After the historic soft landing by the Chandrayaan-3 lander Vikram on the southern polar region of the Moon, the world erupts in celebrations. It is India’s true moment of achievement, pride and celebrations
Our Bureau
Bengaluru/New York/Johannesburg
India is on the Moon, and the world is in awe of it. When a rocket was launched from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Andhra Pradesh’s Sriharikota on July 14, it carried the hopes and prayers of 1.45 billion people. But on August 23 (Wednesday) when the Vikram lander touched down on the Moon, the whole world erupted in celebrations.
Indian Space Research Organization (Isro) tweeted, “Chandrayaan-3 Mission: ‘India, I reached my destination and you too!’ Chandrayaan-3 has successfully soft-landed on the moon! Congratulations, India!”
And what is significant about this is that India has reached the South Pole of the Moon which no country in the world could reach to date with the dedication and talent of its scientists.
On Thursday morning, moon rover of India’s Chandrayaan-3 rolled out from the spacecraft to begin its exploration of the uncharted lunar surface. Isro, the country’s space agency said that the spacecraft made a historic landing on the south pole of the moon a day earlier, making India the first country to achieve this feat. “The Ch-3 Rover ramped down from the Lander and India took a walk on the moon. More updates soon,” Isro posted on X.
The first picture of the six-wheeled robotic vehicle Pragyan rolling out of Vikram has been shared by Isro. The Lander and the Rover with a mission life of one Lunar Day (14 Earth days) have scientific payloads to carry out experiments on the lunar surface.
India took a giant leap on Wednesday evening as the Chandrayaan-3 lander module successfully landed on the moon’s South Pole, making it the first country to have achieved the historic feat and bringing to an end the disappointment over the crash landing of the Chandrayaan-2, four years ago.
India became the fourth country – after the US, China, and Russia – to have successfully landed on the moon’s surface. India entered record books as the first country to touch down on the south side of Earth’s only natural satellite.
Special screenings of the soft landing were organized across the country, including schools science centers, and public institutions. ISRO made the live action available on the ISRO website, its YouTube channel, Facebook, and public broadcaster DD National TV.
India’s Permanent Mission to the UN on Friday celebrated the success of the Chandrayaan-3 mission. Permanent representative to UN Ruchira Kamboj has said Chandrayaan-3’s successful landing on the Moon is a historic moment for humanity as “we venture into uncharted territory near the moon’s South Pole”.
She said the Chandrayaan-3 mission “not only marks India’s presence on the moon but also symbolizes the aspirations of 1.4 billion Indians. Beyond that, it’s a historic moment for humanity as we venture into uncharted territory near the moon’s South Pole.”
Kamboj said that as per Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the mission’s success “belongs to all of us and holds promise for future scientific achievements that will benefit humanity as a whole.”
The recent achievement of successfully landing on the Moon has been hailed as a remarkable feat by various nations, with the United Kingdom’s Secretary of State for Business and Trade, Kemi Badenoch, expressing admiration for India’s technological prowess. Badenoch emphasized that India’s advanced skills and its ability to achieve what no other country has done before demonstrate its prominent position in the world.
Secretary said, “This is exciting news, not just for India, but also for the whole world. All of these things are steps for all of mankind and we in the UK, we’re very pleased and wish India every success in the world on this phenomenal achievement.”
Following the successful landing of Chandrayaan-3 on the Moon, US Congressman Ro Khanna on Thursday congratulated India and said that it is a big moment for India at home and across the world.
Ro Khanna said, “This is a big moment for India at home and across the world. Representative Michael Waltz and I recently led a delegation where we saw the incredible developments and advances that India has made in STEM. Congratulations on the successful moon landing!”
US Vice President Kamala Harris on Thursday congratulated India for Chandrayaan-3’s successful landing on the southern polar region of the moon and called it an “incredible feat for all scientists, engineers involved”.
“Congratulations to India for the historic landing of Chandrayaan-3 on the southern polar region of the moon. It’s an incredible feat for all the scientists and engineers involved. We are proud to partner with you on this mission and space exploration more broadly,” Harris tweeted on Thursday.
US Ambassador to India Eric Garcetti congratulated India, the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) and their entire team as Chandrayaan-3 successfully landed on the Moon. Garcetti also shared his delight and said that he can see exciting opportunities ahead for India-US Space collaboration.
Tibetan spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama, on Thursday, congratulated the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) and Prime Minister Narendra Modi for the successful culmination of India’s lunar mission — Chandrayaan-3. An official statement quoted the Dalai Lama as saying, “The successful landing of Chandrayaan-3 is a tribute to the people of India who have devoted their attention to scientific development since ancient times.”
The spiritual leader also lauded the chairman of the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) chairman and the team of scientists at the agency, which worked on the mission aimed at demonstrating “India’s scientific and technological maturity.”
“I would like to applaud the head of the ISRO and his team for their dedication that has made the mission possible. They have demonstrated India’s scientific and technological maturity,” the statement quoted the spiritual leader as saying further.
“As the longest-staying guest of India, I rejoice at this great triumph,” the Dalai Lama said, adding, “I am confident that the Indian Scientific Research Organization will continue to strengthen its leadership role in further scientific endeavors.”
After a historic soft landing by the Chandrayaan-3 on the southern polar region of the Moon, the Indian diaspora erupted in celebrations at Times Square in New York City. Members of the Indian diaspora were seen dancing to drum rolls and immersing in unbridled joy as the country became the first in the world to land on the uncharted lunar south face.
“Congratulations to the people of India for the great achievement of landing on the Moon. We are just thrilled today,” a woman from Canada said at Times Square. “It is a matter of pride not only for India but for the whole world…, ” said Prem Bhandari, prominent diaspora leader and volunteer of Jaipur Foot USA, Rajasthan Association of North America (RANA) and Rescuing Every Distressed Indian Overseas.
After the successful landing, congratulatory messages poured in from across the world for the ISRO chief and Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The spokesperson for the President of the United Nations General Assembly, Paulina Kubiak, hailed the successful touchdown of the ‘Vikram’ lander on the lunar South Pole, saying, “It is something that we kind of shared this morning. I mean, the president congratulates India. Obviously, it was within the OPGA office. Many of the Indian colleagues were celebrating that achievement.”
The UAE President, Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, said, “The successful lunar landing of India’s Chandrayaan-3 spacecraft represents a significant leap for collective scientific progress. EU President, Ursula von der Leyen posted on X, “Congratulations to @narendramodi for the successful landing of Chandrayaan-3. A historic milestone and a proud moment for the Indian people. India has become a true pioneer in space exploration. This Indian success will benefit researchers all over the world.”
It is a proud moment for every Indian, including the celebrities. Sunny Deol, producer Aatish Kapadia, Rohit Shetty, Jackie Shroff, Sonnalli Seygall and Pratik Sehajpal to many others have congratulated ISRO on the achievement. Kapadia said, “What India has achieved today the entire world is watching.”
He added praising Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s contribution in the development of the country, saying, “We are looking at enormous change in past years and development is happening in every field, be it education, infrastructure or science. Today entire world is looking at us because of this achievement.”
Filmmaker Rohit Shetty took to his Instagram handle to congratulate ISRO for the success, saying, “And they said India is a 3rd world country…Today, we became the 1st country to land on moon’s South Pole…JAI HIND”.
