India just landed on the moon!
India just made spaceflight history in more ways than one. The Chandrayaan-3 spacecraft's Vikram lander has successfully touched down on the Moon, marking the country's first successful landing on the lunar surface. It's just the fourth country to do so after the Soviet Union, US and China. More importantly, it's the first country to land near the Moon's south pole — a difficult target given the rough terrain, but important for attempts to find water ice. Other nations have only landed near the equator.
The landing comes four years after Chandrayaan-2's Vikram lander effectively crashed. The Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) designed the follow-up with a "failure-based design" that includes more backup systems, a wider landing area and software updates.
Vikram will remain idle for hours to allow lunar dust to settle. Once the area is clear, the Pragyaan rover will deploy to take photos and collect scientific data. Combined, the lander and rover have five instruments meant to gauge the properties of the Moon's atmosphere, surface and tectonic activity. ISRO timed the landing for the start of a lunar day (about 28 Earth days) to maximize the amount of solar power available for Vikram and Pragyaan.
Chandrayaan-3's success is a matter of national pride for India. The country has been eager to become a major power in spaceflight, and hopes to launch a space station around 2030. It can now claim to be one of just a handful of countries that have ever reached an extraterrestrial surface. The info gathered near the pole could also be crucial for future lunar missions from India and other countries, which could use any discovered ice for fuel, oxygen and water.
The landing also puts India ahead of other countries racing to land on the Moon, if not always for the first time. Russia's Luna-25 spacecraft crashed just two days earlier, and Israel expects a follow-up to its Beresheet lander in 2024. The United Arab Emirates also wants to land by 2024. The US, meanwhile, hopes to return people to the moon with its Artemis 3 mission in late 2025. These also din't include commercial efforts. There's a renewed interest in Earth's closest cosmic neighbor, and India is now part of that vanguard.
Offsite Linkby Anonymous | reply 76 | October 1, 2023 1:29 AM
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mmmmmmmm meanwhile....back in the seething throng of India's major cities...people are hungry, dirty and poorly housed.
by Anonymous | reply 1 | August 23, 2023 5:43 PM
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Big woo. Their entire country is an one latrine.
by Anonymous | reply 2 | August 23, 2023 5:48 PM
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[quote] mmmmmmmm meanwhile....back in the seething throng of India's major cities...people are hungry, dirty and poorly housed.
Well they have to put all those billions of people SOMEWHERE.
No better place than the moon.
by Anonymous | reply 3 | August 23, 2023 5:48 PM
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There are plenty of poor people in the US but we've spent billions on the space program
by Anonymous | reply 5 | August 23, 2023 5:49 PM
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Somewhere, Putin is gnashing his teeth. I wonder how his rocket scientist is doing in the hospital.
by Anonymous | reply 6 | August 23, 2023 5:51 PM
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The world’s most insufferable braggarts, even more than Americans. We will never hear the end of it.
by Anonymous | reply 7 | August 23, 2023 5:52 PM
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Great work now send Modi.
by Anonymous | reply 8 | August 23, 2023 5:53 PM
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Great.
Now they can turn the Moon into a stinking cesspool of filth, too!
by Anonymous | reply 9 | August 23, 2023 5:54 PM
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[quote]we've spent billions on the space program
Which one, the Indian space program? India is the world's top beneficiary of aid.
by Anonymous | reply 10 | August 23, 2023 5:54 PM
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Injuns on the moon? Not on MY watch!
by Anonymous | reply 11 | August 23, 2023 6:25 PM
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Will they be opening a Qwikee Mart up there?
I am available!
by Anonymous | reply 12 | August 23, 2023 6:41 PM
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I found a grub under a rock today and the whole family shared it.
by Anonymous | reply 13 | August 23, 2023 6:45 PM
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Did it take a wrong turn on the route to the Ganges?
by Anonymous | reply 14 | August 24, 2023 3:30 AM
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If India can afford moon missions perhaps it's time to rethink the foreign aid budget
Offsite Linkby Anonymous | reply 15 | August 25, 2023 6:31 PM
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Are they opening a call center?
by Anonymous | reply 17 | August 25, 2023 8:04 PM
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How many kms of access to sewerage and running water could that have funded back home?
by Anonymous | reply 18 | August 25, 2023 9:23 PM
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Well I offer them my sincere congratulations.
by Anonymous | reply 19 | August 25, 2023 10:04 PM
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The Indian Space Agency got some very beautiful photos from the South Pole of the moon.
Offsite Linkby Anonymous | reply 20 | August 25, 2023 11:56 PM
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Rover unloading from space craft.
Offsite Linkby Anonymous | reply 21 | August 26, 2023 12:03 AM
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It would be for the better good of humanity if one could land at Mumbai or any other Indian airport and not have the smell of shit flood the plane when the doors are opened.
But that’s just me - maybe I’m too fussy.
by Anonymous | reply 22 | August 26, 2023 1:55 AM
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India is the first country to shit on the moon
by Anonymous | reply 24 | September 23, 2023 12:22 AM
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This is a wonderful and historic achievement for India. Well done.
