. Imagine how the Americans felt when they first landed on moon. This is a landmark work for Indian scientists and I am filled with pride, just as the 1960s Americans were filled with pride as Armstrong made his stride. Sure, America had plenty of issues in 1969 – Vietnam war, civil rights, inflation, unemployment. But, those negative news could wait another day. It was time to enjoy the moon.
Actually, these commentators give a squat about India. They don't have any history of commenting on India's social needs. This is just outright racism clothed in a patronizing tone. To me they just look like sore losers and cry babies.
The cost:
Many of these journalists cribbing about the cost seem disconnected from India. We spent 450 crores on this mission. Let me put that in context. One of the local cricket teams – Mumbai Indians – alone is worth 1000 crores. Ambani built a home in Mumbai for 5000 crores. Every single day, Indians buy gold jewelry worth 1500 crores. An upcoming Bollywood movie (made about space) is costing over 500 crores. And finally, the Indian central government budget is 17 lakh crores (I actually rounded off this figure and that round-off error alone could fund 130 such missions).
India doesn't have more toilets, not because we don't have extra 450 crores, but because of our poor execution of things. Don't heap your blame on poor Isro for India's social conditions (ironically, a non-trivial portion of this poverty & hunger is due to the colonization under a power from where you are writing these articles).
Not to be outdone by the firangis (foreigners), our Indian wannabes joined action:
Amidst euphoria, some voices question cost of Mars Mission
Social activist Harsh Mander termed the mission as a "remarkable indifference to the dignity" of the poor.
Arre! Poor are so hurt now, ouch because of some big words! Of course, when Mr. Mander teaches from an AC classroom at a business school or gives lectures from comfy podiums, the dignity of the poor is not so much hurt.
An ex-ISRO head was quoted extensively by everyone: "It is not value for money"¦ It is more disturbing that somebody is making a claim that they are going to find presence of life on Mars. This is really moonshine."
Moonshine? Wow! Of course none of this bitterness and disgruntlement is due to him being an ex-employee who was expelled from ISRO after the S-band scam. He carries out an open war with the current Isro chief and of course we can expect him to be unbiased & honest in this issue.
Why India needs a Mars program:
It is exciting for children and teenagers, many of whom might take up a career in science, technology and research. These kids deserve an inspiration in the sky. If we can get a couple of hundred of these kids into hard sciences, the mission would have paid for itself completely.
Isro is already using the technology to help other countries put their equipment in space (for a lucrative fee, of course). If we continue to innovate in cost and speed, we could become a big hub for space projects. That would mean employment for 1000s of engineers and lot of foreign money.
India needs to prove its technological capabilities as it is building up the technology hub of the future – not just space, but everything. If you could launch a Mars mission at the cost of setting up ERP in an enterprise, you could build anything. There are both direct and intangible effects of this demonstration. This would really benefit India's tech companies. This is actually rocket science! Again more money.
India needs to spend on research to master the science of the future. NASA had plenty of spin-offs resulting out of its space program that advanced other fields such as medicine, apparel, food and navigation.
We could have made the "Model T" of spacecrafts – inexpensive and quick. The mission was completed in just 14 months and $75 million with little prior expertise. More importantly, the mission got off the ground on the first try. China, Japan and Russia have had to abort Mars missions in the past 2 decades due to launch failures. That is an outstanding engineering feat worth of salute.
Indians have always been fascinated by space since antiquity. Our ancient scientists spent all their lives looking at space. In the recent times, scientists such as Subramaniam Chandrashekar (Nobel laureate in astrophysics), SN Bose (Boson was named after him) have electrified the field. This mission is deeply fascinating even from a cultural perspective.
Imagine the potential for humanity if we could launch hundreds of inexpensive missions in our search for alternative life forms and alternative planets. Four years ago, India helped confirm that there is water on moon – the confirmation of which has eluded global researchers for five decades. This mission sent to detect methane could be the start of a new life for Indian science. Aryabatta and Bhaskaracharya would be really proud of the lads who worked on this mission.
We need our Renaissance. We have to start breaking the chain of poverty by thinking outside the box. That would mean boldly assertive. People in other walks of life can surely draw inspiration from our scientists. This day is so refreshing although I have zero connection with anything Isro did. If we can reach Mars, we can do anything – from politics, arts to science & sports.
Outsiders have no idea of what this all means to Indians. Even a poor, hungry kid could dream for a Math Olympiad, can't she? In the same way, even a poor hungry nation can participate in a scientific mission, can't we?
