Chandrayaan-3 Successful Moon Landing
On August 23, 2023, India’s third lunar mission, Chandrayaan-3, successfully landed on the moon’s surface. The vehicle landed on the southern polar region of the moon as planned. The far side of the moon or the southern polar region is the area of the moon which remains hidden from our view. The Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) launched Chandrayaan-3 on July 14, 2023, from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre located at Sriharikota in Andhra Pradesh. On August 5, 2023, ISRO announced that Chandrayaan-3 had successfully entered the moon’s orbit.
ISRO had expected the spacecraft to land on the moon’s surface by August 23 or 24. It can be said that Chandrayaan-3 has not only fulfilled all expectations of its nation but exceeded them by a far measure. With the historic moon landing of Chandrayaan-3, India became the first country to make a successful soft landing on the southern pole of the moon. China, the United States and the former Soviet Union have all had successful lunar missions in the past but none to the south lunar pole.
What made this achievement even more iconic is the fact that the south lunar pole is covered in big and heavy rocks. Being one of the hardest places to land a lunar mission, the success of Chandrayaan-3 in achieving a soft landing becomes more worthy of praise.
The southern pole of the moon is quite a mystery for scientists. Despite the evident risks involved, the southern pole remains a target for scientists due to the recently proven theories of frozen lakes in those areas. In 2008, India launched its first lunar mission Chandrayaan-1 which provided evidence for the presence of water ice on the moon. Although Chandrayaan-2 crash-landed on the moon, its follow-up mission, Chandrayaan-3 proved to be a huge success and worth the wait.
All social media sites have been flooded with the news of Chandrayaan-3’s achievement. Several prominent personalities have taken to social media to express their excitement and congratulate ISRO. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi addressed this achievement as not just India’s but the entire mankind’s.
!