For all of you bitching and moaning about "filthy India" please fuck right off. I'll wager none of you have spent significant time traveling and living in India. There's more to it than a crowded city, you morons.
Little boys and girls in India need things to dream about, being an astronaut and traveling through space is a wonderful dream. Just because a country is poor doesn't mean their imaginations and aspirations should be dismissed and ignored. There are some future Indian Space Rangers who had their lives changed tonight.
Don't be such cunts.
by Anonymous | reply 26 | September 23, 2023 12:49 AM
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R21, that's an old video from 4 weeks ago! it's a FAKE video.
by Anonymous | reply 27 | September 23, 2023 12:59 AM
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DOA. They cant get the thing to wake up.
Offsite Linkby Anonymous | reply 28 | September 23, 2023 1:00 AM
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Great. We'll never get the curry smell out.
by Anonymous | reply 29 | September 23, 2023 1:00 AM
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Have they murdered the man in the moon yet?
by Anonymous | reply 30 | September 23, 2023 1:03 AM
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The man in the mood is a lady --Mame.
by Anonymous | reply 31 | September 23, 2023 1:08 AM
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The man in the moon is a BITCH.
by Anonymous | reply 32 | September 23, 2023 1:10 AM
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Wow, they've really enhanced the graphics in Galaga since I last played it on my NES 30 years ago!
by Anonymous | reply 33 | September 23, 2023 1:11 AM
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Someone just needs to get that lander in touch with 'Richard' in tech support in Mumbai. He'll get that bitch up and running.
by Anonymous | reply 34 | September 23, 2023 1:14 AM
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That’s what that smell was.
by Anonymous | reply 35 | September 23, 2023 1:19 AM
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Have they tried rebooting! 🤣😂🤣
by Anonymous | reply 36 | September 23, 2023 1:27 AM
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The good news is that they landed on the moon.
The bad news is that they were trying to get to Nepal.
by Anonymous | reply 37 | September 23, 2023 1:32 AM
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There's more hope in India colonizing the moon than the Brits.
by Anonymous | reply 38 | September 23, 2023 1:34 AM
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R26 I have worked in India (primarily Bengaluru, Chennai and Mumbai) as well as travelled in the north (Kashmir and Kolkata) and the south - Kerala. If I’m a cunt for pointing out that India is filthy and would be better off providing clean running water and basic sanitation for its population then I’ll own it.
And don’t get me started on many of the people.
Have you been there, btw?
by Anonymous | reply 39 | September 23, 2023 2:02 AM
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I’m surrounded by Indians. The food is really delicious but I have no desire to go there.
by Anonymous | reply 40 | September 23, 2023 2:08 AM
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“Thank you India, Thank you terror, Thank you disillusionment!”
by Anonymous | reply 41 | September 23, 2023 2:54 AM
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Travel is a breeze, just jump on a train and go.
Offsite Linkby Anonymous | reply 42 | September 23, 2023 2:55 AM
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India has had enough of Trudeau's bullshit
Offsite Linkby Anonymous | reply 43 | September 23, 2023 3:09 AM
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Is this where they'll send the Untouchables?
by Anonymous | reply 44 | September 23, 2023 3:18 AM
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The crew can now stretch their legs.
Offsite Linkby Anonymous | reply 45 | September 23, 2023 3:24 AM
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R41 "how about getting off of these antibiotics?" did she need to be on them after coming back from India? (Traveller's diarrhea)
by Anonymous | reply 46 | September 23, 2023 12:17 PM
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Imagine, landing a whole country on the moon! During WWII my father was in the Merchant Marines and said India was filthy. Have no idea what it's like now. Perhaps someone who's actually been there can comment on this.
by Anonymous | reply 47 | September 23, 2023 4:27 PM
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Yes, R39, I lived there for many years, btw. If that's all you've been able to see and understand in whatever length of time you spent in India then you have my sympathy for your tremendous loss.
by Anonymous | reply 48 | September 24, 2023 12:42 AM
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Not at all, R48 - I think that India has an amazing history and culture, but the fact remains that many of its problems such as massive numbers of homeless shitting in the streets would be better addressed rather than vanity projects such as moon landings.
by Anonymous | reply 49 | September 24, 2023 12:50 AM
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You're entitled to your opinion, it just happens to be wrong.
Carry on.
by Anonymous | reply 50 | September 24, 2023 12:56 AM
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Gosh, thanks for the dispensation, R50! It’s interesting how you haven’t been able to describe why and how I’m wrong, which speaks volumes.
Carry on yourself.
by Anonymous | reply 51 | September 24, 2023 1:23 AM
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Do I owe an anonymous online stranger who allegedly worked in India and learned nothing from it some kind of explanation for having had a different experience? No, I don't.
You are entitled to your opinion in all of its wrongness. I will no longer be chatting with you, perhaps you'll find someone else to offend and annoy with your insane bullshit. Bon chance!
by Anonymous | reply 52 | September 24, 2023 1:38 AM
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Indians should be pissed about that. They have a lot of very sever problems and their stupid government spends money on this shit?
by Anonymous | reply 54 | September 24, 2023 3:44 AM
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Space exploration is beneficial.
