"India, I reached my destination and you too!": Chandrayaan-3 makes historic landing near Moon's South pole

India created history at 18:04 hrs IST on Wednesday (August 23, 2023) by becoming the only country in the world to land near the Moon's South Pole as the Chandrayaan-3 made a successful soft landing.

It also become the fourth country in the world to achieve the feat of landing on the Moon after the United States, Russia, and China.

"Chandrayaan-3 Mission: 'India, I reached my destination and you too!': Chandrayaan-3

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

Congratulations, India!" ISRO wrote on social media handles seconds after the success.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi joined the ISRO team via Video Conferencing to witness the the landing of Chandrayaan 3 on the Moon's surface. Immediately after the successful landing, the Prime Minister addressed the team and congratulated them for the historic achievement.

Describing the moment as "unforgettable, unprecedented", he said, "This is a moment of the capability of the 140 crore heartbeats and the confidence of the new energy of India. This is a moment of invoking the rising fortune of India”.

Here are some significant milestones in the journey of Chandrayaan-3:

August 23, 2023: India creates history as Chandrayaan-3 lands on the Moon's South Pole.

August 21, 2023: ISRO successfully establishes two-way communication between the Chandrayaan-3 Lander Module and the still orbiting Chandrayaan-2 Orbiter. Also shares new images of the Lunar far side area.

August 17, 2023: Lander Module is successfully separated from the Propulsion Module. De-boosting planned for August 18, 2023.

August 5, 2023: Chandrayaan-3 is successfully inserted into lunar orbit. The orbit achieved is 164 km x 18074 km, as intended.

August 1, 2023: The spacecraft is successfully inserted into the translunar orbit. The orbit achieved is 288 km x 369328 km.

July 15, 2023: The first orbit-raising maneuver (Earthbound firing-1) is successfully performed at ISTRAC/ISRO, Bengaluru. Spacecraft is now in 41762 km x 173 km orbit.

July 14, 2023: The Chandrayaan-3 mission is launched from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota, Andhra Pradesh, using a Launch Vehicle Mark-3 rocket.

Chandrayaan-3 is India's third mission to Earth's natural satellite, the Moon, with an approved cost of Rs 250 crores (excluding the launch vehicle cost).

Having successfully landed on the lunar surface, it is expected to operate for a duration of one lunar day, equivalent to approximately 14 Earth days. This timeframe aligns with the unique lunar day-night cycle, which is significantly longer than a typical Earth day.

During this period, the spacecraft will carry out its intended mission, conducting scientific experiments, capturing high-resolution images, and collecting valuable data about the lunar terrain, geology, and atmosphere.

The first in the series of Chandrayaan, namely Chandrayaan-1, is credited with having discovered the presence of water on the surface of the Moon, which was a new revelation for the world and the most premier Space agencies like the USA’s NASA (National Aeronautics and Space Administration) were fascinated by this discovery and used the inputs for their further experiments.