India's moon probe goes missing.

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TheGreenGoblin
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India's moon probe goes missing.

#1 Post by TheGreenGoblin » Sat Sep 07, 2019 6:44 am

India's attempt to land on the surface of the Moon appears to have ended in failure after its historic spacecraft went missing.

The probe, named Vikram, had hoped to touch down on the surface as part of the Chandrayaan-2 Moon mission. It was a large part of the nation's grand plans to propel its own space programme and become the first country to explore the largely unknown lunar south pole.
Chandrayaan-2

It is not so easy to put a probe down on the moon as the Israelis recently discovered.

Israeli moon mission fails

Meanwhile, China's arch rival savours its success with its paean to a Pink Floyd song, almost.

China on the far side of the moon

The Israelis win the prize for the best photo...

Israeli probe moon photo.JPG
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Re: India's moon probe goes missing.

#2 Post by Pontius Navigator » Sat Sep 07, 2019 8:33 am

Now if they had had a navigator on board it would not have been lost. Temporarily uncertain of position but not lost. I mean we know where it is; it's on the bloody moon. As they were aiming at the pole if they missed by a few yards and landed on the dark side?

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Re: India's moon probe goes missing.

#3 Post by TheGreenGoblin » Sat Sep 07, 2019 8:46 am

Pontius Navigator wrote:
Sat Sep 07, 2019 8:33 am
Now if they had had a navigator on board it would not have been lost. Temporarily uncertain of position but not lost. I mean we know where it is; it's on the bloody moon. As they were aiming at the pole if they missed by a few yards and landed on the dark side?
True PN. To 'lose' a probe is sheer navigational carelessness.

Maybe if they had paid more attention to the Goddess Shiva, deity of the morning star and the star Alcor, partner to Mizar, in Ursa Major, they would have hit their mark and all would not have been lost.
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Re: India's moon probe goes missing.

#4 Post by Slasher » Sat Sep 07, 2019 8:50 am

Yeh but now they need to pray to Lakshmi more to provide some extra funding.

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Re: India's moon probe goes missing.

#5 Post by Pontius Navigator » Sat Sep 07, 2019 8:52 am

Slasher wrote:
Sat Sep 07, 2019 8:50 am
Yeh but now they need to pray to Lakshmi more to provide some extra funding.
Nah, just divert some more of UK development aid.

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Re: India's moon probe goes missing.

#6 Post by Slasher » Sat Sep 07, 2019 8:56 am

That's what I mean. The Hindu Goddess of Wealth will take care of that if she's prayed at enough.

ribrash

Re: India's moon probe goes missing.

#7 Post by ribrash » Sat Sep 07, 2019 9:40 am

They should stick to what they do best....Curry.

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Re: India's moon probe goes missing.

#8 Post by TheGreenGoblin » Sat Sep 07, 2019 9:53 am

Slasher wrote:
Sat Sep 07, 2019 8:50 am
Yeh but now they need to pray to Lakshmi more to provide some extra funding.
Either that or Lord Baksheesh as PN says... ;)))

Why the UK is giving a nuclear armed nation with a space programme development aid is very good question to ask!
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Re: India's moon probe goes missing.

#9 Post by Pontius Navigator » Sat Sep 07, 2019 12:35 pm

India used to be a major beneficiary of grants from the Rotary Foundation. At one point all grants were suspended . . .

The problem of grants and aid that I see is Revenue displacement. If someone else picks up the bill for something, say equipping a school, then your own money can be spent on something essential like a bomb or rocket.

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Re: India's moon probe goes missing.

#10 Post by Boac » Sat Sep 07, 2019 1:10 pm

Does this qualify as an 'Indian Take-away'?

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Re: India's moon probe goes missing.

#11 Post by TheGreenGoblin » Mon Sep 09, 2019 7:32 am

That which once was lost, has now been found.

Vikram lunar lander spotted
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Re: India's moon probe goes missing.

#12 Post by Pontius Navigator » Mon Sep 09, 2019 8:01 am

The space agency said on Saturday the lander’s descent was normal until 2 kilometres (1.2 miles) from the lunar surface.
I told you the parachute wouldn't work.

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Re: India's moon probe goes missing.

#13 Post by llondel » Mon Sep 09, 2019 6:58 pm

Pontius Navigator wrote:
Mon Sep 09, 2019 8:01 am
The space agency said on Saturday the lander’s descent was normal until 2 kilometres (1.2 miles) from the lunar surface.
I told you the parachute wouldn't work.
On the contrary, the parachute performed as expected.

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Re: India's moon probe goes missing.

#14 Post by Pontius Navigator » Mon Sep 09, 2019 8:31 pm

llondel wrote:
Mon Sep 09, 2019 6:58 pm
Pontius Navigator wrote:
Mon Sep 09, 2019 8:01 am
The space agency said on Saturday the lander’s descent was normal until 2 kilometres (1.2 miles) from the lunar surface.
I told you the parachute wouldn't work.
On the contrary, the parachute performed as expected.
Not by the Indians

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Re: India's moon probe goes missing.

#15 Post by Brian W May » Tue Sep 10, 2019 6:42 pm

So a waste of our Foreign Aid budget then . . .

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Re: India's moon probe goes missing.

#16 Post by Undried Plum » Tue Sep 10, 2019 8:17 pm

How much "Foreign Aid", do you think, does DFID pay to the Indian government?

Billions?

Millions?

Any?

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Re: India's moon probe goes missing.

#17 Post by OFSO » Tue Sep 17, 2019 6:24 pm

I was in the control centre when ISRO put up the first geostationary spacraft. They exhausted a quarter of the on-board station-keeping fuel, supply for 24 months, in the first few days. As a colleague said to me, shaking his head, "why can't they make their minds up where to park it ?"

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Re: India's moon probe goes missing.

#18 Post by Pontius Navigator » Tue Sep 17, 2019 6:55 pm

UP, now, not a lot. It was stopped a few years back although funding continued for ongoing projects.

Also Rotary suspended all grants at one point though i think they have resumed.

Thing is though, the space programme and nuclear weapons research ran in parallel with foreign aid programmes.

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Re: India's moon probe goes missing.

#19 Post by Undried Plum » Tue Sep 17, 2019 7:51 pm

Pontius Navigator wrote:
Tue Sep 17, 2019 6:55 pm
the space programme and nuclear weapons research ran in parallel with foreign aid programmes.
That is also true of Britain in the 1950s; '60s; '70s. We were begging for IMF dosh when we were developing Polaris and Chevaline.

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Re: India's moon probe goes missing.

#20 Post by Pontius Navigator » Tue Sep 17, 2019 8:14 pm

I wonder whether India asked or we offered.

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