Offsite Linkby Anonymous | reply 55 | September 24, 2023 3:50 AM
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I agrees space exploration is quite beneficial. If India keeps it up they someday might develop memory foam, pens that write upside down, or freeze dried food.
by Anonymous | reply 56 | September 24, 2023 4:28 AM
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Good for them!
I'm so glad they beat the sour, dour Russians.
by Anonymous | reply 58 | September 24, 2023 6:27 AM
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Right, R52 - you owe me nothing, of course, but your inability to defend your stance defending India’s leadership’s capacity to ignore walking ankle deep in the faeces of the Untouchables while marching to a widescreen TV to watch a “moon landing” tells me all that I need to know about you and about the country that you are so poorly trying to to defend.
Carry on.
by Anonymous | reply 59 | September 24, 2023 11:21 AM
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Shamefully and Shameless when the utter poverty is worse than Dickensian. What do they need to know about the moon that more urgent than feeding their own people. Humanity at its worst.
by Anonymous | reply 60 | September 24, 2023 12:12 PM
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Talk about priorities. Maybe try to tackle basic hygiene and sanitation first.
by Anonymous | reply 61 | September 24, 2023 7:34 PM
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Comes off as a little try-hard, tbh.
by Anonymous | reply 62 | September 24, 2023 8:25 PM
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Poor R59. Have nice lie down and try to get over the shock of someone having a different experience of India than you did during your short time working there. You'll also have to get over someone viewing space travel differently than you do and someone seeing the people of India in a very different way than you do. Poor thing.
I don't have to defend it and I won't lower myself to do so. Anyone who has spent years in India knows that you're assessment is limited, offensive and smacks of what at best is narrow-minded and at worst is blatantly bigoted. One doesn't argue with racists or bigots. It's trying to discuss something rationally with an irrational person and it's a complete waste of time. I don't argue with the Klan or the Proud Boys either dear, there's simply no point. I apply the same principle to you.
Carry on.
by Anonymous | reply 63 | September 24, 2023 9:38 PM
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Will there be gang rapes to celebrate?
by Anonymous | reply 64 | September 24, 2023 9:40 PM
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I can smell the turmeric sweat from here, eugh. Congrats to them I suppose.
by Anonymous | reply 65 | September 24, 2023 9:58 PM
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R63 you say that you don’t have to defend it which I completely understand - it’s not easy to defend the indefensible. Which is why all that you have in your intellectual arsenal is “carry on”. No matter how many other words you have to pad out your responses.
If India manages to land a person on the moon in the next decade, your countrymen will still be picking their way through other peoples’ shit and the country will still reek but that’s obviously ok with people like you, which is the problem.
But, as you say - carry on.
by Anonymous | reply 66 | September 24, 2023 11:40 PM
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r66 rephrased
If India manages to land a person on the moon in the next decade ( partially funded by the American taxpayer's charity ) ......
by Anonymous | reply 68 | September 25, 2023 12:02 AM
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R68 I don’t have a dog in this race - I’m neither Indian nor American. I just call it as I see it. My country could well afford to join the space race, but it’s a matter of priorities.
by Anonymous | reply 69 | September 25, 2023 12:46 AM
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R29 The airport? You don’t have to land. Shit, we could smell it 20 miles offshore for hours before (not very efficiently) docking in Mumbai.
Glad they got to the moon and a softer landing than the Russians. Like the US and China, there a higher priorities right here on earth.
by Anonymous | reply 70 | September 25, 2023 1:36 AM
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Yeah going to the moon seems wrong for anybody right now but especially a country floating in shit
by Anonymous | reply 71 | September 25, 2023 1:40 AM
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I doubt gang rapes are celebratory r64. That's more of a day in day out thing there. Aim higher. Or lower, as it were.
by Anonymous | reply 72 | September 25, 2023 2:27 AM
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𝐈𝐭'𝐬 𝐎𝐯𝐞𝐫
Rover Pragyan—"Wisdom" in Sanskrit—surveyed the vicinity of the moon's south pole but was powered down before the start of lunar night, which lasts roughly two weeks on Earth.
The Indian Space Research Agency had hoped to prolong the mission by reactivating the solar-powered vehicle once daylight returned to the lunar surface, but so far has been greeted by radio silence.
"It is OK if it does not wake up because the rover has done what it was expected to do," ISRO chief S. Somanath told reporters late Wednesday, according to the Press Trust of India news agency.
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Top Chinese scientist claims India’s Chandrayaan-3 did not land in Moon’s south pole: Report
Chandrayaan-3’s rover landed at a latitude of around 69 degrees south, which is within the moon’s southern hemisphere but not the polar region, the scientist said
Offsite Linkby Anonymous | reply 73 | October 1, 2023 12:52 AM
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It woke up. First call home: India spacecraft is dead to me.
by Anonymous | reply 74 | October 1, 2023 1:05 AM
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[quote] It woke up. First call home: India spacecraft is dead to me.
Well if it calls home, India can claim to have a call center on the Moon.
by Anonymous | reply 76 | October 1, 2023 1:29 AM
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