Chandrayaan-3 makes historic landing on the moon   |24 August 2023

It was yesterday, August 23, 2023, that the Indian Space Research Organisation successfully landed its Chandrayaan-3 Lander Module on the surface of the Moon. Chandrayaan-3 landed near the moon’s south pole, making it the first country to do so.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi yesterday said that the mission’s success “belongs to all of humanity”.

Chandrayaan-3 – “Mooncraft” in Sanskrit – took off from a launchpad in Sriharikota in southern India on July 14 on a mission to demonstrate new technologies and to achieve India’s first soft landing on another celestial body.

Scientists believed the south pole’s unchartered territory could hold important reserves of frozen water and precious elements.

In India, people crowded around televisions in offices, shops, restaurants and homes to watch the moon landing live.

Vidya Gappy