Quinton Quade, M.S. from The University of Utah (2011)

This question assumes the fungibility of human capital.

You could say the same thing about India’s nuclear program.

Different people have different personalities, strengths, and aptitudes. Some people make good accountants, others make good artists.

India has an abundance of excellence in STEM. You can’t expect people who can do aerospace to spend their lives building affordable housing and soup kitchens, just because you think that’s what the country needs. Those people would have just moved to other countries and pursued aerospace there.

Apart from that, a lot of people get the impression that present day humanity has the means to end poverty and suffering. No amount of resources can end poverty. If India had decided to devote all of its aerospace resources to fighting poverty, it would have exactly the same amount of poverty and no space program. Instead, now it has an asset in addition to the usual set of liabilities.

这个问题假设了人力资本的可替代性。你也可以说印度的核计划也是如此。

不同的人有不同的个性、长处和才能。有些人能成为优秀的会计，有些人成为优秀的艺术家。

印度在科学、技术、工程和数学领域有很大优势。你不能指望那些能做航空航天工作的人一辈子都在建造经济适用房和施粥所，就因为你认为这是这个国家所需要的。这些人会搬到其他国家，到那里发展航空事业。

除此之外，很多人认为，如今人类有结束贫穷和苦难的手段，没有更多的资源来消除贫困。如果印度将其所有航空航天资源用于与贫困作斗争，其贫困程度将保持不变而且还丧失了航天计划。反之，投资于太空计划，除了通常的负债，现在国家还多了一项资产。

Sayandeep Gupta

In a way the questioner has pointed out one thing. Researching Space Technology is an investment indeed. As with all investment the benefits are reaped not then and there but a few years from the time the investment is made.

在某种程度上，提问者指出了一点，研究太空技术的确是一项投资。就像所有的投资一样，并不是一开始就有回报，而是要数年后才会有。

Well by welfare of people you mean to say that people go hungry so they should be fed, provided with better medical facilities. Now my friend there are already programs for that and the amount allocated to space research is so miniscule that if it would have been added to the already exsting programs it wouldn't have made a big difference. However, think about the remote sensing satellites that India made and launched. They help in meteorological predictions, in study of soil composition, land under cultivation, river catchment areas. All these help the agricultural scientists to make better land use and get better crop yields. The better yields in crop can better feed the hungry than a simple food for all programs.

说到人民的福利，你是指人们会挨饿所以他们应该得到食物和更好的医疗设施。现在已经有福利方面的项目了，而分配给太空研究的资金是如此之少，就算把这些资金加到福利项目中，也不会有太大作用。然而，想想印度制造和发射的遥感卫星，它们有助于气象预测，研究土壤组成、耕地、河流集水区。这些都有助于农业科学家更好地利用土地，提高作物产量。作物产量越高，就能更好地为饥民提供食物。

Mangalyan helped understand the environment on Mars and could pave the way for future Mars colonization. This can reduce the population pressure experienced by planet Earth and make it more habitable.

Mangalyan火星探测器帮助了解了火星上的环境，并为未来的火星殖民铺平了道路。这可以减少地球的人口压力，使其更适合居住。

Chandrayan helped us understand more about helium 3 on moon which can act as a fuel for rockets and hence the moon can act as a base for longer space missions.

“月船”计划帮助我们了解了月球上氦3元素的更多信息，氦3可以作为火箭燃料，因此月球可以作为长期太空任务的基地。

Aditya the upcoming solar mission can help us understand the sun better and might help us predict solar storms that can have catastrophic consequences on tele-communication systems namely satellites in space.

即将到来的太阳计划可以帮助我们更好地了解太阳，并帮助我们预测太阳风暴，这些风暴可能对远程通信系统，也就是太空中的卫星造成灾难性的后果。

The cheap but reliable launch capability achieved by ISRO can help add critical foreign exchange to the economy by hel launch foreign satellites.

ISRO廉价而可靠的发射能力可以帮助发射外国卫星，从而为经济增加关键的外汇。

The research done will only add to our knowledge and humans are what they are today because of the progress made using such researches.

所做的研究只会增加我们的知识，人类今天的成就，是因为使用这些研究取得了进步。

A space scientist can elaborate and explain many more things and the things I mentioned far better.

在这方面，一个太空科学家可以作出更好的阐释。

So my friend just as building roads have a multiplier effect on the economy. Space research also has a multiplier effect not only on the Indian Economy but also on the whole global economy. Not to mention it promotes scientific temper and rationality which India desperately needs now.

所以就像修路对经济有乘数效应一样，太空研究不仅对印度经济有乘数效应，对全球经济也有乘数效应，更不必说它促进了印度现在迫切需要的科学态度和理性。

If you chose to work on kee your brain, heart and lungs functional while neglecting your other organs you will definitely not have a very healthy life. In the same way a country that focuses on only certain aspects of living while neglecting others is only going to suffer. So investment in space technology is absolutely worth every rupee we spend on it.

如果你选择在保持大脑、心脏和肺功能的同时却忽略其他器官，你肯定不会过上非常健康的生活。同样，一个只关注生活的某些方面而忽视其它方面的国家只会遭受苦难。因此，在太空技术上的投资绝对值得我们在上面所花费的每一卢比。

Vinay Kumar Rautiya, MBBS from Government Medical College, Nagpur (2020)

Because the aim of investment in space technology “was not to compete with developed nation for manned space-flight or exploration of moon & planets. Main aim was to application of advanced space technology to aiding country for economic reasons and real problems of society”— Vikram Sarabhai (Founder and father of ISRO)

因为“太空技术投资的目的不是为了与发达国家竞争载人航天飞行或探索月球和行星。其主要目的是将先进的太空技术应用于解决经济和社会问题，造福国家。”——Vikram Sarabhai (ISRO创始人)

A country cannot progress without the applications of space technology; and it was a must situation for India- being a large and diversity country suffering from poverty at that time.

没有太空技术的应用，一个国家就无法进步。对印度这样幅员辽阔、多元化但饱受贫困之苦的国家来说，这曾是一个必须面对的局面。

Aryabhatta, Bhaskara- I & II, Rohini- I&II, APPLE. All these were the satellites launched initially in the history of ISRO. Aryabhatta, launched in 1975 was aimed for Earth Sciences and Space Physics. Similarly, the main objectives of satellites were — Astronomy, Communications, Engineering, Earth Sciences.

Aryabhatta, Bhaskara- I & II, Rohini- I&II, APPLE，这些都是ISRO最初发射的卫星。Aryabhatta号于1975年发射，目的是用于研究地球科学和太空物理学。同样，这些卫星的主要目的是应用于天文学、通信、工程和地球科学。

Applications of these were in Telecommunications, Resource Management, Military, Academic etc.. mainly to benefit Farming and Forestry.

这些应用在电信、资源管理、军事、学术等领域，主要有益于农业和林业。

No satellite means no facility, that means dependent on other nations for this. India couldn't have developed at this far if they hadn't invested in space technology at that time.

没有卫星就意味着没有设施，这就意味着要依赖其他国家。如果当时没有对太空技术进行投资，印度不可能发展到现在的水平。

Now at this time, there is no or very little need to invest in these type of satellites; India has moved on to other missions. Like launching the other nations satellites, Chandrayan I &II, MOM and now man mission. And Yes. It helps to build the reputation and attracts money from other countries.

现在，几乎没有必要投资于这些类型的卫星。印度已经开始执行其他任务，比如发射其他国家的卫星、月船1号和2号、火星探测器和载人航天任务。这些有助于建立声誉，并吸引来自其他国家的资金。