New Delhi: August 23 is a historic date as India joined the elite club of USA, Russia and China with the soft landing of Chandrayaan-3 on the moon at 6.04 pm IST sparking nationwide celebrations with Prime Minister Narendra Modi joining from Johannesburg where he is attending the BRICS Summit. The landing sparked off celebrations at the Space control centre as scientists cheered and hugged each other on this historic moment.
ISRO in a post on X, formerly known as Twitter, said that the Chandrayaan-3 moon mission was on schedule and the systems were undergoing regular checks. Parties and prayers were held with great fervour across the country ahead of the historic lunar touchdown. The Chandrayaan-3 mission was launched on July 14 from Sriharikota.
The Vikram lander began its descent toward the moon surface at a velocity of 1.68 km per second. It then slowed down before beginning a powered vertical descent to the surface of the moon.
‘India, I reached my destination and you too!’, says Chandrayaan-3 upon landing safely on Moon’s south pole.
“India’s successful Moon mission is not just India’s alone…This success belongs to all of humanity,” said Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Chandrayaan-3 mission success. “No country has reached there (the South Pole of the moon) before. With the hard work of our scientists we have reached there,” he said.
Students in several Indian cities including Mumbai, Jammu and Kashmir and Assam’s Guwahati gathered to watch the live screening of Chandrayaan-3.
The three pillars of Chandrayaan-3 mission are: ISRO’s ISTRAC (Indian Space Research Organisation’s Telemetry, Tracking and Command) centre in Bengaluru and its mission control facility or MOX will be the pillars supporting the Chandrayaan-3 mission.
Senior Scientist CSIR Satyanarayana speaking on Chandryaan-3’s landing said, “We are going to join the elite group of four (countries) touching the Moon’s surface… Failures gives lessons. We’ve learnt a lot…They (ISRO) have taken enough cautions to have a soft landing of Chandrayaan-3 over the Moon’s surface.”
The Chandrayaan-3 mission is the follow-up to the Chandrayaan-2 mission of 2019, when the Vikram lander crashed into the lunar surface. The primary objective of the mission is simple—showcase the space agency’s capability to complete a soft-landing on the Moon.
“The most difficult parts were the launch, landing and capture by the orbit of the Moon, the launch of the lander to descent and the final landing. The lander’s health will be assessed and the rover will come out from Lander in the next few hours, said ISRO chief S Somanath.
“We applaud ISRO on the successful landing of the Chandrayaan-3 which shows India’s strong spirit of space exploration and our prowess in the space domain. The successful landing shows the potential of the Indian space sector and places India among the very few nations in the whole world who have achieved this feat. It is also a harbinger of the exciting opportunities that it brings for private players. It not only encourages the development of the lunar space economy but also signals a major change,” said AK Bhatt, Director General, Indian Space Association.
“We extend our heartfelt congratulations to ISRO for successfully landing Chandrayaan-3 on the lunar surface. This achievement stands as a testament to India’s remarkable advancements in space exploration and technology. We will not just be the fourth nation worldwide to attain this milestone but will also be pioneers in demonstrating a soft landing on the moon’s south pole. We celebrate this moment with great enthusiasm and look forward to continued contributions to the nation’s journey of scientific excellence and progress. This success reinforces our belief in the power of indigenous manufacturing and our contribution to pushing the boundaries of technological innovation,” said Jamshyd Godrej, Chairman and Managing Director, Godrej & Boyce.
– The writer is a senior journalist and media consultant. The views expressed are of the writer and do not necessarily reflect the views of Raksha Anirveda.
