[imagesource:twitter/dhaikilokatweet]

India just accomplished their first landing on the moon with the Chandrayaan-3 spacecraft making a nice and soft landing on our satellite earlier today.

The feat is doubly sweet for the country considering that Russia’s Luna 25 spacecraft crashed into the moon on August 19 after its engines misfired, ending the country’s first lunar landing attempt in 47 years.

The mission could cement India’s status as a global superpower in space. Previously, only the United States, China and the former Soviet Union have completed soft landings on the lunar surface.

Chandrayaan-3’s landing site is also closer to the moon’s south pole than any other spacecraft in history has ventured. The south pole region is considered an area of key scientific and strategic interest for spacefaring nations, as scientists believe the region to be home to water ice deposits.

The water, frozen in shadowy craters, could be converted into rocket fuel or even drinking water for future crewed missions.

Chandrayaan-3 Mission:
‘India🇮🇳,
I reached my destination
and you too!’
: Chandrayaan-3

Chandrayaan-3 has successfully
soft-landed on the moon 🌖!.

Congratulations, India🇮🇳!#Chandrayaan_3#Ch3

— ISRO (@isro) August 23, 2023

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, currently in South Africa for the BRICS Summit, watched the landing virtually on livestream.

“On this momentous occasion…I would like to address all the people of the world,” he said. “This success belongs to all of humanity, and it will help moon missions by other countries in the future.”

More than a dozen countries have plans for missions to the moon in the coming years, including a mission launched by Japan’s space agency — the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency — that is expected to lift off later this month.

The United States also has plans to send three commercial lunar landers to the moon starting as early as this year, while NASA continues to work toward its Artemis III mission, which could put astronauts back on the moon as soon as 2025.

We’re sure in the coming days there will be loads more footage being shared, so keep an eye out. In the meantime you can see the entire landing below:

But today, the glory is all India’s. Well done!

[source:cnn]