- Mission comes less than week after Russia’s Luna-25 mission failed
- Russia’s Putin and NASA congratulate India
- India becomes fourth nation to successfully land spacecraft on the moon
- Launch budget of about $74 million less than the cost to produce 2013 Hollywood space thriller ‘Gravity’
An Indian spacecraft landed 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, just days after a similar Russian lander crashed.
“This moment is unforgettable. It is phenomenal. This is a victory cry of a new India,” said Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who waved the Indian flag as he watched the landing from South Africa where he is attending a BRICS summit, a group that joins Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa.
![Applause erupted in the control room Wednesday when India's lunar lander touched down on the moon's surface.](https://angelnetworknews.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/230823080236-03-india-chandrayaan-3-lunar-landing-0823-screenshot.jpg)
Scientists and officials clapped, cheered and hugged each other as the spacecraft landed and people across India broke out in celebration, setting off firecrackers and dancing in the streets.
![Children in a school in Guwahati, India, celebrate Chandrayaan-3's successful landing on the moon on Wednesday.](https://angelnetworknews.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/230823115549-09-india-chandrayaan-3-lunar-lander-0823-reaction.jpg)
“India is on the moon,” said S. Somanath, chief of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) as the Chandrayaan-3 spacecraft landed, making India the fourth nation to successfully land a spacecraft on the moon after the United States, China and Russia.
![Shown here is an image of the lunar surface taken by the mission's Lander Horizontal Velocity Camera during the spacecraft's descent on Wednesday.](https://angelnetworknews.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/230823101844-06-india-chandrayaan-3-lunar-lander-0823-moon-shot.jpg)
Russian President Vladimir Putin congratulated India in a message to Modi published on the Kremlin website.
“This is a big step forward in space exploration and of course a testament to the impressive progress made by India in the field of science and technology,” he said.
Historic day for India’s space sector. Congratulations to @isro for the remarkable success of Chandrayaan-3 lunar mission. https://t.co/F1UrgJklfp
— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) August 23, 2023
NASA Administrator Bill Nelson congratulated the ISRO on the landing.
“And congratulations to India on being the 4th country to successfully soft-land a spacecraft on the Moon,” he said on X, formerly Twitter. “We’re glad to be your partner on this mission!”
REUTERS