Thursday, October 2, 2014
NASA to Work With India in Future Mars Mission
Last week, both NASA's MAVEN and India's Mangalyaan satellites made it into Mars's orbit, further cementing NASA's competence in space and proving India's ability to play in the big leagues. Mangalyaan is set to scan the surface of Mars and made India both the first Asian country to make it to Mars (among the competitive Chinese and Japanese) and the first country to make it to Mars successfully on their first try. This impressive feat was topped by the fact that the mission was completed with $74 million, a little over one tenth of the budget for MAVEN. This new deal between NASA and ISRO (Indian Space Research Organisation) is exciting on multiple fronts: the countries can continue learning about Mars and the possibility of making it habitable for people and NASA can get a lesson on frugal budgeting from India. Space exploration is imperative for humans to learn more about possible business ventures (asteroid mining), human real estate for colonization, and even for further understanding of things on Earth (ex. photosynthesis and cancer research). The things we learn in space have tremendous impacts on the economy and way of life here on Earth but, as many NASA critics will be quick to point out, they aren't cheap. By working with ISRO, NASA and the world will be able to learn things about Mars's atmosphere and surface at a much lower price than ever before, boosting the overall production of both agencies and opening up more possibilities for the future. If NASA can learn to do more with less of a budget, taxpayers will be much happier with where their money is going and everyone will be better off.
India, U.S. Agree to Joint Exploration of Mars
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I love this idea of different countries joining hands to make something happen. By cooperating, both nations can keep the costs down and get useful information. But they could go even further. Perhaps some additional basic research can be funded in India at a fraction of the cost.
ReplyDeleteAlthough this article admittedly handles the issue of whether we are spending too much on space travel better than most, I still find it hard to get behind space missions when we can't even protect our current planet. If we spent even a small percentage of the money we spend on space research on climate change slowing initiatives, or alternative energy sources here on Earth, we'd be in a much better place environmentally than we currently are. Shouldn't we try to keep our own planet inhabitable before moving on to outer space?
ReplyDeleteThe things we can do in space, such as research agriculture techniques, photosynthesis, and the behavior of cells, have huge impacts on the way we do things here on Earth. Asteroids also have tremendous potential for more natural resources to mine. Mars, in particular, shares many similarities with Earth in that they are similar sizes, made of similar materials, and Mars may have had water and at atmosphere in the past. Research on Mars can tell us what to expect of the future of Earth and it can help us prepare and combat that future. Aside from that, we do need to be looking at other planets as prospective candidates for colonization because no matter how well we take care of the Earth, it will eventually be too small to provide for the ever-increasing human population. While India proves that money could and should be spent more efficiently, I think we absolutely need to keep spending in order to improve the planet we currently live on and prepare future habitats.
DeleteIt is not surprising that the NASA budget far exceeds the India's budget. However, the United States should take not because India accomplished the same feat spending far less money. I am not sure how the additional money was allocated, maybe to the actual space ship or maybe American jobs. Either way, it shows that the United States can be wasteful at times. I do believe it is good to explore the solar system, but at a reasonable cost. I agree that that there are some issues that money could have been spent on today.
ReplyDeleteIt will be great if NASA and India can work together for developing future space projects. Considering the current environment challenges that we are facing, it has indeed been very vital for researchers to find alternative sources of living in the outer space. If they can both complement each other well, by using US's high-tech facilities and India's low labor and other infrastructural costs, it will not be too long until we hear more good news about advanced discoveries in the space.
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