Moonstruck!

I grew up admiring scientists, especially space scientists and astronauts. I met them in my dreams when I was a kid. Newton, Einstein, Darwin or Mendel… they have always made me marvel at the incredible power of the human brain. I thought of Armstrong and Gagarin as absolute paragons (they continue to rule my head and heart even today and are still my heroes). I thought I could be part of a space mission one day. As if this wasn’t enough, I even fantasized going to the Moon.

But no longer do I aim for the Moon. Perhaps because my understanding of life is far more evolved now. I understand that dreams and ambitions can be unrealistic. But that’s not the only cause of my disillusionment. The truth is - I no longer believe in the viability of mankind’s space aspirations. Thus, India’s first Moonshot did not make me go over the Moon. I am rather sceptical about the efficacy of such an undertaking.

As India’s Chandrayaan-I ventured into the skies to get a load of the moon (on October 22, 2008), the country’s TV channels went berserk – couldn’t stop gushing over the country’s fantastic feat - beaming the same pictures, narrating the same story over and over again – two weeks of complete, inescapable madness. Perhaps none seemed to deem it necessary to question the very purpose of the costly ‘adventure’ at a time when the entire world is struggling to improve the health of the economy.

India’s Moonshot materialized almost five decades after the unmanned Soviet probe Luna 2 landed on the lunar surface in 1959, and as many as four decades after the US’s Neil Armstrong planted his boot on the Moon in 1969. This made India only the second Asian nation after Japan to send a satellite to orbit the moon. Unquestionably a giant leap forward, serving as a declaration of India's "space intent", in no uncertain terms. With an annual budget of about $1bn which is less than a tenth of Nasa's, the Isro has sure proved where there’s will there’s a way.

But was it necessary at all? Even if for the sake of cachet, does this really boost our national pride? Or is it, if not entirely, somewhat of an ego trip (one cannot out-and-out downplay the purpose)? Even if we try to believe that it’s a matter of the nation’s prestige, the moot question is - how many Indians understand what a moon mission is? How many of us are aware of the possible benefits? The answer is simple – not many. Does this in any way serve to make us feel proud?

Analysts have placed India as only a fraction behind China in global space competitiveness rankings, and way ahead of Japan, Israel and Canada. Yet it’s a long way to go if we are to become the leaders in space science. India has bigger ambitions. Certainly with more money we’ll have more missions. But there’s so much else that needs to be done – slums, beggars, lepers, lack of food and clean drinking water for the poor, so on and so forth. Should a country with hundreds of millions of people below the poverty line go for such an expensive exercise in vanity?

And what if we grab a plot of the Moon or even the Mars? Will get another place to live? Isn’t it bizarre that the dusty, old, barren Moon still stirs our imagination? Over the years since Man’s first attempt to explore the Earth’s only satellite, all that we have been able to uncover about the illusive orb is that it does not have an atmosphere suitable for living. Then, is Moon the answer to all our existential problems on Earth? Isn’t it peculiarly farfetched to think of using the Moon as another place to live?

Ponder this – our planet has everything that we need for survival, and in fact much more. Yet there are those for whom existence is not just a struggle but life is an endless ordeal. No food, no clean water, no shelter, no medicines to fight off illnesses. Why? Because you need money to buy everything and money is the monopoly of only a handful of people – the glorified millionaires and billionaires. A major chunk of what should rightfully belong to every citizen of the planet is the possession of the rich and powerful.

Nothing on the Moon suggests that we could just buy a piece of land and straightaway build a house and settle down there. So, each and everything that we already have on Earth as God’s gift to mankind, has to be recreated on the Moon. Possibly, we will have to create another Earth on the Moon to be able to live there. Does this sound very practical? Perhaps the rich can afford it but what about others? Does it mean that a Moon mission is only aimed at catering to the needs of the rich and mighty?