I was in High School when one word became very popular among the students in 1957. Sputnik. It was the satellite that USSR launched into space and which panicked the USA into the space race. The next exciting thing that happened was the launch of Sputnik 2 which also carried a dog Laika. Many dogs were named Laika after this star became the first outer space explorer.
The next living being to catch the imagination of all of us was Ham.. Tarzan had already popularised chimpanzees in films and Ham introduced a chimpanzee to the Indian film world in the form of Zippy.
So outer space exploration started off with two non human living beings who led the adventure in the late 1950s.
While rockets going into space became quite normal, the first human being to venture into space was Yuri Gagarin a Russian cosmonaut who became a hero for all Indians who were at that time firmly in the camp opposite to the USA called the Non Aligned Nations.
Again it was the USSR that sent the only Indian so far to have gone on a space mission Rakesh Sharma in 1984.
In the meanwhile, India was building its own Space set up somewhat like NASA but of a different nature as India was and is not interested in any Space Race. The ISRO has brought a lot of pride to our nation with its Rocket Launches and space explorations. Its success can be understood if my readers realise that ISRO has so far launched 328 satellites for other countries besides those that it has launched for its own purposes.
I have deliberately focussed on India’s contribution to Space Exploration as I suspect that many of my readers are not aware of its contribution. Everyone knows about NASA, its successes as well the Russian adventures but for some strange reason, India’s contribution has been kept hidden by the Western media for reasons best known to itself.
Our Space adventures also gave us a remarkable human being who was our President, A.P.J. Abdul Kalam, for one term and became a household name for his remarkable humanity and simplicity.
I now look forward to reading the take from the rest of seven bloggers who should be posting soon.
This is my contribution to this week’s Friday 8 On 1 blog post topic. The other seven bloggers who write on the same topic every Friday are Maria. Sanjana, Padmum, Raju, Shackman , Srinivas and Conrad. This week’s topic was suggested by Conrad. Please do go over to their respective blogs to see what they have to say on the topic. T
Your countries approach is quite practical -you are essentially a space uber. If your population does not have a burning desire to send people into space why bother. Acccording to Wikipedia we have launched 313.
I see no reason for western media to ignore your accom[plishments unless your government does not push to have the story told,
Fair enough. Why then does it carry many negative things about us?
Frankly I do not see much negative unless it hs to do with mass rapes annd assaults on women. There is a perception also of you guys taking jobs from us – noytably phone support and the like. Your culture is much older than ours and very different – we tend to fear what we are not familiar with (IMHO) and that could be part of it. I start tend to be very positive about India and her future with the primary “negative” being the caste system.
The Indian Caste system is a much maligned bugbear and the maligning has been entirely by well meaning Westerners who simply have not understood it and have gone by perverted observations by Missionaries who had no compunction in converting those that they called lower castes into their own fold. If you really want to understand it, I strongly recommend that you read https://www.amazon.com/Caste-as-Social-Capital-Vaidyanathan-ebook/dp/B07NL3YBBS/ref=sr_1_1?crid=FGS1D46PEJNV&dchild=1&keywords=r+vaidyanathan&qid=1615978898&sprefix=R+Vaid%2Caps%2C325&sr=8-1
I actually see your entry along the lines of what Chuck said. However, I found your information interesting coming from your personal vantage point. I also found your alliance nationaly with Russia on the space race interesting.
Conrad recently posted..Outer Space Exploration
History now. Our relationship with the USA now is on much stronger footing and with Russia at best lukewarm.
I must say I couldn’t care less about outer space exploration, as there are far more urgent things to be focusing on. Why do we need to know what the climate is on Mars or what the planet is made of? But Jenny finds outer space quite fascinating.
I could not agree more except for satellite launching which in the modern world is an absolute minimum necessity.
I’ve always been interested in space exploration. I think it’s important to note that many of the advances we’ve had over the last 60 years have their origins in the various space programs. There will be new innovations here on Earth because of what is being done in the Mars and Lunar exploration programs. The various sciences of space often help solve earthly problems.
The American space program was a big deal when I was in Houston Texas from 1965 through 1971. I visited the Johnson Spacecraft Center. Years later, on a business trip, I was able to visit Cape Canaveral. Of course, there weren’t any launches that day.
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Yes, there is no denying that the space programme has spun off many incidental technological advances and inventions. My objection is only to sending people to other planets. As I have mentioned, satellite positioning in the modern era is an absolute minimum need for all countries.
That’s good for science. But I am afraid it will become a new battlefield, a show of force for the game of throne.
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