Who says Indian MPs only care about vote banks? Their interests range from the mundane to the Moon, and a 76-year-old member from West Bengal has given a brilliant example of the latter.
In a question listed for a written answer on March 15, Sisir Kumar Adhikari asked a question titled ‘Brew Beer on Moon’.
He asked the Minister of Space – who just happens to also be the Prime Minister of India – whether ‘an Indian Spacecraft is planning to brew beer on the moon’.
The reply was given by Minister of State in the PM’s Office, Dr Jitendra Singh, who wrote, “There is no plan to brew beer on the moon by any spacecraft to be made by Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO).”
However, while the government isn’t planning to brew beer, doesn’t mean Indians aren’t doing so!
As Dr Jitendra Singh wrote, “Team Indus, a privately funded team under the Axiom Research Labs Pvt. Ltd., is competing for the Google Lunar XPRIZE competition towards building a spacecraft capable of soft landing and roving on the Moon. The spacecraft is proposed to be launched onboard ISRO’s Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) under a commercial launch agreement. As understood from media reports that, Team Indus is proposing an experiment to brew beer on the Moon using yeast.”
“As understood, the aim of this experiment is to test and observe the survivability of yeast in space and how it performs under Moon’s gravity conditions. The experiment plans to brew a small batch of beer in space,” he added.
While this was a written question and answer, we wonder how that discussion would have gone on in the Parliament if MP Sisir Kumar Adhikari was actually allowed to ask the Minister this!
But if Team Indus does manage to carry out a successful experiment – Moon beer, anyone?
Enanble Notification: NoTNM Marquee: No
October 14, 2024
