Chandrayaan-3: India becomes 4th nation to land on Moon; PM Modi calls it ‘historic day’

India has scripted history as its most ambitious Moon mission, Chandrayaan-3, successfully landed on the Lunar surface at 6.04 PM IST today after its 40-day voyage.

After initiating the "automatic landing sequence" at 5.44 PM IST, the Chandrayaan-3 Lander made a soft landing on the Moon at the appropriate time and deployed the Rover to carry out an "in-situ chemical analysis" of the lunar surface.

Soon after the soft landing, India’s space agency Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) confirmed, saying "Chandrayaan-3 has successfully soft-landed on the moon". "'India, I reached my destination and you too!': Chandrayaan-3. Chandrayaan-3 has successfully soft-landed on the moon 🌖!. Congratulations, India."

With India achieve this marvellous feat, the country has become the fourth country after the US, Russia, and China to achieve that feat.

On this massive achievement, Prime Minister Narendra Modi applauded the ISRO scientists, terming it a "historic day" for India's space sector. "Congratulations to @isro for the remarkable success of the Chandrayaan-3 lunar mission."

The PM says the current achievement marks the beginning of India's march towards becoming a "developed economy". This also marks the country's resolve to cross the sea of hardships, he adds.

"This moment marks the resolve of 140 crore heartbeats and signifies the trust on new energy, and India's bright future.

"Like every countryman, my mind was also focused on the Chandrayaan mission," says PM, adding that as soon as new history was made, every Indian was immersed in celebration.

Dr Jitendra Singh, Union Minister of State (Ind. Charge) Science & Technology, says the tricolour now flies high in lunar skies, affirming India’s resolve.

"Hail #IndiaOnMoon.Hail #ISRO! While others fantasise Moon,we have felt the Moon.While others stuck in flight of dreams, #Chandrayaan3 has actualised the dream. Tricolour flies high in lunar skies affirming India’s resolve,as articulated by PM @narendramodi “Sky is not the limit!”.

The space agency had earlier today shared some images of the Moon captured by the Chandrayaan-3's lander position detection camera (LPDC) from an altitude of about 70 km on August 19, 2023.

These images assisted the Lander Module in determining its position, latitude, and longitude, by matching them against an onboard Moon reference map. Its Lander Imager Camera 4 also sent another set of images of the Moon on August 20, 2023.

The Lander and the Rover have scientific payloads to carry out experiments on the lunar surface. The main function of the propulsion module is to carry the Lander module from launch vehicle injection till the final lunar 100 km circular polar orbit and separate the Lander Module.