We launched a peace project – not a bomb. We didn't go around fighting a poor country citing the presence of fake WMDs. We didn't build a vessel to conquer unsuspecting third worlders. We launched a mission to help humanity and the advancement of science. More importantly, we launched it with our money. We didn't ask for your money nor help. Who are you to patronise us this way?
These journalists are like the rich bullies who enter a poor man's house and mock at the books kept by the poor man – "You poor people can't afford to eat rich food and you can afford to buy more books?"
Yes, these journalists pretty much appear to me like those bullies.
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@thethinker the answer is simple yaar butt hurt :thumb: the good part is watching them when they are butt hurt trust me that moment is priceless 
and the britards always takes the first place they are never appreciative and most of them a bunch of morons still living in their colonial period hope they soon wake up for the reality :cool2:
and the britards always takes the first place they are never appreciative and most of them a bunch of morons still living in their colonial period hope they soon wake up for the reality :cool2:
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thethinker
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True.@thethinker the answer is simple yaar butt hurt :thumb: the good part is watching them when they are butt hurt trust me that moment is priceless
Interestingly, for this kind of achievement, China and Pakistani media and their netizens are for most part well behaved and rational with neutral reporting.
While the West seems to be in some kind of shell shock, Brits especially. It is like they have regressed back to their usual racist and vile East India company era.
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Dhairya Yadav
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Im a 100% supporter of ISRO's funding. All those NASA and ESA projects are being run by NRIs. This a blatant talent exodus from India. By supporting ISRO , we are atleast keeping talented minds in our country, and not letting them being poached by those american agencies... Go ISRO Go !
I actually want this mission to be as successful as Chandrayaan, find some methane on mars etc, it will be a big blow to other space agencies.
I actually want this mission to be as successful as Chandrayaan, find some methane on mars etc, it will be a big blow to other space agencies.
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WE can stop reservation the moment, caste bigots stop being caste bigots. Till then, reservations will continue.
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Re: Live: India puts Mars Orbiter successfully into orbit of red plane
How come this post was not noticed by any one?
Thanks for the great info ji:thumb:@Maulana Madindrullah: aalso add to that. Teh ESA's "ME", it was launched using Russian Soyuz !! and teh lander failed, onlee. Just sayin !
How come this post was not noticed by any one?
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Re: Live: India puts Mars Orbiter successfully into orbit of red plane
BREAKING NEWS!!!
The sales of skin burn ointments like Burnol have risen 1000 folds since Indian Mars mission went successful.
and no wonder it's Pakis worldwide using it since their ass is on fire in jealousy and frustration.
BREAKING NEWS!!!
The sales of skin burn ointments like Burnol have risen 1000 folds since Indian Mars mission went successful.
and no wonder it's Pakis worldwide using it since their ass is on fire in jealousy and frustration.
Free Karma
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Re: Live: India puts Mars Orbiter successfully into orbit of red plane
And don't forget to mention the Brits !!!
anupamsurey
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Re: Live: India puts Mars Orbiter successfully into orbit of red plane
MOSTLY finding SAFE HEAVENS for their TERRORIST UMMAH (or whatever that is).what kind of space research pakis do by the way.
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Re: Live: India puts Mars Orbiter successfully into orbit of red plane
Not just Brits but many countries which still thinks India is a land of snake charmers etc.
Yeah Brits just managed to save their country breaking apart just by a small margin of voting using false promises.
Not just Brits but many countries which still thinks India is a land of snake charmers etc.
Free Karma
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Mars Orbiter Mission looks to sniff methane on comet - The Times of India
Also Isro contemplates extending MOM's life
Good to hear that there was a lot of interest despite it being our first mission Shows the confidence people have in our capabilities.
Also the final achieved orbit is 421.7x76993 ( planned orbit was 500x 80000).
Also some other random bits of info:
1)the first picture taken was an area called.Syrtis major planum Syrtis major planum is a dark spot located on the boundary between northern lowlands and southern highlands of mars. Interestingly this is one of the first inter planetary feature noticed by early scientists and huygens showed this feature in his mars drawings of 1659 (he used it to study the length of a martian day).
2)After some photoshopping the second area could is this
an area called Indus Vallis on Mars
Also the camera is still being focussed/calibrated around, so some pics maybe blurry.
If they could get some pics of the comet it would be awesome, but I think i would be hard. I just hope the comet doesnt do any damage to the mangalyaan. Quite a nice time to be around mars, some really cool opportunities here.
Also Isro contemplates extending MOM's life
I wonder if they could just let it drift away instead of crashing it down at the end...it wouldnt last long though because of fading sunlight.
Good to hear that there was a lot of interest despite it being our first mission
Shows the confidence people have in our capabilities.Also the final achieved orbit is 421.7x76993 ( planned orbit was 500x 80000).
