India has become the fourth country to land on the moon after its indigenously developed Chandrayaan-3 touched 'softy' on the lunar surface Wednesday.
"India is now on the Moon," announced PM Narendra Modi immediately after the Vikram lander landed on the lunar surface.
Chandrayaan-3's triumph mirrors the aspirations and capabilities of 140 crore Indians.
— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) August 23, 2023
To new horizons and beyond!
Proud moment for 🇮🇳. https://t.co/4oi6w7TCGG
The name Chandrayaan means 'moon vehicle' in Hindi and Sanskrit.
As per reports, Chandrayaan is carrying a solar-powered rover which will explore the surface of the relatively unmapped region of the moon and conduct a series of experiments, including a spectrometer analysis of the mineral composition of the lunar surface to determine if there is water ice hiding in the south pole region.
Scientists believe craters that are permanently in shadow on the dark side of the Moon may hold frozen water.
The rover will transmit its findings to Earth during its two-week lifecycle.
Apart from achieving the extremely complex feat of landing on the moon, India became the first country to land the rocket on the south pole region of the lunar body.
What makes the feat even more special is the fact that India's success comes days after a Russian attempt, Luna-25 probe, crash-landed.
This is not India's first mission to the moon. It had launched a probe into the lunar orbit as far back as 2008.
It followed up the probe with an attempt to land on the moon's surface in 2019, but that attempt failed.
Wednesday's success, scientists have stated, will bolster chances for New Delhi push ahead with India's first scheduled manned space flight.