Congratulations India!

Not to be left out in the cold of outer space aimlessly wandering the atmosphere, India has resolved to join that elite club of countries which have succeeded in voyaging to the Moon. India is hugging itself with joy, in self-congratulations at its achievement. And it is quite the achievement.

India joins four other countries in their like achievement; the United States, Russia, Japan and China.

For a 'modest' $80-million, the country succeeded in launching their 1.38-tonne spacecraft into the ether. After a mere three weeks of travel in space the lunar module reached its destination. It sent off a probe to impact upon the Moon, leaving a crater at the south pole, along with the proud flag of India.

India's very own Satish Dhawan Space Centre near Madras in southern India was the dispatch point from whence the module, painted in the colours of nationalist pride, set out in its search for water, minerals and helium-3, while surveying the crust of the lunar surface.

There is an anticipated orbit of two years, with the use of high-resolution remote sensing capabilities for the purpose of compiling a three-dimensional atlas of the Moon, and in the process to completely analyze the surface composition. Quite the feat, no doubt about that.

But if a country like India, with its vast geography and immense population, most of which lived in dire poverty, could divert social-spending funds for the purpose of building nuclear reactors and provisioning itself with the independent pride of nuclear armaments, why not reach for the Moon too?

And in the near future, some two years hence, yet another unmanned lunar mission is to be launched - Chandrayaan-2. A trifle more advanced, this will be comprised of an orbiting spacecraft, and a lander and Moon rover. Yes, it's been done, and is being done elsewhere, but this is not redundancy, this is national pride.

Rather absent, one surmises, when one also considers the immense proportion of poverty in India, with half a billion people living impoverished lives of misery.

Misplaced (com)passion and national pride?