‘India Is On The Moon!’ Says ISRO Chief Somanath After Chandrayaan-3 Lands Successfully
Mumbai: ISRO chief S Somanath announced the successful landing of Chandrayaan-3 on the surface of the Moon on Wednesday, and said, “India is on the Moon!”
A video of the announcement showed Somanath greeting PM Narendra Modi who was watching the final moments of the lander’s descent from Johannesburg.
“The Honourable PM called me and conveyed his greetings to each one of you and your family for the wonderful work you did in ISRO. Thanks to him for the support he is giving to us for missions like Chandrayaan-3 and missions that are in the offing.
Somanath greeted the ISRO team at the Mission Operations Complex, saying, “That is the tremendous word of comfort that we are receiving for maintaining the inspirational job that we are doing for the country.
The success of the Chandrayaan-3 mission was credited to a generation of scientists and officials at the nation’s space agency, according to Somanath, who also called the accomplishment both “a huge one” and an “incremental progress”.
He praised everyone who prayed for the mission’s success as well as ISRO veterans like the organization’s former director, A S Kiran Kumar. They were part of the team to help them get confidence, complete reviews, and ensure that nothing went wrong, he said.
“They have been helping so much, they were part of the team to help them get the confidence and get the reviews done, and they were to ensure that nothing goes with any mistakes,” he said.
At 6:04 p.m. today, India’s Moon mission Chandrayaan-3 landed on the lunar south pole, elevating the nation to the elite club of four and making it the first nation to accomplish so.
India has now joined the US, China, and the former Soviet Union as the fourth nation to perfect the technology of a soft landing on the lunar surface with this touchdown on the Moon in the second attempt in four years.
The goals of Chandrayaan-3, a follow-up mission to Chandrayaan-2, are to show a safe and gentle landing on the lunar surface, lunar wandering, and in-situ scientific experimentation.
On September 7, 2019, Chandrayaan-2’s lunar phase mission failed after its lander, Vikram, collided with the Moon’s surface minutes before impact due to problems with the lander’s braking mechanism. 2008 saw the first mission of Chandrayaan.
The Rs 600 crore Chandrayaan-3 mission was launched on July 14 onboard Launch Vehicle Mark-III (LVM-3) rocket, for a 41-day voyage to reach near the lunar south pole. The soft landing took place days after Russia’s Luna-25 spacecraft crashed into the Moon after spinning out of control.
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