“Let's send a mission to Mars, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh announced a couple of weeks ago, just as his government was fending off corruption charges and the country was still recovering from the biggest blackout since the invention of electricity,†Hartosh Singh Bal wrote in the New York Times's Latitude blog.
Mr. Singh's “$77 million plan did nothing to divert attention from his administration's failings,†Mr. Bal wrote, but “it did focus some unfortunate attention on India's space program.†It suggested, “what had been a fine endeavor to date has now been hitched to India's dream of becoming a great power.â€
But the ambition of a Mars mission “goes well beyond practical applications,†Mr. Bal wrote. “It's about basic science research and planetary exploration, as well as a very real, and ludicrous, race to space with China.â€
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