Indian spacecraft 'Chandrayaan-3' lands on south pole of moon
India is making history today with its third lunar mission. After the Chandrayaan-3 spacecraft successfully completed its mission, India became the first country to land near the Moon's little-explored south pole.
India made history in space today. After the Chandrayaan-3 spacecraft successfully completed its mission, India became the first country to land near the Moon's little-explored south pole, BBC reported.
After the successful landing, India became the fourth country to make a soft landing on the Moon, following the USA, the former Soviet Union, and China.
All of the aforementioned countries landed near the equator.
India's attempt to land the Chandrayaan-2 mission near the south pole in 2019 failed; it crashed on the lunar surface.
The spacecraft, consisting of an orbiter, lander, and rover, lifted off from the Sriharikota Space Centre in southern India on July 14.
The lander, named Vikram in memory of Indian physicist Vikram Sarabhai, founder of the Indian Space Research Organisation (Isro), carries a 26 kg rover named "Pragyaan", which means wisdom in Sanskrit.
The journey to the Moon has created great excitement in India, with wishes for the mission's success pouring in from across the country.
Isro has announced plans to broadcast the landing live, and millions of people, including children, are expected to watch the broadcast.
Isro chief Sreedhara Panicker Somanath said he was confident that Chandrayaan-3 would make a successful soft landing.
He said they were carefully scrutinizing the data obtained from the Chandrayaan-2 accident and were carrying out simulation studies to correct the glitches.
Source: BBC
