India's Mars mission cost less than "Gravity" movie.

Well this is one benefit of cheap labor I guess but good on them none the less as they are a success to this point.

In the link it mentions that they devote a similar percentage (.4%) of their budget. And reminds us that at the peak of NASA support it was at 4.4% of the budget. Interesting article.

But the mission's shoestring budget was perhaps its most notable distinction: At a cost of just $74 million, India's space agency put the satellite into orbit for a fraction of what other nations have spent.

The U.S. Maven satellite, for example, arrived in orbit on Sunday in a mission that cost taxpayers $671 million. The European Space Agency's 2003 mission to Mars had an initial budget of nearly $200 million.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi has noted that even the Hollywood thriller "Gravity" had a larger budget at $100 million.

Link

Is anyone surprised that anything from Hollywood is over-inflated? lol
But that is sort of comical and sad at the same time.

originally posted by: Fylgje

But that is sort of comical and sad at the same time.

well put. I think it's interesting that China and Japan have failed to get as far as this.

I'm happy for India, and it's space program. It's a great achievement and full respect to them for achieving it.
It will be nice to compare their Mars photos with NASA's

a reply to: howmuch4another

I don't wish to take anything away from India's space program, but I doubt very much that everything, every piece of equipment involved in the design, research and building of the rocket, fuel formula, satellite payload, every technical paper, concept and plan of that program were produced in that country. Sure, after more than half a century they did the job.

Hell, just look at cheapo civilian American space work. Isn't it doing wonders too?

a reply to: Aliensun


Interesting. You don't wish to take anything away and then you take almost everything away with doubt. kind of made me chuckle. What do you think they didn't do? Any answers as to why China and Japan couldn't pull it off..."after more than half a century"?

a reply to: howmuch4another

It's interesting to note that there have been quite a few missions from the Soviets, Red China, Japan and the European space agency now India.

There have only been 8 successful landings, 7 from NASA and 1 Soviet.

Soviet: Mars 3 in 71

NASA: Viking I & II in 76, Pathfinder/Sojourner in 97, Opportunity & Spirit in 04, Phoenix in 08 and Curiosity in 12.

Russia: 0
ESA: 0
Japan: 0
China: 0

Who'll be next?

What was the return on India's Mars mission?

Gravity:
Worldwide Box Office $716,392,705
Total Domestic Video Sales $45,240,336

Meanwhile, the poorest half of india's population do not have indoor plumbing and dump their waste in the streets.

a reply to: skyblueworld

I do think that NASA will give them the 'proper' software to assist in obtaining the 'proper' photos and conclusions for distribution.

a reply to: Deny Arrogance

Well it would be too early to tell what the real return will be..right now it's just legitimacy and pride. I don't think too many of these type of expeditions are for profit. The point is how much under budget they managed it. Maybe you should start a thread on how a country shouldn't explore space because of their poverty issues. I'll give it a star and flag.

a reply to: SLAYER69

Who knows. Iran? did I just type that?

Indias space program could easily teach a good lesson to all the BS bureaucratic companies, governments and unions in North America. Things Dont have to cost so much.

originally posted by: drz400
Indias space program could easily teach a good lesson to all the BS bureaucratic companies, governments and unions in North America. Things Dont have to cost so much.

Space X has already shown that.

Even without doing anything they got the price of launch to nearly half that of a similiar boeing or lockheed rocket.

Me thinks dodgy dealings go on between the goverments and big aerospace contractors.

originally posted by: crazyewok
Me thinks dodgy dealings go on between the goverments and big aerospace contractors.

Me thinks you hit the nail on the head.

originally posted by: Elton

originally posted by: crazyewok
Me thinks dodgy dealings go on between the goverments and big aerospace contractors.

Me thinks you hit the nail on the head.

I wonder what the real cost of $200 million fighter jets are?

If ULA (boeing/lockheed) rockets are to go by then half that.

The studio should have done their homework and shot the whole movie in space and saved money, lol. I think this goes to the heart of some of the problems with western society. We will spend more money on entertainment, including the outrageous sums of money we pay to entertainers and athletes, while those who are truly doing things that matter make a very small fraction of that. I mean we could function without these high-paid entertainers, but we could not function without those doing more mundane jobs. Teachers come to mind as one of the most under-appreciated and underpaid professions out there. Often times so much money is squandered on such things as entertainment, when there are people in need even in our own country. Yet our system is functioning as it is supposed to? If that is the case, then the problem must be with the system. Some will say that people should just improve their situations, but this would be missing the greater point, and would nullify or alter the fact that so much money is being squandered when it could be put to better use.

originally posted by: crazyewok

originally posted by: drz400
Indias space program could easily teach a good lesson to all the BS bureaucratic companies, governments and unions in North America. Things Dont have to cost so much.

Space X has already shown that.

Even without doing anything they got the price of launch to nearly half that of a similiar boeing or lockheed rocket.

Me thinks dodgy dealings go on between the goverments and big aerospace contractors.

I hate to say it, but it bear repeating time and again, the hidden billions if not trillions go to fund the black budget triangles development and now fleet.

They were able to do it on the cheap for a coulple of reasons. One labor costs the biggest part of any budget of course in India are much lower. And second this probe is small and designed for one specific purpose, to study the planets gasses. India kept it simple to keep it cheap so that it reduced the chance of failure and the cost if it did fail. The US loads its probes up with tons of things raising both the risk and cost. Of course they also can focus on many things instead of a narrow focus.

Fair play to them for getting it there successfully