India lands on the moon

On 23rd August 2023 India became the first country to land a spacecraft near the moon's south pole. A historic triumph for the world's most populous nation, Prime Minister Narendra Modi congratulated the scientists in a broadcast.

Narendra Modi: "Friends, science and technology are the basis of our prosperous nation, and this day will be remembered forever for this achievement. This day will inspire us all to move towards a bright future."

The uncrewed Chandrayaan-3, which translates to "Mooncraft" in Sanskrit, touched down at 12.34 GMT. The success of the mission came just days after a Russian probe crashed in the same area, and four years since a previous Indian attempt failed at the last moment. P Veeramuthuvel is the Chandrayaan-3 project director.

P Veeramuthuvel: "The entire mission operations, right from launch till landing, happened flawlessly as per the timeline. And, we became the fourth country to land, to demonstrate the soft landing onto the moon's surface and we became the first country to go to the near to the south pole of the moon."

Mooncraft has far less powerful engines than those used in the US Apollo missions of the 1960s and 70s. As a result, the craft had to orbit the Earth several times to gain speed before embarking on a month long journey to the moon.

The landing module, named Vikram, meaning "Valour", is solar powered and will now explore the area around the moon's south pole sending back images to Earth over its two week lifespan.

The mission has cost $72.6 million, far lower than attempts by other countries, as they've been able to adapt existing technology and thanks to an abundance of highly skilled engineers.

The next step for India is to launch a crewed spacecraft to the moon. But in the meantime, the celebrations continue as is echoed by Sreedhara Somanath, the chair of the Indian Space Research Organisation.

Sreedhara Somanath: "And I want to thank you also for each and every one who prayed with us in the last many days, who wanted this success to happen in ISRO. I thank all those people in, all around the country, and maybe beyond the country, for their blessings and wishes and affection that they have given to each one of us for doing this work for the last so many years."

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