It was August 23, 6.04 PM IST. Chandrayaan-3 radar successfully made a soft landing on the moon’s South Pole. The entire nation slipped into a celebration mood. The scientists and officials at ISRO cheered, clapped and hugged each other to congratulate the entire team for such an outstanding feat that no other country has been able to achieve.
Final Countdown
The countdown started a couple of days ago. From launching to landing, everything went perfect and as planned. The event was live telecast on TV channels and social media. From the morning, all national and regional TV channels were giving minute-to-minute details from ISRO. Scientists sounded confident from the very beginning. Still there was panic for the final results. Indians were waiting with bated breath, with their hands folded and prayers on their lips. They failure of Chandrayaan-2 was haunting them.
But as the moments became nearer, it became clear that India was going to create history. And then history was made. India is literally over the moon.
Chandrayaan-3 was successfully launched from Srihorikota, Andhra Pradesh on July 14.
Many feathers to ISRO’s cap
The landing also highlights India’s achievement in making a spacecraft on a shoestring budget. Chandrayaan-3 is completely an indigenous project with a budget of nearly 6.15 billion rupees ($74 million), which is less than what it took to produce “Gravity”, a 2013 Hollywood space thriller.
S. Somanath, chief of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) exclaimed, “India is on the moon”. As the spacecraft landed on the moon, India becomes the fourth country, only next to the United States, erstwhile Russia and China, to have accomplished the mission. Furthermore, it becomes the first nation to have landed on the lunar South Pole.
Nearly a week ago, Russia’s Lunar-25 mission failed. It got mixed responses from Indians as some were happy that India would be the first nation to make a soft landing on the moon’s dark side whereas others were sceptical whether India’s second attempt would come to fruition. Nearly 7 million people watched the live stream on YouTube. Everyone was glued to the television screen as the spacecraft was inching towards the designated place for landing.
ISRO chief talks about next plans
Somnath told that it would take a few hours or even a day for the moon rover to come out of Chandrayaan-3, adding that the success of Chandrayaan-3 had given them confidence to extend their reach to Venus and Mars.
He has also informed about ISRO’s next plan to launch a sun mission in the next month. ISRO is also planning a human space flight and it is most likely to take place in 2024.
The moon’s South Pole is characterized by rough terrain which makes landing most challenging. Chandrayaan-3 rover will now explore the region believed to have icy surface that could supply oxygen, drinking water and fuel for future space missions.
India’s dark fantasy finally comes to success……
