India ponders moon landing
Randeep Ramesh in New Delhi Friday November 3, 2006 The Guardian
India yesterday held out the possibility of sending astronauts to the moon by 2020 and called for a national debate on whether it should enter a space race with richer nations. The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) says it could have a manned spaceship ready in eight years to orbit the Earth and put Indian astronauts on the lunar surface in 14 years.
The ambitions mark a step change for India, which has shied away from putting humans into space as the costs have been considered prohibitive. However, a booming economy and an acknowledgement that India appeared to be losing ground to its bigger neighbour China, which in 2003 sent an astronaut into space, has spurred scientists to think the unthinkable.
G Madhavan Nair, chairman of the ISRO, said the proposed missions would be a national endeavour. "If humans do not venture into space the future will not be bright. I don't think we can lag behind in this race. We must be in the forefront," he told the Hindustan Times.
"Our budget at the moment stands at just 37bn rupees [£435m]. A moon programme begins at 150bn rupees. For a country like ours with so many needs this requires a national debate about the use of resources," said M Krishnamurthy, ISRO's public relations director.
The amounts are a tiny fraction of India's economy, but a third of the population cannot read and millions live on less than a dollar a day. Critics say this is an exercise in grandstanding. "We should cooperate with others rather than reinventing the rocket," said Indian Express strategic affairs editor Raja Mohan.