India makes history as Chandrayaan-3 lands near Moon’s south pole

Chandrayaan-3, the Indian lunar mission, accomplished a big development for its space program when it touched down on the lunar south pole at 6:04 PM on Wednesday. With this landing, India joined an exclusive group of just four countries that have made it to the moon. The goals of this mission, which is a follow-up to Chandrayaan-2, are to show safe and soft landings on the moon’s surface, lunar traveling, and on-site scientific research.

It is an extraordinary achievement because no nation has ever sent a rover to the perilous south pole, where scientists believe there may be substantial quantities of frozen water and rare elements. Weeks after the Indian mission’s launch on July 14, the Russian Luna-25 spacecraft, which was en route for the moon south pole, spun out of control and collided with the lunar surface on Sunday.

In India’s second attempt in four years to land on the lunar surface, Chandrayaan-3’s four-legged lander Vikram, carrying the 26-kg rover Pragyan successfully completed the soft landing close to the south polar region of the Moon as planned, overcoming what ISRO scientists referred to as the “20 minutes of terror” during the powered descent that began at 5.44 pm. The lander was equipped with a variety of sensors to guarantee a secure landing, including an accelerometer, altimeters, Doppler velocimeter, inclinometer, touchdown sensors, and a number of cameras for evading obstacles and positioning.

With a flawless touchdown after a 41-day journey, India joins the United States, China, and the dissolved Soviet Union as the fourth nation to have perfected the science of soft landing on the lunar floor.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced that India has reached the moon and that the achievement belonged to all of humanity as scientists at the Mission Operations Complex (MOX) of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) in Bengaluru erupted into cheers and flashed victory signals. According to ISRO Director General S. Somanath, Chandrayaan-3’s accomplishment has given Indian space experts the courage to take on bigger and more challenging missions in the years to come.