India confuses Earth with Kerbin, plans shuttle launch to 70km, will not go to space

[ArchGaden]

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/home/science/India-closer-to-developing-its-own-space-shuttle/articleshow/47384132.cms

They'll be launching a shuttle to 70km, soft landing in the Bay of Bengal, and then letting the shuttle sink without recovery. While this isn't exactly a space shuttle, at least they're working towards it. If the program goes as planned, they'll develop a low cost shuttle program, which does have some exciting potential.

[LordFerret]

Coast Guard to the rescue. Of course they should recover it... aren't they just polluting the ocean otherwise?

[moronwrocket]

I don't get it, how would an airtight vehicle of that kind of volume sink? Assuming it has enough room for humans to move about inside - not including a payload bay - I find it unlikely to have an average density over 1. Maybe they plan to blow their hatches after soft landing. Still seems like a really odd choice. How are they going to know how well their heat tiles work if they don't visually inspect them?

[Wesreidau]

Somehow I doubt it will be airtight after smacking the ocean in a simulated landing glide path.

[moronwrocket]

Well I assume "soft landing" means in a potentially recoverable state. If that really means "simulated soft landing, but in the ocean because we're too scared to land it on the ground" then I think they need some BadS=True in that space program.

[NovaSilisko]

Coast Guard to the rescue. Of course they should recover it... aren't they just polluting the ocean otherwise?

Not terribly different from 99% of rockets flying today.

[Camacha]

Coast Guard to the rescue. Of course they should recover it... aren't they just polluting the ocean otherwise?

There are much worse things being dumped into the ocean on a much larger scale every day. The environment is not really the issue, though it might be beneficial to examine your craft after the landing or splashdown.

Don not mistake my comment for two wrong making a right, by the way.

[Goodle...]

I think they used KSP to design their space shuttle as they don't have proper computer simulation software.

[Camacha]

I think they used KSP to design their space shuttle as they don't have proper computer simulation software.

Why do you think that? It is not as if India does not have enough bright minds.

[Goddess Bhavani]

Impressive. I for one have no qualms about welcoming the new mini-shuttle prototype well, the Indians have had indigenous space launch capability up to GTO for quite some time, and this new prototype of a re-usable vehicle appears to be completely indigenous, this is an accomplishment for the Indian aerospace industry.

I see no reason to mock the sub-orbital test - after all, we all do sub-orbital tests in KSP for aerodynamic proving before risking real payloads on the vehicle, right?

Remember, this is a nation that has the chutzpah to buy Russian high tech military aircraft and develop their own aerospace industry to support them. They also fly some well known Western high end aircraft like the C-17 Globemaster III too.

[PakledHostage]

Why do you think that? It is not as if India does not have enough bright minds.

No kidding, eh? Odd how every time there's a story about the Indian Space Program achieving some new milestone, all the racists come out of the woodwork to denigrate it.

Take a look at what can be achieved when a culture values higher education! No country is perfect and India has plenty of warts, but that doesn't mean it is as backward as some might believe.

Edited May 24, 2015 by PakledHostage
Removed the word "rednecks" from the second paragraph in consideration of Vanamond's comment below.

[Vanamonde]

Let's please neither disregard whole countries, nor refer to each other as rednecks.

[ArchGaden]

I see no reason to mock the sub-orbital test - after all, we all do sub-orbital tests in KSP for aerodynamic proving before risking real payloads on the vehicle, right?

Very true...but with them aiming for 70km, I just could not resist.