Also some other random bits of info:
1)the first picture taken was an area called.Syrtis major planum Syrtis major planum is a dark spot located on the boundary between northern lowlands and southern highlands of mars. Interestingly this is one of the first inter planetary feature noticed by early scientists and huygens showed this feature in his mars drawings of 1659 (he used it to study the length of a martian day).
2)After some photoshopping the second area could is this
an area called Indus Vallis on Mars
Also the camera is still being focussed/calibrated around, so some pics maybe blurry.
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praneet.bajpaie
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well some Pakis on dawn have come to their aukaat, saying stuff like the Ruskies and Israelis are the "real brains" behind the Mars Mission. lol
praneet.bajpaie
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Hey guys,
Are there no comments or tweets from the likes of Ahmed Qureshi and his ilk on this subject? It has been a tough day for me today and I would like some laughs at the end of the day.
Are there no comments or tweets from the likes of Ahmed Qureshi and his ilk on this subject? It has been a tough day for me today and I would like some laughs at the end of the day.
Blackwater
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Metro Bus or Mars: The problem with our priorities
1969 was the year, when the United States succeeded in landing humans on the moon – our closest neighbour in space – and safely bringing them back to Earth.
The United States, being the most technologically advanced country on Earth, put that feather in its hat about 45 years ago.
What was the condition of India and Pakistan at that time? The two countries had already fought two battles, and were about to plunge into another one in 1971.
While the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) was established in 1969, the same year when humans set foot on the moon, Pakistan's Space and Upper Atmosphere Research Commission (SUPARCO) was established in 1961 – eight years before its Indian counterpart.
Explore: Space: Above and Beyond
SUPARCO was set up by the most famous of all Pakistani scientists and the country's only Nobel Laureate: Dr Abdus Salam.
Dr Salam had advised Field Marshal Muhammad Ayub Khan, then President of Pakistan to establish a Space Sciences Research Wing within Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission. This later turned into SUPARCO in 1964.
In 1960, President John F Kennedy had announced that the United States planned to land an American on the moon, and bring him safely back to earth before the decade was over.
Dr Tariq Mustafa, a scientist at Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission's, writes in his memoir that for this project, NASA needed to map the wind conditions at the upper atmospheric region above the Indian Ocean.
In mid-September 1961, Dr Abdus Salam and Dr Tariq Mustafa held a meeting with NASA officials in Washington. On the occasion, NASA offered help to Pakistan in the development and launching of rockets to map the atmosphere above Indian Ocean, on the condition that any data acquired from the research on upper atmosphere will be shared with NASA.
Dr Abdus Salam helped set up Pakistan
Dr Abdus Salam helped set up Pakistan's space organisation before India had founded theirs.
Pakistan quickly bagged the offer, and started working on the project.
On 7 June 1962, Pakistan launched an unmanned rocket, Rehbar-I from Sonmiani, with assistance from NASA.
Dr Tariq Mustafa led the team working on this project. With this experimental launch, Pakistan became the third country in Asia, first in South Asia, and only the 10th country in the world to have conducted such a launch.
Read on: Footprints: No space for Ahmadis
According to a report of the Wisconsin Project on Nuclear Arms Control, before the June 1962 launch, NASA had started training Pakistani scientists at Wallops Island and the Goddard Space Flight Centers. It also put up fellowships and research associate programs at American universities for "advanced training and experience" in the field of space.
In subsequent years, however, Pakistan's space program severely lagged due to the political turmoil which enveloped the country.
India built its first satellite Aryabhata, and launched it in 1975. Pakistan built its first satellite Badr-I and launched it in 1990.
India is now independently developing satellites, launching them on its own, and is the first nation to put its orbiter in Mars's orbit in the first attempt. Meanwhile, Pakistan is still limited to Geographical Information Systems (GIS), remote sensing, and communication satellites.
Also read: India's spacecraft beams back first Mars photos
The Paksat-1R, launched in 2011 is Pakistan's latest satellite, that was funded, designed, built, and launched by our friend in need, China.
Pakistan's only fully functional satellite is this communication satellite. So much for a national space agency in the 21st century.
Putting aside NASA and the European Space Agency, ISRO too started off with resources similar to Pakistan, and I will argue, with even lesser expertise than Pakistan.
SUPARCO was ahead of all other Asian nations in the space race, but what happened to us then?
On September 24, when India's Mars Orbiter Mission, or Mangalyaan successfully entered the Martian orbit, I was completely overwhelmed with happiness. Why?
Because as a person deeply interested in science, scientific achievement anywhere around the world – even if it is in some far off island in the Oceania – the achievement humbles me.
