Chandrayaan 3 makes historic Moon landing in giant leap for India
ISRO's Vikram lander successfully soft-landed on Moon’s south pole — an unchartered territory that scientists believe could hold important reserves.
A few days after the Russian probe Luna-25 crashed nearby, India made history on Wednesday at 6:04 p.m. local time by successfully landing the Chandrayaan-3 spacecraft of the Indian Space Research Organisation on the Moon's south pole.
Over the course of its two-week mission, the solar-powered rover will scan the surface and send data to Earth.
The Sanskrit word for "mooncraft" Chandrayaan-3 landed down close to the lunar south pole, which has received little attention. Chandrayaan-2, an earlier Indian attempt, was a failure in 2019.
Pragyaan, a solar-powered rover, will now explore the surface and send data to Earth over the course of two weeks.
With the government looking to encourage investment in commercial space launches and related satellite-based enterprises, India's successful landing signals the country's emergence as a space power.
As the spaceship reached the surface, people across the nation prayed while glued to their televisions.
The Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) reported that the Chandrayaan-3 spacecraft touched down on the lunar south pole.India attempted to land a spacecraft on the moon for the second time in less than a week, a week after Russia's failed Luna-25 mission.
On Wednesday, the ISRO declared that the spacecraft's autonomous landing process will soon be activated, starting an algorithm that would help the spacecraft land once it arrived at the predetermined location.
"India could investigate whether there is water ice on the moon by landing on the southern pole of the moon. And this is crucial for accumulating knowledge and scientific research on the moon's geology, according to Carla Filotico, a partner and managing director at the consulting firm Space Tec Partners.
At the spacecraft command center on the outskirts of Bengaluru, where ISRO executives and scientists sat slumped over enormous screens monitoring the lander, the mood was positive hours before the scheduled landing.
There was intense anticipation leading up to the landing, and television stations and newspaper headlines in India ran countdowns.
As they awaited live broadcasts of the landing, schoolchildren waved the Indian tricolor and prayers were said at places of worship all around the nation.
Hindus regard the Ganga river to be holy, and children gathered there to pray for a safe landing. In addition, prayers were said in mosques all around the country.
Petroleum Minister Hardeep Singh Puri also prayed for Chandrayaan in a gurduwara, a Sikh temple in the capital city of New Delhi.
Not just economically, but also in terms of science and technology, India is making progress, Puri told reporters.
While in South Africa for the BRICS Summit, Prime Minister Narendra Modi watched the landing.
A first landing is historic, and a south pole landing is challenging because to the rough terrain.Ice in the region may provide fuel, oxygen, and drinking water for upcoming emissions.
In light of Modi's administration's efforts to encourage investment in commercial space launches and related satellite-based industries, India's successful moon landing signals the country's emergence as a space power.
Compared to the Apollo missions of the 1960s and 1970s, which arrived on the Moon in a matter of days, Chandrayaan-3 took a lot longer to get there.
The probe had to orbit the Earth multiple times to acquire speed before setting off on its month-long trip since India's rockets are significantly less powerful than those the United States utilized at the time.
The Sanskrit name for the lander, Vikram, which means "valour" in English, allowed it to separate from its propulsion module last week. Since it entered lunar orbit on August 5, Vikram has been sending pictures of the Moon's surface.
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