Should space exploration be only the developed world’s adventure?

In summary, the conversation discusses the controversy surrounding India's first unmanned lunar mission and the criticism that the country should not be spending money on technology when it has high poverty rates and other issues. The conversation also touches upon the importance of developing indigenous technologies and the role of the government in addressing social and economic problems. There is also a discussion about the benefits of technology from the West and the need for free flow of scientific knowledge. The conversation concludes with a comparison between India and China's development and their approaches towards technology.
  • #106
Proton Soup said:
yeah, that is certainly interesting. India has slid backwards, while south korea has accelerated forward.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Per_capita_GDP_of_South_Asian_economies_&_SKorea_(1950-1995).png

and i don't think it's got anything to do with SK's space program(?), though SK does have an effective foil against invasion since the war(USA). i think it's mostly got to do with SK's emphasis on education. SK's rank is currently 8, compared to India at 145. change this one thing so that you outrank China, and India will become the regional power.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Education_Index

India is an advanced country but in an advanced state of decay.

I never said our space program is going to change everything and make us a developed country all of a sudden , I can't tell this again and again.

And by the way you comparing two entirely different countries who are in entirely different stages of development one has almost reached developed status and other has only just started a decade ago.

you are comparing 49 million people with 1200 milllion people and we had socialist inspired policies till the economic reforms in the 1990's and ours is a highly divided population "2000 ethnic groups ,almost all the world's religions, 300 languages, 854 dialects 100's of political parties " it is not about whether India has become developed, it about India still holding on to democratic values despite all the hardships and still remaining has one country. Geographically India and SK are very different and remember their is still progress in this chaos. SK has a lot more homogeneous population did not have to think too much about security or border disputes since the US was on it's side "what would any country worry about when the US is on it's side?" but India was at war ever since independence and large chunks of money was spend on military and nuclear arms race

Indo-pak wars.
Sino-indian war.

SK was able to concentrate on education and other things because when it came to disputes with neighbors the US was always on it's side and will always be there.
US-SK
I know SK also spends a lot on military but still 'the US factor' played an important role.

I have given a link about ISRO 's role in education before.
shashankac655 said:
...it is what vast majority of ISRO's budget is meant for (benefits).
i will give a few more.

The vastness and different terrains of India is also a problem.
http://www.isro.org/scripts/teleeducation.aspx
http://www.digitallearning.in/jan06/spacetech.asp
http://www.sakaaltimes.com/sakaaltimesbeta/20110908/5619480348012557194.htm
http://www.chinadevelopmentbrief.com/node/634
but still China is around 20-25 years ahead of India.

ISRO's missions other than those related to education also have tangible benefits ,it can cultivate interest in education and technology among the masses.
chandrayaan
 
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  • #107
ok, well i have no idea what you want to argue or talk about then. as you say, you had advanced civilizations when the rest of us were lurking in the dark ages. so obviously, you should know better how to do things and should have left us all behind centuries ago. I've given you my opinion about what the true aims of a space program are for any nation (i don't think it is just india), and i'll just leave it at that. sure, there will be economic development, but in the same sense as what happens in the US - a military-industrial complex with the true gains coming from an expansion of empire. and that may be exactly what India is required to do, especially given china's recent inroads into developing its own empire in the region.

but i will stick with the assertion that if you really want change, you're going to need to drastically change your culture to one that values education. you think your population is a problem? well, education is a good place to start there. ethnic tensions holding you back? try a little education. japan, and now south korea, did not become highly modern, technically-advanced nations by accident. they made conscious decisions to pursue those goals. having a space program is fine, but unless you make some conscious decisions as a society to change your culture, you will continue to simply be the undeveloped world, but with rockets. good luck.
 
  • #108
I feel that this thread has gone horribly off topic.
 
