Bobs are off to Mars

[fullyautomatix]

I don't really think the inhabitants of a country with no space program to speak of (i.e. us) should be taking the piss out of a country which has launched 60 satellites successfully, do you?
They may not be perfect, but at least they're trying (very trying to many ) and what's happening is they're passing us on the way up, as we go down. It's the way of the world.

Half their population lives in poverty, there is no universal medical care, no free education, no investment in infrastructure like roads, motorways, powercuts every day. I think there is no need for them to do a Mars mission.

[Platypus]

Half their population lives in poverty, there is no universal medical care, no free education, no investment in infrastructure like roads, motorways, powercuts every day. I think there is no need for them to do a Mars mission.

Good points.

@SAS, so there!

[BoredBloke]

I don't really think the inhabitants of a country with no space program to speak of (i.e. us) should be taking the piss out of a country which has launched 60 satellites successfully, do you?
They may not be perfect, but at least they're trying (very trying to many ) and what's happening is they're passing us on the way up, as we go down. It's the way of the world.

The space indusrty in the Uk is worth about £8 Billion and employs 25000 directly and a further 60000 indirectly. So we are active in the space indusrty - we just don't fire off our own people into space

[hyperD]

Half their population lives in poverty, there is no universal medical care, no free education, no investment in infrastructure like roads, motorways, powercuts every day.

Enough about the UK, what's it like in India?

[sasguru]

Half their population lives in poverty, there is no universal medical care, no free education, no investment in infrastructure like roads, motorways, powercuts every day. I think there is no need for them to do a Mars mission.

Good points.

@SAS, so there!

I don't think that's how it works. When Britain was at the peak of its power in the Victorian age, most of the working class lived in squalid slums with no welfare state.
Prestige engineering projects have two purposes, they're aspirational - in that they give poor people something to aim for(the clever poor boy can always become a techie), and practical - the learning from trying complex engineering projects (even if they fail) has wide applicability.

[sasguru]

The space indusrty in the Uk is worth about £8 Billion and employs 25000 directly and a further 60000 indirectly. So we are active in the space indusrty - we just don't fire off our own people into space

Fair enough, but IMHO its not ambitious enough.

[Ignis Fatuus]

Can you ******* read?

Only 2 lines at a time, and very short sentences at that

I've worked with some editors like that

[Platypus]

we just don't fire off our own people into space

Are you suggesting the India will do this, perhaps as a way of solving the population problem?

[MrMark]

Are you suggesting the India will do this, perhaps as a way of solving the population problem?

Can someone show that train image again? I never get tired of seeing that.

[hyperD]

Can someone show that train image again? I never get tired of seeing that.

No problem, sir..