India to launch Mars mission this year:President

[indian_foxhound]

NEW DELHI India will launch its
first space mission to Mars this
year, President Pranab Mukherjee
said on Thursday. "Several space missions are
planned for 2013, including
India's first mission to Mars and
the launch of our first
navigational satellite," Mukherjee
said in his maiden address to the joint sitting of Parliament at the
start of the Budget session. The Indian Space Research
Organisation will also put in orbit
the first of its seven satellites of
the Indian Regional Navigation
Satellite System (IRNSS). The system is India's version of the Global Positioning
System. The Mars Orbiter mission, scheduled for launch in
October, will look for signature of life and
reasons for loss of atmosphere on the red planet. Under the mission, India will put in orbit a
spacecraft using the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle.
The satellite will undertake a 300-day journey to
Mars and is expected to be put into the Martian
orbit in September next year. Mukherjee said the space programme epitomised
India's scientific achievements and benefits the
country in a number of areas. "The launch of the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle
on September 9, 2012 marked our 100th space
mission. India's first remote sensing satellite
RISAT-1, with all-weather imaging capability,
was also launched in 2012," he said. 'Govt taking steps to revive economy' Expressing concern over declining growth,
President Pranab Mukherjee said government is
taking steps to revive investment activity and
boost economy. "Both global and domestic factors have affected
our growth. We need to address the impact of
both. My government has responded to the
situation by taking several measures to revive
investment activity and investor sentiment," he
said in his address to the joint sitting of Parliament at the beginning of the Budget
Session. The economic growth during the 2012-13 is
expected to fall to a decade low level of 5 per
cent. It was 6.2 per cent in the previous fiscal. "The past year has been a very difficult one for
the global economy ...It has been a difficult year
for India also. "The Indian economy is currently experiencing
slower growth. The real GDP grew by 5.4 per
cent in the first half of the current fiscal year. This
is significantly lower than the average of around
8 per cent in the last decade," Mukherjee said,
adding the government is taking steps to deal with factors responsible for the slowdown. On concerns over fiscal prudence, Mukherjee said,
the government has announced a roadmap for
fiscal consolidation and would contain the fiscal
deficit to 5.3 per cent of the GDP in the current
financial year. Referring to the issue of price rise, he said
"inflation is easing gradually, it is still a problem ...
There has been a moderation in core inflation and
recovery in growth is likely". The inflation based on Wholesale Price Index
(WPI) plummeted to a three year low of 6.62 per
cent in January. The retail inflation, however
continued to remain in double digit. The government, he added, is also working with
states to reach a consensus on Goods and
Services Tax (GST), which will streamline indirect
taxation system

http://www.timesofindia.com/india/I...-this-year-President/articleshow/18606746.cms

 

[imran_ind]

Our scientists deserve to be congratulated on this achievement. They have achieved a great success in the space exploration

 

[Viet]

Sounds great. Congrat India!

 

[Gibbs]

But seriously..Should'nt India's priorities be elsewhere..So many issues on poverty,Infrastructure,livelyhoods and sanitation in the country..What is India trying to prove by spending Billions on a space mission and for what?? ..The whole world already knows it's a growing economic and regional power

 

[Jackdaws]

What an utter waste of resources. An Indian version of the GPS? Why? GPS works well - I am not about to switch from Google Navigation of Govt. of India Navigation. The Russians already have a competitor to the GPS - it is called GLONASS - have you ever seen or even heard anyone using it? And I would rather India spend money on improving infrastructure on this planet and make India more habitable before rushing off to Mars.

 

[Srinivas]

But seriously..Should'nt India's priorities be elsewhere..So many issues on poverty,Infrastructure,livelyhoods and sanitation in the country..What is India trying to prove by spending Billions on a space mission and for what?? ..The whole world already knows it's a growing economic and regional power

Mate, As usual old in valid argument, the cost of mars mission is a very minute one compared to the lakhs of crores GOI spends on Welfare programs.

People do not check these facts and brag about India particularly west.

India needs this kind of missions for technology verification and up-gradation. Good going ISRO

 

[rockstarIN]

But seriously..Should'nt India's priorities be elsewhere..So many issues on poverty,Infrastructure,livelyhoods and sanitation in the country..What is India trying to prove by spending Billions on a space mission and for what?? ..The whole world already knows it's a growing economic and regional power

See, there are alot of things which you can't do the next day. We can not wait till 1 billion+ people reach above the poverty line to start the space programme. It has to start from the stretch and take enough time. Same applies in all other spends.

 

[anant_s]

Go for Glory ISRO!

All the Best

 

[Skull and Bones]

But seriously..Should'nt India's priorities be elsewhere..So many issues on poverty,Infrastructure,livelyhoods and sanitation in the country..What is India trying to prove by spending Billions on a space mission and for what?? ..The whole world already knows it's a growing economic and regional power

ISRO allocates it's annual budget through it's commercial satellite launches, budget allocation for ISRO is minimum from annual national budget for what it achieves.

 

[INDIC]

But seriously..Should'nt India's priorities be elsewhere..So many issues on poverty,Infrastructure,livelyhoods and sanitation in the country..What is India trying to prove by spending Billions on a space mission and for what?? ..The whole world already knows it's a growing economic and regional power

Our space mission is one of the most cost effective in the world. ISRO has her own budget, we don't slash it from development budget.

 

[Echo_419]

But seriously..Should'nt India's priorities be elsewhere..So many issues on poverty,Infrastructure,livelyhoods and sanitation in the country..What is India trying to prove by spending Billions on a space mission and for what?? ..The whole world already knows it's a growing economic and regional power

Dude for every 1 rupee we spend we get 7 rupees in return

Also we spend less than 2 billion not very much for a big country like us

 

[KRAIT]

Yaar he wanted to derail.

 

[Developereo]

That's very impressive.

The biggest benefit is the encouragement it gives to young generation to study science. You can't put a price on that.

 

[Gibbs]

Mate, As usual old in valid argument, the cost of mars mission is a very minute one compared to the lakhs of crores GOI spends on Welfare programs.

People do not check these facts and brag about India particularly west.

India needs this kind of missions for technology verification and up-gradation. Good going ISRO

I can understand the need of navigation and communication sattelites for reserch purposes,even defence needs.. But cant agree on your arguments about a mars mission..Nothing but a vain attempt to upsurge regional and global players that are way ahead of the game..It's petty attempt to potray yourself imo..Where there are other more pressing needs..There are many other ways to do that

 

[Skull and Bones]

I can understand the need of navigation and communication sattelites for reserch purposes,even defence needs.. But cant agree on your arguments about a mars mission..Nothing but a vain attempt to upsurge regional and global players that are way ahead of the game..It's petty attempt to potray yourself imo..There are many other ways to do that

It's called displaying the credibility of our launch systems and the advancement of control systems to deploy a satellite on Mars orbit, in other words, Advertising, which will also pave the way for further scientific advancement of India.

The same logic by which you justify a $10 million dollar advertisement for a $5 bollar shampoo.