INDIA’S historic attempt to land lunar spacecraft Chandrayaan-3 on the moon’s south pole has been successful today
This is a significant step in the hunt for water-based, ice that scientists think will be key to future human settlement on the Moon.
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Narendra Modi, the Indian prime minister, proudly declared that India was now on moon.
“This is a heartbeat for 1.4billion of people. The new India is here, the beginning of a new era, the thinking behind the new effort.
“This is an example of India’s shine – We made a commitment and made it a reality on the surface.
This is an historic moment and we Indians are very proud of it.
Chandrayaan-3 is the world’s first spacecraft to have landed near the South Pole of the Moon.
India has now become the fourth nation to successfully land on the Moon.
The US, former Soviet Union, and China all have soft landed near the equator of the moon. However none has led a successful mission to the south pole.
It comes just days after Russia’s own lunar spacecraft – it’s first in 47 years – spun out of control and crashed into the moon after a problem preparing for pre-landing orbit.
The Chandrayaan-3, which means “mooncraft” in Sanskrit, launched on July 14 and entered lunar orbit on August 5 carrying the Vikram lander.
It was India’s second try at a moon landing, following the Chandrayaan-2 attempt in 2019 which crashed into the lunar surface.
Scientists lost touch with the second lunar module just moments before it was scheduled to land.
Chandrayaan-2 wasn’t a complete failure, however, as it sent an orbiter to the moon – which remains active today – before it’s explosive demise.
The space leaders say that they have learned a great deal from this mission.
Former Indian space chief K Sivan told AFP on Monday that Chandrayaan-3’s last photos transmitted back to Earth suggested the voyage would be successful.
Sivan stated that ISRO had taken corrective measures after its failure four years earlier.
“Chandrayaan-3 is going to go with more ruggedness,” he said.
Scientists fired only two engines in the last moments of the landing to move the spacecraft steadily toward the surface of the moon. Onlookers cheered as they did so.
The landing, according to Dr Ian Whittaker of Nottingham Trent University’s space physics department, will enable India to be a more active player in future cooperative missions.
“No one agency will be able to have a lunar base alone and the ability to show successful technology opens the doors for India.
“The successful landing means that the rover and station should provide us with a more accurate determination of lunar crust composition, particularly around the lunar south pole which is a suggested location for a lunar base due to the ability to have constant sunlight for power.
“The instruments on board the rover will be useful for if we want to build structures out of local material.”
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