But at the same time, I think about Pakistan, the country whose passport I hold, and whose National Identity Card gives me an identity.
Pakistan is now nowhere in the space race.
Pakistan is nowhere near eliminating polio.
Pakistan is nowhere in literacy.
Where is Pakistan?
Pakistan's education budget was, in actual terms, reduced by 11 per cent in the recent budget, whereas other countries are investing more in health and education.
It is obvious that the nation's priorities are wrong.
Metro Bus or Mars: The problem with our priorities - Blogs - DAWN.COM
1969 was the year, when the United States succeeded in landing humans on the moon – our closest neighbour in space – and safely bringing them back to Earth.
The United States, being the most technologically advanced country on Earth, put that feather in its hat about 45 years ago.
What was the condition of India and Pakistan at that time? The two countries had already fought two battles, and were about to plunge into another one in 1971.
While the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) was established in 1969, the same year when humans set foot on the moon, Pakistan's Space and Upper Atmosphere Research Commission (SUPARCO) was established in 1961 – eight years before its Indian counterpart.
Explore: Space: Above and Beyond
SUPARCO was set up by the most famous of all Pakistani scientists and the country's only Nobel Laureate: Dr Abdus Salam.
Dr Salam had advised Field Marshal Muhammad Ayub Khan, then President of Pakistan to establish a Space Sciences Research Wing within Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission. This later turned into SUPARCO in 1964.
In 1960, President John F Kennedy had announced that the United States planned to land an American on the moon, and bring him safely back to earth before the decade was over.
Dr Tariq Mustafa, a scientist at Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission's, writes in his memoir that for this project, NASA needed to map the wind conditions at the upper atmospheric region above the Indian Ocean.
In mid-September 1961, Dr Abdus Salam and Dr Tariq Mustafa held a meeting with NASA officials in Washington. On the occasion, NASA offered help to Pakistan in the development and launching of rockets to map the atmosphere above Indian Ocean, on the condition that any data acquired from the research on upper atmosphere will be shared with NASA.
Dr Abdus Salam helped set up Pakistan
Dr Abdus Salam helped set up Pakistan's space organisation before India had founded theirs.
Pakistan quickly bagged the offer, and started working on the project.
On 7 June 1962, Pakistan launched an unmanned rocket, Rehbar-I from Sonmiani, with assistance from NASA.
Dr Tariq Mustafa led the team working on this project. With this experimental launch, Pakistan became the third country in Asia, first in South Asia, and only the 10th country in the world to have conducted such a launch.
Read on: Footprints: No space for Ahmadis
According to a report of the Wisconsin Project on Nuclear Arms Control, before the June 1962 launch, NASA had started training Pakistani scientists at Wallops Island and the Goddard Space Flight Centers. It also put up fellowships and research associate programs at American universities for "advanced training and experience" in the field of space.
In subsequent years, however, Pakistan's space program severely lagged due to the political turmoil which enveloped the country.
India built its first satellite Aryabhata, and launched it in 1975. Pakistan built its first satellite Badr-I and launched it in 1990.
India is now independently developing satellites, launching them on its own, and is the first nation to put its orbiter in Mars's orbit in the first attempt. Meanwhile, Pakistan is still limited to Geographical Information Systems (GIS), remote sensing, and communication satellites.
Also read: India's spacecraft beams back first Mars photos
The Paksat-1R, launched in 2011 is Pakistan's latest satellite, that was funded, designed, built, and launched by our friend in need, China.
Pakistan's only fully functional satellite is this communication satellite. So much for a national space agency in the 21st century.
Putting aside NASA and the European Space Agency, ISRO too started off with resources similar to Pakistan, and I will argue, with even lesser expertise than Pakistan.
SUPARCO was ahead of all other Asian nations in the space race, but what happened to us then?
On September 24, when India's Mars Orbiter Mission, or Mangalyaan successfully entered the Martian orbit, I was completely overwhelmed with happiness. Why?
Because as a person deeply interested in science, scientific achievement anywhere around the world – even if it is in some far off island in the Oceania – the achievement humbles me.
But at the same time, I think about Pakistan, the country whose passport I hold, and whose National Identity Card gives me an identity.
Pakistan is now nowhere in the space race.
Pakistan is nowhere near eliminating polio.
Pakistan is nowhere in literacy.
Where is Pakistan?
Pakistan's education budget was, in actual terms, reduced by 11 per cent in the recent budget, whereas other countries are investing more in health and education.
It is obvious that the nation's priorities are wrong.
Metro Bus or Mars: The problem with our priorities - Blogs - DAWN.COM
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