India lands on the moon, first nation to reach the lunar south pole
Chandrayaan-3 landed on the moon on Wednesday in a mission seen as crucial to lunar exploration and India’s standing as a space power.
India lands on the moon, first nation to reach the lunar south pole
New Age – New Road

India lands on the moon, first nation to reach the lunar south pole

Photo: AFP/Tauseef Mustafa
Eurasia 24/08/2023 09:53

Chandrayaan-3 landed on the moon on Wednesday in a mission seen as crucial to lunar exploration and India’s standing as a space power, South China Morning Post reported.

“This is a victory cry of a new India,” said Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who was seen waving the Indian flag as he watched the landing from South Africa, where he is attending the Brics summit, according to South China Morning Post.

“India is on the moon,” said S. Somanath, chief of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), as the spacecraft touched down on the lunar south pole, making his nation the first to land on the little-explored area.

People across the country were glued to television screens and said prayers as the craft approached the moon’s surface. Anticipation was feverish, with banner headlines across newspapers, news channels running countdowns and children waving the Indian flag as they waited.

It was a historic moment for the world’s most populous nation, as it closed in on milestones set by global space powers.

AFP/Arun Sankar

The Chandrayaan-3 is expected to remain functional for two weeks, running a series of experiments including analysis of the mineral composition of the lunar surface.

Rough terrain makes a lunar south pole landing difficult, and a first landing is historic. The region’s ice could supply fuel, oxygen and drinking water for future missions.

A previous Indian effort failed in 2019, and the latest attempt came days after Russia’s first moon mission in almost 50 years, destined for the same region, crashed on the lunar surface, SCMP added.
See Also
The most important battle of our century
The most important battle of our century

For years, there has been a fierce battle for first place in the development of artificial intelligence. It has become a common opinion that China is winning against the West in a race similar to the Cold War’s space race.
#India

We use cookies on our website. If you consent to their use, we use them to measure and analyze the use of the website.
Information and Settings

Accept