India becomes the first nation of the globe to successfully soft-land on the south pole of the lunar surface. Yesterday was a historic day for India as Chandrayaan-3 – took the critical turn to a vertical dimension and landed softly like never. The momentum turned the alert eyes of the nation into cheering and shouting with pride while other nations watched India becoming the first to prove its potential in science and technology. In this way, India stands fourth in the row of countries to reach the moon’s surface after Russia, the US, and China.
The critical 15 minutes after commencing the Automatic Landing Sequence, Chandrayaan-3’s Lunar Module came in contact with the surface of the moon at around 6.04 PM IST. The world witnessed India making history via live stream on YouTube directly from the ISRO (Indian Space Research Agency) control room, situated in Bengaluru, India.
Chandrayaan – 3 is a Sanskrit word which means “Mooncraft” in popular language. The lander name Vikram honours the visionary behind space endeavours of India - Vikram Sarabhai, however, Pragyan signifies wisdom.
While India was celebrating success, Russia’s first moon mission since 1976 was destroyed by crashing to the lunar surface after 47 years long duration, on Monday 21st August.
President of India Draupadi Murmu congratulated ISRO via tweet saying, “I once again congratulate the ISRO team and all fellow citizens for successful deployment of Pragyan-rover from inside Vikram-lander. Its rolling out a few hours after the landing of Vikram marked the success of yet another stage of Chandrayan 3. I look forward with excitement, alongside my fellow citizens and scientists to the information and analyses that Pragyan will acquire and enrich our understanding of the moon.”
Indian president watching live stream of Chandrayaan – 3 moon landing:
What Chandrayaan – 3 Is Scheduled To Do On The Moon Now?
Chandrayaan – 3 is now exploring the lunar surface’s mineral composition. The moon’s south pole is anticipated to be enriched with minerals more than other regions expected for two weeks. India launched Chandrayaan – 3, the third lunar mission on 14th July 2023 from the Satish Dhawans Space Center in Andhra Pradesh.
Significance Of Chandrayaan Mission – 3
Previously, India has operated two Chandrayaan missions, in which the Chandrayaan – 2 mission lost contact with the spacecraft right before 2.1km over the lunar surface on 6th September 2019. The first mission was escorted in 2009.
After two failures, the significance of Chandrayaan – 3 was quite high as India was about to become the first country to soft land on the moon’s south pole surface.
Why Moon’s South Pole Is So Important?
On this side of the moon, there are craters that are continuously in touch with sunlight, while some are permanently in darkness. This craters the chance of constant solar power and water. The water can be used for drinking as well as producing oxygen and rocket fuel. This makes the South Pole region a potential power source for future moon bases.
