Chandrayaan-3 Landing Time and Live Updates: India made history after the Chandrayaan-3 landing module called 'Vikram' touched down on the Moon's South Pole on Wednesday evening, 23 August.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi congratulated ISRO (Indian Space Research Organisation) via live video from South Africa. "Like our scientists said, India is on the Moon now," he said on the historic feat.
Students of Ashadeep School hold a banner wishing successful landing of Chandrayaan-3's on Moon's surface, in Surat on Tuesday, 22 August.
(Photo: PTI)
ISRO on 14 July said, Chandrayaan-3 will deploy a rover on the lunar surface "to conduct in-situ scientific experiments," among other objectives.
The Vikram lander successfully separated from the propulsion module on 17 August, and has been orbiting closer to the Moon as well as snapping images of the far-side of the surface.
India has become the first country to land a probe and explore the south polar region of the Moon.
A few days ago, Russia's Luna-25 smashed into the Moon's surface while attempting to make a soft-landing in the same region.
Only three other countries (Russia, China, and the United States) have successfully landed a rover on the Moon.
The Vikram landing module is reportedly named after the father of the Indian space programme – Vikram Sarabhai
It cost Rs 615 crore to develop and launch the Chandrayaan-3 rocket which reportedly weighs around 3,900 kg.
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What Next?
The 'Pragyan' rover and Vikram lander will have the next 14 Earth days (or one lunar day) to carry out experiments and relay the data back to ISRO mission control, according to a report by Hindustan Times.
The 14 Earth days after that will see extreme cold weather on the Moon, during which both the rover and the lander will reportedly become inactive. They were built to last for a duration of 14 days and will stay on the Moon, the report added.
However, there is a possibility of Pragyan and Vikram coming back to life when the Sun shines on the lunar surface again.
Pragyan Rover Rolls Out of Vikram
The Pragyan rover which will be used to probe the lunar surface, fully exited the belly of the Vikram lander on Thursday morning, 24 August, news agency PTI reported citing ISRO sources.
Chadrayaan-3 Lander Shares Images From Moon
"The communication link is established between the Ch-3 Lander and MOX-ISTRAC, Bengaluru. Here are the images from the Lander Horizontal Velocity Camera taken during the descent," ISRO tweeted.
NASA Administrator Congratulates ISRO
NASA administrator Bill Nelson congratulated ISRO on the successful landing of Chandrayaan-3.
"Congratulations ISRO on your successful Chandrayaan-3 lunar South Pole landing! And congratulations to India on being the 4th country to successfully soft-land a spacecraft on the Moon. We’re glad to be your partner on this mission!" Nelson tweeted.