‘India Is on the Moon’: Chandrayaan-3 Spacecraft Lands on Lunar South Pole
NEW DELHI—India successfully landed its Chandrayaan-3 spacecraft on the moon’s south pole Wednesday, days after a similar Russian mission ended when its probe crashed into the lunar surface. India is the first country to reach that part of the moon’s surface, an achievement expected to kick off a new era of space exploration. Scientists and engineers hope to tap water resources at the lunar south pole to facilitate missions to other parts of the solar system and future efforts for long-term settlements on the moon.
“We have achieved soft landing on the moon," said Indian space agency chairman S. Somanath. “India is on the moon." Scientists at the mission operations center stood up and cheered as the lander, with the rover attached, touched down on the lunar surface at approximately 8:30 a.m.
ET. Live coverage of the landing, streamed on the space agency website and shown on most news channels, showed scientists clapping and whooping. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi joined in by video link from South Africa, where he is attending the Brics summit.
Modi praised the hard work of India’s scientists for taking an Indian spacecraft “to that part of the moon where no country has gone before." He said the landing was a universal human achievement. “India’s successful moon mission is not just India’s alone," said Modi. “This success belongs to all of humanity.
And it will help moon missions by other countries in the future." India joins the U.S., Russia and China in the small group of spacefaring nations to pull off a controlled landing on the moon. The operation further cements the country’s status as a major global player in space, which for decades was dominated by the U.S. and Russia.
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