When you read about private companies launching spacecraft, it makes me think that, these days, it’s pretty easy to get something into space. After all, if some company can do it, why can’t a country do it? Especially a country the size of India, with that level of technical prowess and that amount of money to spend. India should have no problems putting stuff into space, right? Wrong. India’s most recent attempt to reach space was a disaster, as the Indian Space Research Organization (ISR)’s Christmas rocket launch had to be blown up intentionally.
The rocket, a Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle or GSLV, was about 5 miles in the air when it started to veer dangerously off course. Rather than see where the rocket was heading, the ISRO decided it would be safest to simply detonate the rocket and its payload, only 47 seconds after the rocket launched from India’s version of Spaceport America, Sriharikota.
“Data indicates commands from onboard computers ceased to reach circuits of the first stage (engines) but what caused the interruption needs to be studied and we hope to get an assessment of what triggered this,” says ISRO chairman K. Radhakrishnan. India has had a space program since 1963; they hope to launch their first manned lunar mission in 2016.
Yeah, good luck with that, India. I’d imagine having to blow up a rocket that has gone off route doesn’t exactly fill India’s potential astronauts with confidence.
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