Elon Musk’s reaction to Chandrayaan 3 mission’s total cost shows that the world envies ISRO

On Wednesday, India made history when Chandrayaan 3’s Vikram Lander Module successfully soft landed on the Moon’s south pole. This endeavour not only marks India’s trailblazing achievement but has also captured the attention of the global community. Elon Musk, the brain behind Tesla and SpaceX, couldn’t resist chiming in on the success of India’s lunar mission. He hopped on X, formerly known as Twitter, and responded to a post about India’s lunar mission. The X handle Newsthink pointed out that the Chandrayaan 3 mission cost India about $75 million (approximately Rs 620 crore), which is considerably lower than the budget for Christopher Nolan’s 2014 movie Interstellar, set at $165 million.

Good for India 🇮🇳!

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) August 22, 2023

“Kinda crazy when you realize India’s budget for Chandrayaan 3 ($75M) is less than the film Interstellar ($165M),” Newsthink wrote. Musk reacted to the post and wrote, “Good for India.” “That’s just crazy. I’m a huge fan of entertainment, and Interstellar happens to be one of my all-time favorite films. But you know what? We should really be putting way less cash into entertaining ourselves and way more into delving into the mysteries of the universe and comprehending its essence,” shared a user on X. Another individual added, “Well, when you crunch the numbers, India’s $75 million translates to about ₹6.15 billion in INR. Even if we assumed the exchange rates were on par, it’s still a hefty sum – more than 6 billion bucks. And who knows, by 2075, those two currencies might just be dancing around the same value. ₹615 crore is no small feat in India.” “Absolutely, keep in mind that the $75 million is the price tag for the third mission. They’re building upon the knowledge and technology gained from the previous two missions, so the expenses for those should definitely be factored in,” pointed out another commenter.