India becomes the first nation to successfully land at the moon's south pole, a region with water ice, or frozen water, that could be a source of oxygen, fuel and water for future moon missions or a permanent moon colony.
People watch a live broadcast of India's successful lunar mission, Chandrayaan-3, inside an auditorium of Gujarat Science City in Ahmedabad, India on Wednesday, August 23.
The Chandrayaan-3 is expected to remain functional for two weeks, running a series of experiments including a spectrometer analysis of the mineral composition of the lunar surface. Since then, it has looped through progressively wider-ranging orbits of Earth, transferred to a lunar orbit and emerged as a focus of national pride and global interest after Russia's failed attempt to beat it to a landing on the moon's south pole."It gives me immense pleasure to be part of Chandrayaan-3," Shri M Sankaran, mission director, said.The mission landed at exactly 1804 IST on Wednesday to loud cheers from the staff of India's space agency.
Kalpana K, the Deputy Project Director of the Chandrayaan-3 mission, added that the momentous occasion"will remain the happiest" event for many in the team. The successful mission makes India only the fourth country to successfully land on the moon, after the former USSR, the United States and China, and mark its emergence as a space power, just ahead of national elections next year.
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