Sriharikota: The Indian Space Research Organisation’s (ISRO) Chandrayaan-3 moon mission successfully soft-landed today at 6:04 PM. As the nation scripted history, India becomes the first nation to reach the Moon’s South pole, days after a Russian probe Luna-25 crashed in the same region.
“Chandrayaan-3 Mission: India, I reached my destination and you too!: Chandrayaan-3”, wrote ISRO on platform X.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi who is in Johannesburg, tweeted a video and congratulated ISRO for the remarkable success of Chandrayaan-3.
Chandrayaan-3 is India’s third lunar mission. It was launched on July 14, 2023, from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota, Andhra Pradesh. The mission consists of an orbiter, a lander, and a rover.
The orbiter will study the Moon’s surface and atmosphere. The lander will soft-land on the Moon’s surface and deploy the rover. The rover will explore the lunar surface and collect samples.
Chandrayaan-3 is a follow-up to the Chandrayaan-1 and Chandrayaan-2 missions. Chandrayaan-1 was launched in 2008 and made several significant discoveries, including the presence of water molecules on the Moon’s surface. Chandrayaan-2 was launched in 2019 and was intended to land a lander and rover on the Moon’s south pole. However, the lander crashed during the final descent.
Chnadrayaan-3 was launched on July 14. Prior to India, the United States, Russia, and China have achieved a soft-landing on the surface of the Earth’s only natural satellite.