India launches 20 satellites in single mission • Hacker News Board

Re: India launches 20 satellites in single mission

#41

Post by sangnoir » Wed, Jun 22, 2016, 9:20 AM UTC

simonh wrote: post #37

sidcool wrote: post #24

There will be naysayers when a second or third world country achieves a milestone. Inspite of similar feats done before by developed nations, this is huge for developing economies. Similar thing happened when the earlier Prime Minister of India announced that India will launch a Mars mission within a year at a fraction of cost at what NASA or ESA would do it. Most people laughed at it, and said it's impossible and wh…

> Most people laughed at it, and said it's impossible and what not. But guess what, India did send a successful Mars mission that's orbiting the red planet right now. Since then I take 'Expert' HN comments with a pinch of salt. I've been on HN for many years and my recollection is that the community here has been very supportive and encouraging of India's efforts in space technology.

> I've been on HN for many years and my recollection is that the community here has been very supportive and encouraging of India's efforts in space technology.

Unless your memory is selective - you may recall that the support was far from unanimous. I recall a number of HNers stating that the ISRO budget would be better spent on other 'more pressing' challenges India is facing (poverty, sanitation). In fairness, there was a lot of push-back against the naysayers, stating why the space program is money well spent (the most prominent benefits I recall were improved weather predictions benefit farming and cheaper/better telecoms)

--edit: added stuff below this line--

The naysayers have made an appearance in this very thread. They are currently being downvoted (I expect nothing less from HN).

Re: India launches 20 satellites in single mission

#42

Post by nickserv » Wed, Jun 22, 2016, 9:20 AM UTC

x5n1 wrote: post #26

sidcool wrote: post #24

There will be naysayers when a second or third world country achieves a milestone. Inspite of similar feats done before by developed nations, this is huge for developing economies. Similar thing happened when the earlier Prime Minister of India announced that India will launch a Mars mission within a year at a fraction of cost at what NASA or ESA would do it. Most people laughed at it, and said it's impossible and wh…

Well when your top engineers get paid 25k sure you can do it for a fraction of the cost. Why couldn't you. Indian military already has tons of tech that if they bring to the civil sector they could use to compete with whatever. The problem is usually corruption and funding. The intelligence is there, in a billion people there are a few million outliers. Heck most of American Fortune 500's are leveraging Indian brains…

Not sure for all the downvotes, it's a legitimate point.

Re: India launches 20 satellites in single mission

#43

Post by mirchibajji » Wed, Jun 22, 2016, 9:31 AM UTC

someonenice wrote: post #19

WWKong wrote: post #2

Yes, they will build toilets too. Just getting that out of the way.

Maybe the money received for sending US and German satellites can be used to construct toilets.

This is a valid point, and does not deserve a down vote.

Re: India launches 20 satellites in single mission

#44

Post by nickserv » Wed, Jun 22, 2016, 9:31 AM UTC

jkot wrote: post #22

hueving wrote: post #21

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>And US has 44M people on food stamps ;-( That's how social programs work. It wouldn't be working if they weren't giving them out to the lower distribution of the US income. I'm not sure what point you were trying to make, that food stamps imply the country is poor? Would highlighting that the UK has 100% of its people on NHS also imply that their citizens are poor?

European countries used food stamps during WW2. It implies that country does not have enough food, if it has to ration its food supplies. I know it is social assistance, but it has really bad name. NHS is paid health insurance, sometimes pretty expensive, not much relevant.

The term "stamp" in this context is used to refer to a system of payment using a proof-of-purchase (the stamp). Another example, a postage stamp is evidence that you have paid for the delivery of your letter. Some countries use stamps to pay for government services like deeds or passports.

You are confusing this with a ration system using stamps, which allows the purchase of a good, but does not actually pay for the goods.

Re: India launches 20 satellites in single mission

#45

Post by jpatokal » Wed, Jun 22, 2016, 9:37 AM UTC

ahoka wrote: post #30

sidcool wrote: post #24

There will be naysayers when a second or third world country achieves a milestone. Inspite of similar feats done before by developed nations, this is huge for developing economies. Similar thing happened when the earlier Prime Minister of India announced that India will launch a Mars mission within a year at a fraction of cost at what NASA or ESA would do it. Most people laughed at it, and said it's impossible and wh…

Sorry to be off-topic, but this is not the first time I see using the phrases 'second world' and 'third world' incorrectly here. A third world country was a neutral or unaligned country in the cold war. [1] [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Three-World_Model

India is third-world in both senses of the term: neutral during the Cold War and economically still developing.

