BHARAT CONQUERS THE MOON

The Chandrayaan-3 mission’s success also marked a significant milestone for ISRO founder Vikram Sarabhai’s vision of India’s technological advancement

In a monumental leap for India’s space program, Chandrayaan-3, the country’s Moon mission, successfully achieved a historic soft landing on the lunar south pole at 6:04 pm on Wednesday. This accomplishment catapults India into an elite group of nations and makes it the first country to achieve a landing on the uncharted lunar surface.

Chandrayaan-3’s four-legged lander, Vikram, along with the 26-kg rover Pragyan, executed a flawless landing, marking a significant milestone in India’s space journey. This achievement followed a 41-day journey and came less than a week after a Russian lander aimed for the same lunar south pole area but unfortunately crashed.

This achievement places India as the fourth country to successfully master the technology of soft-landing on the Moon, after the United States, China, and the erstwhile Soviet Union. Notably, no nation has previously managed to land a rover on the challenging lunar south pole, which scientists believe holds crucial reserves of frozen water and valuable elements.

During the “20 minutes of terror,” as described by ISRO scientists, the lander navigated the powered descent phase with precision. The successful landing marked the culmination of a journey that began with the spacecraft’s launch from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre on July 14. After being placed in lunar orbit on August 5, a series of intricate orbital manoeuvres were carried out to lower the spacecraft closer to the Moon’s surface.