Should India be spending millions on sending an orbiting probe to Mars, when so many of the population are living in dire poverty?

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-24729073

it will go like any of their IT projects: requirements are misunderstood.
the thing will land here: www.mars.com

Along with the UK tax payer funding "humanitarian aid" AKA the merc and mansion fund, to a country with a space programme

My knee-jerk reaction is a simple no.

Why not? This sort of technological advancement helps to earn a lot of money in future which can be used elsewhere.

The U.K. government have stopped sending aid money to India. Because of the above and other similar reasons.

On the other hand, I think India now sends aid money to the U.K.

400 million Indians have no running water. 600 million have no inside toilet. I am unclear what a rocket to Mars will do to improve this, it seems to be a matter of pride and competition with China...

The market doesn't care about people starving. Most of the money invested in the space program will re-circulate into the worlds economy and that's what matters. Sad truth.

Speaking scientifically, I fail to see what this endeavour is going to bring to the table that hasn't already been brought by NASA and partners.

I too am of the opnion that the the 70 odd million dollars this project cost could have been spent better elsewhere.

It's an orbiter and mostly a test mission so the payload isn't that heavy, here is what wiki says is on it

Instrumentation

Lyman-Alpha Photometer (LAP) — Uses the lyman-alpha absorption line (an ultraviolet absorption line caused by the ionization of hydrogen atoms) to estimate the hydrogen/deuterium ratio of Mars' upper atmosphere.
Methane Sensor For Mars (MSM) — Will measure the level and distribution of methane in the Martian atmosphere with a sensitivity at the ppb level.
Mars Exospheric Neutral Composition Analyzer (MENCA) — Mass spectrometer designed to measure neutral particles between 1-300amu in the Martian upper atmosphere.
Thermal Infrared Imaging Spectrometer (TIS) — Will measure temperature of the Martian surface, along with emissivity - the ability of the rocks to radiate away heat. Both of these variables are dependent on mineralogy.
Mars Colour Camera (MCC) — Visible light camera, resolution of ~25m/pixel and frame size of 50x50km.


Basically they are showing off their rocket and trying to do a little planning on how to get a proper mission to Mars.
Anything that increases our understanding of Space is good, also getting to Mars is hard, the more people doing it the better.

Oribtal flight plan - linked because it is massive.
http://i.imgur.com/BAlwNDa.jpg

EDIT:

Anyway here's an excellent video from the ESA of mars imagery interpolated into a 3d flyover:

As an Indian, I have mixed views. In principle I would agree that USD 70 M could be better re-invested. But then I look at the reality. Our entitlement programmes are amongst the most expensive in the world. India runs the world's largest free school meal programme (to drive attendance in schools). India spends a significant amount of its GDP on poverty alleviation programmes but the issue is that the scale of the issue (billion plus people) and significant corruption (only 10% of the actual spend reaches the intended beneficiaries) defeats all the efforts. So I genuinely believe the issue is not the quantum of money we spend (we spend too much) but how much actually reaches the poor it was intended for (very little). if you look at the most recent scams, we are talking about sums in excess of 10-12 Billions USD which has been stolen and will never be recovered. We all know who has stolen it but we also know that there is no chance in hell that any of the money will be retrieved. So from that perspective, spending USD 70 M on a space programme that actually delivers and helps progress technical knowledge and development is actually really good value for money.

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I heard that they were planning to build a spaceship large enough to hold 180 million people to go on a one-way mission to Mars.

The astronauts have already been selected... they just don't know it yet.

Please let Justin Bieber be one of them

Fair point but you are assuming that there is a fixed quantity of wealth in India and that if the money wasn't put into the space program it would be invested in the poor, it doesn't work that way of course.

Investing in space does have some big commercial applications. It will obviously create more jobs in that sector as well as increasing other countries trust in Indian technology, which would lead to increased investment and increased wealth etc.
Whether that will all get directly invested back into improving the lot of the average fella on the street is doubtful, however the overall increase in wealth should help everyone eventually.

http://www.planetary.org/blogs/emily...faq.html#orbit

Good point .. India should stop the 1.2 billion dollar aid to other countries including the UK ..

Yes Indian poverty problems are greater but same logic can be used against USA too. Why waste money on space programmes and wars when US citizens are living in poverty and struggling?

That said this cute kid has a point.....

He is really cute! ..and totally agree with the rest of your post.

I think you're all missing the point. 500 million can't be fed by eating a Mars orbiting probe.

You'd need a much bigger spaceship to do that, I reckon about 735 Space Shuttle size vehicles. The lucky ones would get to eat the soft furnishings, pity those who get to lick the titanium main structure.

I shurely hope them space ships is all certified for alpine flying.

India's rocket industry will advance. And the rockets can be used for bragging rights like "we can deliver a (heavy) payload to anywhere in China".