August 24 202: An Indian spacecraft became the first to land on the rugged, unexplored south pole of the moon on Wednesday in a mission seen as crucial to lunar exploration and India's standing as a space power.
"India is on the moon," said S. Somanath, chief of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) as the Chandrayaan-3 landed, making India the fourth nation to successfully land a spacecraft on the moon after the United States, China and the former Soviet Union.ISRO shared pictures from the spacecraft showing the moon’s surface and the leg and shadow of the lander.
Rough terrain makes a south pole landing difficult, but the region's ice could supply fuel, oxygen and drinking water for future missions.
Nearly 9 million watched the live stream,7 million on YouTube
The Chandrayaan-3 is expected to remain functional for two weeks, running a series of experiments including a spectrometer analysis of the mineral composition of the lunar surface.
The moon rover will take a few hours or a day to come out of the spacecraft, Somanath told reporters, adding that the landing has given India confidence to extend its reach to possible voyages to Mars and Venus. ( courtesy Reuters)