In a historic moment for lunar exploration and India’s position in the space arena, an Indian spacecraft successfully touched down on the rugged, uncharted south pole of the moon. This achievement came just days after a Russian lander’s unfortunate crash.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi, attending a BRICS summit in South Africa, waved the Indian flag and declared, “This moment is unforgettable. It is phenomenal. This is a victory cry of a new India.” Across the nation, scientists, officials, and the public erupted in joy, with celebrations including fireworks and street dancing.
As the Chandrayaan-3 spacecraft landed, S. Somanath, head of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), proudly announced, “India is on the moon,” making India the fourth country, after the United States, China, and Russia, to achieve this feat.
This marked India’s second attempt to land a spacecraft on the moon, following the Chandrayaan-2 mission in 2019, which successfully deployed an orbiter but faced a lander crash. Millions of Indians watched the landing on television, and nearly 7 million more followed the event on YouTube’s live stream.
Chandrayaan, which means “moon vehicle” in Hindi and Sanskrit, is expected to operate for two weeks, conducting various experiments, including a spectrometer analysis of the lunar surface’s mineral composition. The moon rover will emerge from the spacecraft in the coming hours or days.
Somanath stated that this achievement has bolstered India’s confidence to expand its space exploration ambitions, potentially extending to missions to Mars and Venus. India also plans to launch a mission in September to study the sun, and preparations for a human space flight are underway, with expectations of readiness by 2024.
This successful landing enhances India’s reputation for cost-effective space engineering, as the Chandrayaan-3 mission was launched with a budget of approximately 6.15 billion rupees ($74 million), significantly less than the cost of producing the 2013 Hollywood space thriller “Gravity.”
The significance of this south pole landing lies in its challenging terrain and the potential access to valuable resources like ice, which could provide fuel, oxygen, and drinking water for future missions. India’s triumph on the moon marks a significant milestone in its space exploration journey.