  • #109
Proton Soup said:
ok, well i have no idea what you want to argue or talk about then. as you say, you had advanced civilizations when the rest of us were lurking in the dark ages. so obviously, you should know better how to do things and should have left us all behind centuries ago. I've given you my opinion about what the true aims of a space program are for any nation (i don't think it is just india), and i'll just leave it at that. sure, there will be economic development, but in the same sense as what happens in the US - a military-industrial complex with the true gains coming from an expansion of empire. and that may be exactly what India is required to do, especially given china's recent inroads into developing its own empire in the region.

but i will stick with the assertion that if you really want change, you're going to need to drastically change your culture to one that values education. you think your population is a problem? well, education is a good place to start there. ethnic tensions holding you back? try a little education. japan, and now south korea, did not become highly modern, technically-advanced nations by accident. they made conscious decisions to pursue those goals. having a space program is fine, but unless you make some conscious decisions as a society to change your culture, you will continue to simply be the undeveloped world, but with rockets. good luck.

read the article about the economic history of India and you will know why?

I never said they developed by accident.

I don't know what you are talking about ,i have given you the evidence to show that our Space program has a lot to do with education and i have also said that our space program is not the answer to all the problems and i have never said that the whole country's economy is going to run on space programs or satellite launches.

To pursue our goals consciously we need visionaries at the top of our government like M.K Gandhi or Nehru but there are no such people like them right now.
 
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  • #110
shashankac655 said:
What do you mean?

Check the title: "Should space exploration be only the developed world’s adventure?" What I mean is that the developed world has the funds and means for space exploration. The under-developed and un-developed world does not.
shashankac655 said:
To pursue our goals consciously we need visionaries at the top of our government like M.K Gandhi or Nehru but there are no such people like them right now.

Sure there are. They'll all over the place! It's just that most people like that eschew politics.
 
  • #111
DoggerDan said:
Check the title: "Should space exploration be only the developed world’s adventure?" What I mean is that the developed world has the funds and means for space exploration. The under-developed and un-developed world does not.

India
foreign aid
Industrialized countries
UN-Report 2011.
Expenditure.
http://www.newsbullet.in/world/52-more/13164-indias-poverty-to-halve-by-2015-un-report.
India is not underdeveloped ,it is a developing country and the whole point of this thread is that space exploration (or a space program) is a stage of developing a nation.
 
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  • #112
shashankac655 said:
India is not underdeveloped...

Why are you being overly sensitive about India?

Did I mention India? I did not.

Did I classify India as either an underdeveloped or undeveloped nation? I did not.

All I did is confer my opinion as to the answer to the title/question of this thread.

the whole point of this thread is that space exploration (or a space program) is a stage of developing a nation.

Respectfully, I disagree. I think the title is clear. I thought my response to its question was clear as well. Perhaps I'm in error.
 
  • #113
shashankac655 said:
read the article about the economic history of India and you will know why?

I never said they developed by accident.

I don't know what you are talking about ,i have given you the evidence to show that our Space program has a lot to do with education and i have also said that our space program is not the answer to all the problems and i have never said that the whole country's economy is going to run on space programs or satellite launches.

To pursue our goals consciously we need visionaries at the top of our government like M.K Gandhi or Nehru but there are no such people like them right now.

well, like i said, good luck. i hope it works out for you. certainly, there's plenty of commercial and educational opportunities from launching communications satellites. and I'm not trying to pick on India when i point out the military motivation. i apply the same standard to china, russia, usa, etc. we spend a lot of time promoting the peaceful technological spinoffs from our own program, from Velcro and Tang to solar panels and fuel cells. yet, i don't think that's our primary motivation. nor do i think it's particularly bad if you do pursue it for that motivation. like i said, it protects your economy by not getting invaded again(yes, the Brits, i know). you're just fortunate to be big enough to do it despite being not fully developed yet. and i hope you find your visionaries, because i still think culture will be the most important factor to your success.
 
  • #114
Drakkith said:
I feel that this thread has gone horribly off topic.

Agreed.
 

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