Mars Orbiter Mission (M.O.M.): India’s Quest for the Beyond
Wednesday 27 November 2013
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The ambitious Mars Orbiter
Mission (M.O.M.) of India has been subjected to severe scrutiny and contention.
The relevance of such science missions and the huge expenditure incurred to
undertake them has often been questioned. While India is making an open attempt
to beat its Asian, rival China, in exploring the space, our honourable
politicians are finding themselves in a helpless state from wriggling out of
trivial quagmires on provision of toilets for the country. Not only have they
questioned the profligacy of India’s
quest for the Red Planet but have also raised serious concerns on the
utilisation of taxpayer’s money at a time when the country is still struggling
with maladies like abject poverty, malnutrition, underdevelopment and so on.
What an irony! Those who disguise themselves as lawmakers and squander our
precious resources are the first to enlighten the world with their unsolicited
views on projects like the Mars Orbiter Mission (M.O.M.). those who marauder
the nation’s coffers and burn large holes in the pockets of the exchequer by
means of several scams and scandals and later subvert the law to avoid
prosecution are the ones who accuse such scientific missions of galloping
whopping amounts of taxpayer’s money which could otherwise be used to
‘mitigate’ poverty!
The Rs. 450 crores mission is not
merely a demonstration of technology. As Dr. K. Radhakrishnan, Chairman of the
Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO, Bangalore) himself said, “The Mars
Orbiter Mission (M.O.M.) is a historical necessity, since after having helped
find water on the Moon, looking for signatures of life on Mars is a natural
progression”. Indeed! It is a moment of great pride and exhilaration for the
nation, an occasion for the Indians to feel the same ecstasy that the Americans
felt when Neil Arm Strong, an American national was the first to land on Moon.
The Mars Orbiter Mission (M.O.M.) is certainly a giant leap forward and a
stellar example of the dexterity and technical expertise that Indian scientists
possess that has caused an upheaval in the world. Gone are the days when India
would approach Russia or other counties of the world and part with a
considerable amount of foreign exchange to launch its satellite from foreign
land. The 21st century belongs to Asia and to India in particular.
The successful launch of the indigenously designed satellite based on cryogenic
engine technology is not only a great boost to the national pride but is also
another feather in India’s cap. The successful launch of the Polar Satellite
Launch Vehicle (PSLV) has acquired even greater world attention especially
after Japan’s unsuccessful attempt in 1998 China’s recent failure in 2011 when its maiden Mars orbiter Yinghuo-I
piggybacked on the Russian satellite Phobos Grunt, ended in disaster after its
failure to be boosted into space. India
may not be racing with anyone but it has surely acquired a leading position.
To some diehard critics of the
Indian Mars Orbiter Mission (M.O.M.), the recent Phailin cyclone in Odisha
should be an eye opener where the loss of life was a mere 44. In comparison,
about 10,000 people lost their lives in the supercyclone of 1999 and 3,00,000
people died in the Sunderbans and Bangladesh in the Bhola cyclone of 1970. The primary difference now is that
India today has nearly half a dozen satellites, all made by ISRO, keeping a
constant vigil on the motion of winds and ocean currents. Undoubtedly, for
every rupee spent, ISRO has given more than two in return. None of the present
cutting edge technology would have been possible had the government heeded the
advice of its critics who consider India’s investment in space programmes a
waste of resources.
The investment being made in such
missions is significantly less than the total fiscal budget of the government
and only a small fraction of the amounts squandered by unscrupulous politicians
in various scams and scandals. By juxtaposing such a high return yielding
mission with contentious issues like overwhelming poverty, these self-styled
critics are not only trying to disparage the efforts of the Indian scientists
who have dedicated themselves to the service of India, but are also
discouraging the emerging and the future generation of scientists from
undertaking research and development projects at indigenous levels.
We must ask ourselves, “Isn’t the
Mars Orbiter Mission (M.O.M.) a tiny step for a giant leap?”
Categories:
common man,
development,
India,
MARS ORBITER MISSION,
progress
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