Home SCIENCE AND NATURE Moon shock: India’s Vikram lander was smashed to smithereens – and YOU paid for it – Express.co.uk

Moon shock: India’s Vikram lander was smashed to smithereens – and YOU paid for it – Express.co.uk

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Moon shock: India’s Vikram lander was smashed to smithereens – and YOU paid for it – Express.co.uk

The news is likely to raise eyebrows in UK, given the Department for Foreign Aid and International Development still sends India a package close to £100million annually, which would cover more than two-thirds of the project’s overall costs of £141million. Meanwhile, India has reacted angrily to NASA’s claim to have discovered the scattered whereabouts of the failed probe, with New Dehli claiming it had known the location all along. Vikram was a part of Chandrayaan-2, India’s bid to land on the Moon in September.The lander had been scheduled to land on the near side of the Moon, in the south polar region, but touchdown was lost, with Kailasavadivoo Sivan, chairman of the Indian Space Research Organisation, acknowledging: “It must have been a hard landing.”NASA images published last week showed the impact point “and associated debris field”.The discovery was made after amateur astronomer Shanmuga Subramanian contacted NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter project with a “positive identification of debris”.NASA’s statement added: “After receiving this tip, the LROC team confirmed the identification by comparing before and after images.”Chandrayaan-2 before launch (Image: ISRO)NASA image of the crash site (Image: NASA)Mr Subramanian told AFP: “I had side-by-side comparison of those two images on two of my laptops. On one side there was the old image, and another side there was the new image released by NASA.“It was quite hard, but I spent some effort.”However, Mr Sivan insisted Chandrayaan-2 had already spotted the debris added: “We had already declared that on our website, you can go back and see.”A tweet posted to the update page of the ISRO’s Chandrayaan-2 mission on September 10 states: “Vikram lander has been located by the orbiter of Chandrayaan-2, but no communication with it yet.JUST IN: ‘Nothing left to lose!’ North Korea sets alarm bells ringingIndia’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi visits mission control after the loss of communication (Image: GETTY)“All possible efforts are being made to establish communication with lander.”India’s burgeoning space sector will make it a direct rival of Britain in years to come, given that 25 percent of the world’s telecommunications satellites are built in the UK.The country is planning pioneering missions to Mars and the Moon – yet last November DFID confirmed a package of about £90m is paid to India annually.DON’T MISSWhy the first human colony will be on the Moon – But not how you image [LATEST]An asteroid taller than Pyramids is flying towards Earth at 16,800mph [UPDATE]What will happen when the Andromeda galaxy crashes into the Milky Way? [ANALYSIS]Chandrayaan-2 is launched earlier this year (Image: GETTY)The Vikram Lander prior to its attempted landing (Image: ISRO)At the time, then-UKIP MEP Margot Parker told Express.co.uk: “It’s fantastic to see the economic and social progress of India but at the same time this negates the reason for the UK to continue sending the country foreign aid.“The only thing that now needs to be sent into outer space is Britain’s office for foreign aid. Instead, we need to start spending this money on needy people at home.“There are many homeless and sick people in Britain who could benefit by putting our money in the right place.Nations which have been to the Moon (Image: Daily Express)“This is an outrageous abuse of taxpayers’ money.”Also speaking last year, a spokeswoman told Express.co.uk: “Working with India, an emerging global power, increases Britain’s global influence, and alongside our world class defence and diplomacy, helps the UK to create opportunity, peace and prosperity which is firmly in our national interest.“The UK offers world-leading expertise, skills and private sector investment in areas where we can work with India to deliver both development benefits and commercial opportunities for UK businesses, including in the urban development, financial services and energy sectors.Kailasavadivoo Sivan, chairman of the Indian Space Research Organisation (Image: GETTY) “This boosts prosperity, creates jobs and opens markets, while generating a return for the UK.“This is a win for the UK and a win for India.“We are driving value for money in aid. Helping the world’s poorest while furthering UK strategic interests will only be achieved by spending 0.7 percent well.”A DfiD spokesman told Express.co.uk today: “The UK provides no financial assistance to the Government of India.”However, the UK does have a  development partnership which supports private sector investment in the country.

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