Professor Quippy: Finally, we'll get decent curry on the moon

Until now the only Chicken Vindaloo you could get while orbiting the moon was a bland, yellowish substance squeezed out of a tube marked NASA. But thanks to the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), we will now have something decent to eat when we reach Earth’s only natural satellite.

The unmanned mission launched successfully this morning. According to the BBC website:

The robotic probe will orbit the Moon, compiling a 3-D atlas of the lunar surface and mapping the distribution of elements and minerals.

The launch is regarded as a major step for India as it seeks to keep pace with other space-faring nations in Asia.

ISRO managed to launch the mission with only $79 million, much less than the cost of Japanese and Chinese missions to the moon last year, which had simpler kitchen facilities, but required much more weight for the guidance computers. Don’t even get me started on how much the European space agency’s mission cost — the provision for extensive diary products alone cost almost as much as the entire Indian mission.

Many Indians are rightly proud of the achievement, though some complainers — those without enough food to eat, and those living in abject squalor on the rough streets — wonder if some of that curry couldn’t be launched their way instead.

The BBC definitely enjoys it’s curry, though humor-blogs and alltop think it’s too spicy.