CNN news 2014-10-07 加文本

cnn news 2014-10-07

CARL AZUZ, cnn ANCHOR: Welcome to all of our viewers worldwide. And that includes the cougars of Northwest Ranking in Flowood, Mississippi. We are

spinning the globe first up today, taking you across the Pacific Ocean to Japan. Mount Ontake, a volcano and popular hiking destination west of

Tokyo suddenly erupted on Saturday. It was its first significant eruption since 1979. A cloud of ash rolled up into the sky and down the side of the

mountain toward an estimated 200-250 climbers who were nearby. Most of them reportedly made it down in time. You can see them moving away from

the summit in this video. But as of last night, at least 31 people were presumed dead and about ten were seriously injured. Some were still

missing. Hundreds of police, firefighters and military troops climbed two separate parts of the mountain yesterday in search of survivors.

The Japan meteorological agency says another big eruption could happen over the next week. There`ve been some smaller ones already and the ash has

impacted airline traffic over Japan.

Last week we told you about NASA`s five current missions to Mars including the latest orbiter called Maven that recently arrived there.

The U.S. isn`t the only country interested in the red planet. India has gotten involved with its own Mars mission, but they`ve done it for a

fraction, just 11 percent of the Maven missions, $671 million cost.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Eight minus ten, nine .

RACHEL CRANE, cnn CORRESPONDENT: So, chances are you`ve heard of NASA. But have you heard of ISRO? That`s India space agency, which recently

burst on to the scene, by sending an orbiter to Mars.

It`s a major engineering fit that puts India into an exclusive (INAUDIBLE). It`s now one of five space agencies including the U.S. to send a mission to

research the red planet.

What might be more impressive, though, is that India made this high tech achievement at a relatively low cost. How low? About $74 million, and

that puts India at $43 million below Russia, which didn`t even work.

So, how did India do it? And is that a fair comparison?

According to the bureau of labor statistics, the mean annual income of an aeronautical engineer in the U.S. is just under $104,000. In a country

where the average per capita income is around $1400, India`s engineers in the program are reportedly making significantly less, and the spacecraft

itself? Well, it`s an orbiter, meaning it won`t land, so it`s less complex.

India made a Mars orbiter that costs less than it took to make the movie "Gravity." Sounds like a big deal, and it is.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Destiny had been created today.

CRANE: But India`s mission is more of a proof concept, showing that they can get there, and that they are leaders in low cost innovation.

So is there a new space race and does it include India? It`s not clear yet. India`s triumph reminds the world that space isn`t just for the

wealthy industrial countries to explore. And for science, that`s a good thing.