India has scripted history as its moon mission Chandrayaan-3 made a successful soft-landing near the moon’s south pole at 6:04 p.m. IST on August 23, Wednesday.
With this, India becomes the first country ever to successfully land a spacecraft near the Moon’s south pole and the fourth country after China, Russia and the U.S. to successfully soft-land a spacecraft on the lunar surface.
The Lander Module (LM) is propelling towards the moon's surface in the intended trajectory, the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) said. Celebrations kicked off across the country and social media was flooded with congratulatory messages as the LM made the soft landing.
"India is on the Moon", said ISRO chief S Somanath as Chandrayaan 3 lander module Vikram made a soft landing on the Moon.
ISRO chief congratulated project director P Veeramuthuvel, assistant director Kalpana, mission director Srikanth, URSC director V Sankaran and other team members for the success.
Chandrayaan 3 project director P Veeramuthuvel reiterated how ISRO is the first to land near the south pole of the moon. "Most memorable and happiest moment," added assistant director Kalpana.
“This is historic movement and sounds the bugle for a developed India”, said Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Chandrayaan's successful landing on the moon, joining the event from South Africa.
"When we see such historic moments, it makes us very proud. This is the dawn of new India," said the Prime Minister.
The Prime Minister also congratulated ISRO scientists for the success of the mission while speaking immediately after the soft landing.
The Rs 615 crore- Chandrayaan-3 mission was launched on July 14 from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota. The moon lander was perched on a LVM 3 heavy-lift launch vehicle.
It was placed in the lunar orbit on August 5. After a 40-day journey, Chandrayaan-3 reached its destination.
Chandrayaan-3 mission is the follow-up to the Chandrayaan-2 mission of 2019, when the Vikram lander crashed into the lunar surface.
The landing will be followed by the rollout of the Pragyan rover, the ISRO said. The rover will send images and data from the surface of the moon for the next 14 days, which is equivalent to one moon day.
After 14 days, its activity is likely to slow down, as it is powered by solar cells.
The landing has stirred up a substantial amount of fine lunar dust. The rover will roll out only once the dust has moved away. Unlike on Earth, the dust won't readily settle on the moon due to its lower gravity.
The event was telecast live across the country. The ISRO website, YouTube channel and DD National will air live feed from 5.20 pm.