Good Luck Mangalyaan – on its way to Mars
With today’s launch of its Mars orbiter Mangalyaan, India is poised to join the United States, Europe, and Russia in interplanetary space. Don’t be too disappointed if there are problems; of forty missions launched from Earth to Mars, only twenty-three have succeeded.
India’s importance in science and technology will only grow over time. For many years, Indian students have come to America to attend universities. Since I am from a small town, I didn’t meet my first Indians until I was in college. Hearing an Indian accent still reminds me of college. I included an Indian space mission in my science fiction book Glitch. (You can read a description here and an excerpt starting here , but the Indian mission is farther into the book than the excerpts take you. Click on Please Offer Comments for how to download a copy of the entire ebook for free before Christmas 2013.)
While I hope Indian students continue to come to American universities and companies, they don’t have to any more. American companies have been outsourcing technical work to India for some time. Indians don’t have to leave home to pursue science; not even to send missions to Mars
