On August 23, with Chandrayaan-3’s lander module making a soft landing on the moon, India became only the fourth country after the erstwhile Soviet Union, the U.S., and China to accomplish this achievement. It is a testament to the remarkable ingenuity of Indian scientists that this feat was carried out at a relatively low cost.
Three of these four countries have been late industrialisers; with only one “developed” nation, the U.S., among them. This throws up interesting questions: what factors allow for resource-constrained economies to pull off ambitious programmes? What lessons do they hold for our ability to combat challenges? Do such programmes represent a diversion of resources and attention from the pressing needs of development?
