Earlier today (October 22, 2008), the Indian Government launched Chandrayaan-1, an unmanned missin to the Moon. This is amazing, and heralds India's emergence into what used to be called "Great Power" status. Seems like just days ago when I was writing about China's latest space launch. Congratulations to China, India, and all those global citiziens favoring space exploration. Nifty-fifty.
What's next for the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO)? Sort of like JFK's "ten years to the Moon" program in the 1960s, the ISRO aims to launch two men into space via their Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV-Mk II) by 2015. These will not be the first Indians in space, though. Cosmonaut Rakesh Sharma was the first, back in 1984 with two Soviet cosmonauts. There is also discussion of a manned mission to the Moon, and, at least with China and other space programs, Mars.
The official ISRO logo -- looks like some kind of Star Trek jive, eh?
Today's Rune: Signals.
1 comment:
This is very good to see. As the USA seems to scale back, it's good to know other countries aren't abandoning space. LIke it or now, humankind's future is out there.
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