Re: India launches 20 satellites in single mission

#46

Post by quetzthecoatl » Wed, Jun 22, 2016, 9:38 AM UTC

simonh wrote: post #37

sidcool wrote: post #24

There will be naysayers when a second or third world country achieves a milestone. Inspite of similar feats done before by developed nations, this is huge for developing economies. Similar thing happened when the earlier Prime Minister of India announced that India will launch a Mars mission within a year at a fraction of cost at what NASA or ESA would do it. Most people laughed at it, and said it's impossible and wh…

> Most people laughed at it, and said it's impossible and what not. But guess what, India did send a successful Mars mission that's orbiting the red planet right now. Since then I take 'Expert' HN comments with a pinch of salt. I've been on HN for many years and my recollection is that the community here has been very supportive and encouraging of India's efforts in space technology.

Although there were some discouraging voices, I have to say HN in general has been very supportive of India's efforts in space exploration and technology/R&D in general.

Especially considering the general negative narrative of misplaced priorities of a thirdworld country from the likes of bbc/guardian/nytimes, HN is a breath of fresh air - probably because HN community is more optimistic about the positive impact of tech, and bbc/guardian/nytimes are not, and sees feeding the hungry and investing in R&D as mutually exclusive.

Re: India launches 20 satellites in single mission

#47

Post by return0 » Wed, Jun 22, 2016, 9:42 AM UTC

nickserv wrote: post #39

sidcool wrote: post #24

There will be naysayers when a second or third world country achieves a milestone. Inspite of similar feats done before by developed nations, this is huge for developing economies. Similar thing happened when the earlier Prime Minister of India announced that India will launch a Mars mission within a year at a fraction of cost at what NASA or ESA would do it. Most people laughed at it, and said it's impossible and wh…

Not to denigrate the Indian space program on their historic achievement, but since it has been done before (even if more expensively), it's of less interest to those that are looking forward to major advances in the field. These types of achievements are great though, in the sense that they foster competition and help everyone improve.

Electric cars have been done before, but that doesn't stop people from praising Tesla as jesus on earth

Re: India launches 20 satellites in single mission

#48

Post by Zelmor » Wed, Jun 22, 2016, 9:45 AM UTC

That is an aged political view of the world. Nowadays, a third world country is where you can die of disease, infection, etc. by drinking water due to lack of sanitation. Where infrastructure is missing almost completely, and where the majority of people live below international poverty lines (no, US families with 3 bedroom houses and loans to pay are not below the international poverty line. People sleeping in their newpaper-stand that they also work from are below such line.)

Clean and safe menstrual pads, clean water, infrastructure, education, controlled agriculture. These are pillars of progress. Space programs are impressive, but are of very little consequence when half the population is so poor, they crap on the streets in plain sight at daylight. Meanwhile women are ashamed to hang their sanitary pads in the sun to properly disinfect them due to 3rd world superstitions about cleanness and evil spirits. There are grown men in India who don't even know that women have periods. Others bury their dead in the Ganges while downstream the same water is used for cooking and drinking.

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2016/may/30/idia-s...

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arunachalam_Muruganantham

http://hazlitt.net/blog/india-has-toilet-problem-not-poop-pr...

Re: India launches 20 satellites in single mission

#49

Post by return0 » Wed, Jun 22, 2016, 9:46 AM UTC

ahoka wrote: post #30

sidcool wrote: post #24

There will be naysayers when a second or third world country achieves a milestone. Inspite of similar feats done before by developed nations, this is huge for developing economies. Similar thing happened when the earlier Prime Minister of India announced that India will launch a Mars mission within a year at a fraction of cost at what NASA or ESA would do it. Most people laughed at it, and said it's impossible and wh…

Sorry to be off-topic, but this is not the first time I see using the phrases 'second world' and 'third world' incorrectly here. A third world country was a neutral or unaligned country in the cold war. [1] [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Three-World_Model

The term has long lost its initial definition.

Due to the complex history of evolving meanings and contexts, there is no clear or agreed-upon definition of the Third World.[1] Some countries in the Communist Bloc, such as Cuba, were often regarded as "Third World". Because many Third World countries were extremely poor, and non-industrialized, it became a stereotype to refer to poor countries as "third world countries", yet the "Third World" term is also often taken to include newly industrialized countries like Brazil, Russia, India and China (see also: BRIC).

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Third_World

Re: India launches 20 satellites in single mission

#50

Post by [deleted] » Wed, Jun 22, 2016, 9:51 AM UTC

nickserv wrote: post #39

sidcool wrote: post #24

There will be naysayers when a second or third world country achieves a milestone. Inspite of similar feats done before by developed nations, this is huge for developing economies. Similar thing happened when the earlier Prime Minister of India announced that India will launch a Mars mission within a year at a fraction of cost at what NASA or ESA would do it. Most people laughed at it, and said it's impossible and wh…

Not to denigrate the Indian space program on their historic achievement, but since it has been done before (even if more expensively), it's of less interest to those that are looking forward to major advances in the field. These types of achievements are great though, in the sense that they foster competition and help everyone improve.

[deleted]