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, and before India, only the United States of America, Russia, and China, have achieved a soft-landing on the surface of the moon. The soft-landing was also witnessed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi online from South Africa, wherein he is attending 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.
