On August 23, 2023, India made history as the first country to do a soft landing near the south pole of the Moon. They also became the first country to land on the Moon since China did so in 2020. The touchdown was met with rapturous applause and celebrations around India.
This mission was remarkable because they did it on a very tight budget, landing the Chandrayaan-3 lander module with 6.3 billion rupees, which converts to $75 million — less than it cost to produce the Hollywood blockbuster movie Interstellar. The sci-fi space film featuring Matthew McConaughey and directed by Christopher Nolan reportedly cost $165 million to make.
In an online platform, users reacted to the successful mission and comparisons between its budget and that of the sci-fi film. Here are some of their thoughts.
1. More Budget
One user said they wonder how much more could be accomplished if India had billions more in budget. Someone responded that sometimes it’s better to have a leaner budget because more money will attract vultures.
But someone else countered that the opposite may happen. The authorities may say that since they accomplished the mission with a small budget, then they might need a smaller one next time. It may be better to always have a bigger budget.
2. Knowledge Sharing
Someone on the platform said that they’d like to know how much research and development went into the project. They wondered if some designs were obtained from NASA or Russian Space programs since sharing information across space agencies was helpful.
Another user responded that very little information might have been shared, citing the case of an Indian engineer who was branded a traitor because he worked with France and the USSR in the ’80s. Other commenters dismissed the fears of this user, saying things have improved a lot since the ’80s. “Speaking as an engineer working in the space sector,” a user said, “Sure, some things are protected, but the amount of information out there that is available is enormous.”
3. No Point at All
A platform member said they don’t see the point of the comparison since India has made some movies that are way more expensive than it costs them to land on the Moon. “They didn’t have to pay actors to land on the Moon. Actors charge a lot more money versus scientists.”
Someone else responded that scientists can cry on demand if you tell them there’s a surprise inspection.
4. Back to the Moon?
A member simply commented, “Don’t give Nolan ideas,” to which another user responded that humanity’s best bet of going back to the Moon would be to pitch a movie idea about it to filmmaker James Cameron.
5. Small Pay
On the platform, someone suggested that the Indian scientists are being paid peanuts, and other users didn’t hesitate to remind them of purchasing power parity.
An ISRO scientist earns $15k- $20k per year, which might seem like peanuts by American or European standards, but is well above average in India. A user opined that Indians give scientists the same level of respect that Americans give soldiers.
6. Rings of Power
One user was astounded by the fact that the TV series Rings of Power was close to a billion dollars, which is the equivalent of about 13 trips to the Moon for India.
They took a swipe at Amazon owner Jeff Bezos for wasting money on a joyride to low Earth orbit when it could have been put to better use. Another user responded to them, saying, “Wait until you find out that Secret Invasion cost almost twice as much as Oppenheimer.”
7. Don’t Focus on the Cost
A user opined that they wished the headlines would focus less on the costs of the mission, but instead on the fact that India was able to do something spectacular for themselves by reaching the Moon, regardless of who else had done it. However, a different user countered with a different opinion.
They said India going to the Moon wasn’t something unique. People have been doing it since 1969. What was different now was that India was able to do it more cost-effectively. That was the headline people wanted to read, about how India managed to achieve that.
8. Reality Is Cheaper Than Fiction
A user remarked that technology and engineering had improved to the point where it cost less to actually go to space than to pretend to go to space in Hollywood.
9. The Right Man for the Job
Another member said they weren’t surprised by the feat at all. According to them, if there was any country in the world that could get to the Moon for the absolute lowest possible price point, it was going to be Team India.
10. Financial Aid
Someone asked if India should stop receiving financial aid from the UK and the US now that they had landed on the Moon. A commenter reminded the user that India had already asked the US to stop giving aid for a decade now and that saying India should stop getting aid made no sense.
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This thread inspired this post.
I’m John Schmoll, a former stockbroker, MBA-grad, published finance writer, and founder of Frugal Rules.
As a veteran of the financial services industry, I’ve worked as a mutual fund administrator, banker, and stockbroker and was Series 7 and 63-licensed, but I left all that behind in 2012 to help people learn how to manage their money.
My goal is to help you gain the knowledge you need to become financially independent with personally-tested financial tools and money-saving solutions.
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