Key Takeaways
- The ISRO’s Chandrayaan-3 became the first mission to land on the lunar south‑pole, marking a historic milestone for India.
- The lander Vikram will conduct a two‑week series of scientific experiments, including mineral spectrometry.
- The achievement follows a recent setback for Russia’s Luna‑25 probe, underscoring India’s growing prowess in space exploration.
The Indian Space Research Organization’s (ISRO’s) Chandrayaan-3 moon mission successfully soft-landed on the lunar surface at 6.04 PM, on Wednesday, August 23, 2023. India has scripted history by becoming the first nation across the globe to land a space-craft on the south-pole of the moon. The achievement comes a few days after a Russian probe, Luna-25, crashed in the same region.
Chandrayaan-3 was launched on July 14. Before India, only the United States of America, Russia, and China had achieved a soft‑landing on the moon’s surface.
The historic touchdown was witnessed live by Prime Minister Narendra Modi from South Africa during the BRICS Summit.
Chandrayaan-3 was perched on the LVM3 heavy-lift launch vehicle, and was placed on the lunar orbit on August 5. The lander, Vikram, has been named after Vikram Sarabhai, the father of the Indian space programme. Chandrayaan-3 is expected to remain functional for two weeks, running a series of experiments, including a spectrometer analysis of the mineral composition of the lunar surface.
Following the successful landing on the moon, ISRO Chief, S Somanathan said, ‘India is now on the moon!’ ISRO tweeted, ‘Chandrayaan-3 Mission: India, I reached my destination and you too: Chandrayaan-3.’
PM Modi expressed that India is fully committed to human space flight.
