The lander module (LM) of India’s Chandrayaan-3 has successfully touched down on the Moon’s South Pole on August 23, making India the first nation in the world to achieve the feat. The country is the fourth nation, after the United States, China and Russia to have landed on the Moon.
The Indian Space Research Organisation’s (ISRO) third lunar mission was launched on July 14, leading to celebrations at the Mission Operations Complex (MOX) at ISRO Telemetry, Tracking, and Command Network (ISTRAC) in Bengaluru, Karnataka.
The lander touched the lunar surface at precisely 6.03 pm on August 23. The Pragyan Rover, which was carried by the lander, too rolled out on the same day, and is now exploring the lunar surface.
Pragyan will carry out in-situ chemical analysis of the lunar surface during the course of its mobility. The lander and the rover with a mission life of one lunar day (14 Earth days) have scientific payloads to carry out experiments on the lunar surface.
Upon the safe and successful landing of Chandrayaan-3, Prime Minister Narendra Modi addressed the nation via video conferencing from South Africa, where he is attending the 15th BRICS Summit.
Congratulating the team of scientists at ISRO, he said, “India’s successful moon mission is not India’s alone…Our approach of One Earth, One Family, One Future is resonating across the globe…Moon mission is based on the same human-centric approach. So, this success belongs to all of humanity.”
