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Why India's Mars mission is so cheap – and thrilling

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Re: Why India's Mars mission is so cheap – and thrilling

#181

Post by known »

chernevik wrote: post #71
kazinator wrote: post #2

How about reliable electricity and water for your people, then Mars. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Water_Resources_in_India "Water supply and sanitation in India continue to be inadequate ..." http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electricity_sector_in_India "Over 300 million (300 million) people in India have no access to electricity. Of those who do, almost all find electricity supply intermittent and unreliable."

Maybe folks in India will start asking, hey, we can orbit Mars, how come we can't get clean water around here? Raising the standards of competence, intelligence and honesty for that government probably does far more than piping another $74mm into the same decrepit apparatus.

People in India HATE their neighbourhood. http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/worldviews/wp/2013/05/15...

Re: Why India's Mars mission is so cheap – and thrilling

#182

Post by logicchains »

kaonashi wrote: post #176
logicchains wrote: post #175

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Money creation is still redistribution: redistribution to whoever first gets to spend the created money.

No, it's distribution. Sounds like you want an effective political system to oversee that distribution. Me too.

It's distribution of money, but redistribution of purchasing power, for which money is used as a proxy.

Re: Why India's Mars mission is so cheap – and thrilling

#183

Post by kaonashi »

logicchains wrote: post #182
kaonashi wrote: post #176

Earlier quoted context omitted.

No, it's distribution. Sounds like you want an effective political system to oversee that distribution. Me too.

It's distribution of money, but redistribution of purchasing power, for which money is used as a proxy.

Money isn't a proxy for anything, it's measuring and accounting.

Re: Why India's Mars mission is so cheap – and thrilling

#184

Post by logicchains »

kaonashi wrote: post #183
logicchains wrote: post #182

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's distribution of money, but redistribution of purchasing power, for which money is used as a proxy.

Money isn't a proxy for anything, it's measuring and accounting.

Well whatever it is, creating new money and giving it to someone increases their purchasing power compared to what it was previously, which all other things being equal means a reduction in everyone else's purchasing power.

Re: Why India's Mars mission is so cheap – and thrilling

#185

Post by kaonashi »

logicchains wrote: post #184
kaonashi wrote: post #183

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Money isn't a proxy for anything, it's measuring and accounting.

Well whatever it is, creating new money and giving it to someone increases their purchasing power compared to what it was previously, which all other things being equal means a reduction in everyone else's purchasing power.

That depends entirely on how much excess capacity there is, it's not per se inflationary. If you mobilize idle capacity with new money, then you're increasing the size of the pie (more money chasing after more goods).

Re: Why India's Mars mission is so cheap – and thrilling

#186

Post by logicchains »

kaonashi wrote: post #185
logicchains wrote: post #184

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Well whatever it is, creating new money and giving it to someone increases their purchasing power compared to what it was previously, which all other things being equal means a reduction in everyone else's purchasing power.

That depends entirely on how much excess capacity there is, it's not per se inflationary. If you mobilize idle capacity with new money, then you're increasing the size of the pie (more money chasing after more goods).

That's why I said "all other things being equal". In the general case is which there's no excess capacity, which can be assumed if the economy isn't undergoing a recession or the like, it's inflationary.

Re: Why India's Mars mission is so cheap – and thrilling

#187

Post by known »

TheSoftwareGuy wrote: post #89
stcredzero wrote: post #38

I hope India and China pull off a Mars Direct style mission and beat the US to Mars. The US needs another "Sputnik Moment" to get itself going in space again. I mean for real, not as an esoteric form of federal "pork."

If India really did make it to mars before the US did, we would probably congradulate them, not try to compete with them. When the USSR put Sputnik into space, the US's response wasn't because oh no we need to beat them to the moon! it was because the fact that they could put a satellite into space meant they could also land a nuclear warhead on US soil.

Unlike India, USSR/US/EU have spent millions on R&D to reach Mars since 1960. "If I have seen further it is by standing on the shoulders of giants." --Isaac Newton

Re: Why India's Mars mission is so cheap – and thrilling

#188

Post by known »

roywiggins wrote: post #143
bushido wrote: post #136

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Please correct me if I am wrong. Wasn't there a cost associated with using these washrooms? I recall reading a study that surveyed people and found: a. The primary target market found the cost to high b. The primary market who had always used the woods were embarrassed of not knowing how to "use" the facilities and embarrassed to ask anyone about it. c. There were some free locations, that were filthy.

Outdoor defecation is a huge problem in India. It's very much a cultural thing, though obviously access to attractive facilities is a huge problem too. http://www.economist.com/news/asia/21607837-fixing-dreadful-... > Evidence is growing that India must urgently correct its cultural practices, though it is sensitive to say so. Studies of India’s population show how since at least the 1960s child mortality rates have…

We are lobbying President Obama to direct Indian regime to create separate states for SC/ST/Dalit/Untouchable/Muslim/Sikh/Christian/Parsi/Buddhist/Jain communities as per 2nd Round Table Conference Resolution.

http://wh.gov/ii5bo

Re: Why India's Mars mission is so cheap – and thrilling

#189

Post by kaonashi »

logicchains wrote: post #186
kaonashi wrote: post #185

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That depends entirely on how much excess capacity there is, it's not per se inflationary. If you mobilize idle capacity with new money, then you're increasing the size of the pie (more money chasing after more goods).

That's why I said "all other things being equal". In the general case is which there's no excess capacity, which can be assumed if the economy isn't undergoing a recession or the like, it's inflationary.

It doesn't even have to be recession. Slow growth and high unemployment (such as what we're seeing right now) also indicate that there's plenty of room to mobilize idle capacity.

Re: Why India's Mars mission is so cheap – and thrilling

#190

Post by radisb »

anigbrowl wrote: post #168
radisb wrote: post #130

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> because they were engaged in new and productive work Well, new and productive work is not equivalent to valuable work, for possibly a pretty big number of definitions of "valuable". Of course, "valuable" is subjective. I mean, of course, in the global future context, this endeavor may contribute a lot of value, but what if I am starving and I probably wont be there to take advantage of that value? With sufficient p…

Economies run in parallel, not in series. As I pointed out elsewhere, this success is likely to attract a lot of outside investment to India as other countries and firms will want to take advantage of India's low-cost space expertise (and possibly avoid dealing with the US government and its complex technology-transfer rules). So spending $100 million demonstrating your space capabilitiies is a fantastic deal if it r…

Billions flowing into the country does not mean that they will be distributed to those in need. But even if they are, a lot of people need those 100mil now and cant wait for billions later. Unless we accept the poverty percentage of India as an axiom. No pun intended.
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