Posted on 10/25/2008 6:20:33 PM PDT by MyTwoCopperCoins
CHENNAI: Chandrayaan-1, now on its way to the moon, has cost less than one-tenth of the Indian Premier League (IPL) rights bagged by Sony Entertainment. Rocket science may be no match for cricket when it comes to listing some of India's favourite things, but the frugality of its space odyssey could be a lesson to the world.
The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) spent just over Rs 380 crore (about half the price of a Jumbo Jet) on Chandrayaan-1, with 1,000 scientists toiling over it for three years. A similar effort by NASA or any other space agency would have cost at least five times more. In real terms, Chandrayaan-1 cost only about 4% of Isro's budget over three years.
How did Isro do it? "Optimisation," says its chairman G Madhavan Nair, in an exclusive interview to STOI. "There are some tests the Americans would have done six times and we did only thrice. We scrutinise every parameter and optimised the tests. Yes, you may call it a calculated risk, but, touch wood, we have been successful with this approach so far.'
But this didn't mean cutting corners, insists the Isro chairman. "More than 30% of the sub-systems that went into Chandrayaan-1 were used by us in other operations. The PSLV we used for the launch is almost the same we have been using for several previous launches, with the only difference being the six enhanced strap-on motors (the quantity of solid propellants was increased from nine tonnes to 12 tonnes each)."
Optimising tests on such equipment and procedures helped Isro save a lot. But it has at least partly been forced to turn this spend smart and save-philosophy into a cherished principle. The IPL deal of about Rs 5,000 crore or $1 billion is equivalent to Isro's entire annual budget, while NASA's is 20 times as much.
The next big goal: Chandrayaan-2. The deadline: 2010. The cost: Rs 500 crore. That is still only one-tenth of IPL rights.
Isro's annual only recently increased to Rs 5,000 crore or $ 1 billion. This happened when the Mark 3 of GSLV was commissioned and there was a new thrust towards societal application of space projects. Five years ago, Isro's annual budget was merely around just $200 million.
On the brighter side, Antrix Corporation, Isro's commercial wing, has earned Rs 900 crore from commercial satellite launches and sale of remote sensing data last financial year and the revenues are growing at 25%. "We have launched 16 satellites for other countries so far and another four are on the anvil. Commercial launches add to our earnings," says Madhavan Nair. This should augur well for Isro, which has such ambitious projects as the Rs 12,000 crore manned space mission scheduled for 2015.
Another aspect that makes Isro stand out in the group of space-faring nations is its down-to-earth scientists. Anyone who has taken a peep into the mission control at the Satish Dhawan Space Centre at Sriharikota would have been struck by the simplicity of Isro scientists in crumpled white lab coats with the blue letters 'PSLV' on their back, who hugged each other when PSLV-C11 injected Chandrayaan-1 into the earth orbit about 18 minutes after take-off.
"We have a cohesive team which has an open culture. It is a culture developed from the times of Vikram Sarabhai, who used to treat everyone including the cook and the gardener as friends," says Madhavan Nair. Does that mean there are no ego clashes between scientists? "Oh, yes, there may be some, but we thrash out things in the open. For everyone, success of our projects is the ultimate goal."
That design looks like 4 Space Shuttles strapped to the bottom of a pencil.
Minus the wings of course.
Out of 13 launches, the PSLV has had only one failure- its maiden launch, in 1991. That was because of a software glitch.
Easy enough when they got to study all the American methods and calculations from 1969.
Generics are cheaper than origional research.
What a stupid, hokey article. When going on about the cost, they seem to neglect the fact that NASA never would’ve done the mission because it was a worthless publicity stunt. If there’s something we want to know about the moon, we’ll ask the guys we’re sending there in 12 years to check it out for us. (Oooh, Pwned!)
That’s pretty good odds..
But still looks like 4 shuttles strapped to a pencil to me..
:0)
Good for India!
Well yes, it is easier and cheaper to do something the once a precedent has been set.
Missile export treaties don’t allow tech transfers of the kind you’re imagining.
Nonetheless an American failure to maintain a lead in space technology threatens to do more harm to the Nation than perhaps any other government decision. And if Obama is elected, he has promised to let the Chinese and/or Indians control space, since we will not be permitted to “weaponize” it.
To be frank, that was just a rumor.
To be frank, I know. I was joking.
Sarchasm: n, The gulf between the author of sarcastic wit and the person who doesn’t get it.
I’m not imagining any specific ‘tech transfer’ but instead the assurance that it was feasible by previous example and the use of general technologies that have had advances in the past 39 years.
LOL!
More like a Proton, which has the same sort of engine layout.
I don’t think the author was comparing 1960’s prices for NASA with 2008 prices for ISRO. If anything, the manufacturing experience NASA enjoys should ideally make development costs substantially cheaper for NASA.
You are right. I misunderstood the comparison.
If India wants to be front and center in Moon exploration, perhaps even the leader of an international Lunar project, its next project should do just one thing: Land a tunneling robot on the Moon.
It is a heavy cargo, but it’s on a one way trip. It doesn’t have to tunnel fast, maybe only an inch a day, just approach a vertical rock wall and start tunneling. Probably powered by a radioactive source. It tunnels in a few feet, carries out the rubble, then inserts reinforcing rod. A final spray with sealant against micro-fissures.
The purpose is that once built, a rock tunnel solves any number of problems. It shields against cosmic and induced radiation, extremes of heat and cold, vacuum, and the horribly abrasive Lunar dust. And it has far more space than any habitat sent from Earth.
The ship that carries the robot is built to be cannibalized for things like pressure doors, flooring, walls and ceiling. And once the tunnel is dug, it can build secondary tunnels, or even a cistern for the storage of water ice. Having a tunnel will extend mission time by weeks or even months.
If India can do this, basically build the first Moonbase, everyone will want to join in.
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