Chandrayaan-3 Landing Highlights: India Creates History As It Lands On Moon's South Pole

"The image captured by the Landing Imager Camera after the landing. It shows a portion of Chandrayaan-3's landing site. Seen also is a leg and its accompanying shadow. Chandrayaan-3 chose a relatively flat region on the lunar surface," tweets ISRO

Chandrayaan-3 Mission:
The image captured by the
Landing Imager Camera
after the landing.

It shows a portion of Chandrayaan-3's landing site. Seen also is a leg and its accompanying shadow.

Chandrayaan-3 chose a relatively flat region on the lunar surface … pic.twitter.com/xi7RVz5UvW

— ISRO (@isro) August 23, 2023

"It is with immense pride as a citizen of our great nation that I witnessed the remarkable landing of Chandrayaan 3 on the moon today. The success of the lunar mission places India in a select group of nations to successfully achieve a landing on the lunar surface. It is all the more significant because India is the only nation to have achieved a lunar landing on the South Pole of the moon. This will herald new avenues in scientific research and discovery. This represents a milestone in the march of the nation. My heartiest congratulations to Team ISRO and the scientific community on this historic achievement. They have made the entire nation proud."

"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," tweets NASA Administrator Bill Nelson.

ISRO chief S Somanath congratulates his team on the success of the Chandrayaan-3 mission, says, "Thank you everyone for the support. We learned a lot from our failure and today we succeeded. We are looking forward to the next 14 days from now for Chandrayaan-3."

PM Narendra Modi tells ISRO chief S Somnath that he will soon visit Bengaluru to greet the team behind the Chandrayaan-3 mission after the successful landing of the Vikram lander.

CRPF jawans in Jammu celebrate and raise slogans of 'Bharat Mata Ki Jai' as the ISRO's third lunar mission Chandrayaan-3 makes a successful landing.

"Success of Chandrayaan-3 gives us the confidence to undertake more challenging future missions," says ISRO Chief S Somanath.

Congress workers rejoice as as Chandrayaan-3 lands on the Moon.

Watch the extraordinary moment when the lander module of Chandrayaan-3 touched down on the moon.

"We have become the first country to go near the South Pole of the Moon," says P Veeramuthuvel, Project Director of Chandrayaan-3 Mission.

"No country has reached there (the South Pole of the moon) before. With the hard work of our scientists we have reached there," says PM Modi on the soft landing of ISRO's third lunar mission Chandrayaan-3 on the moon

"Humne dharti par sankalp kiya aur chand pe usse sakaar kiya...India is now on the Moon," says PM Modi.

"When we see such historic moments it makes us very proud. This is the dawn of new India," says PM Modi on the soft landing of ISRO's third lunar mission Chandrayaan-3 on the moon.

As India makes a successful soft-landing on moon, Prime Minister Narendra Modi addresses the nation. The prime minister hailed the incredible achievement of the Indian space agency ISRO and congratulated the scientists at ISRO.

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

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

Congratulations, India!

Prime Minister Narendra Modi joins ISRO control room from Johannesburg, South Africa, where he is attending the 15th BRICS Summit.

The lander module moves towards the lunar surface. It is at an altitude of 15 km. 

The lander is in rough braking phase, which is the first phase of powered descent, says ISRO. The next phase will be altitude hold phase.

The current altitude of Chandrayaan-3's lander module is 26 km, says ISRO.

The Lander Module activates the throttleable engines for powered descent. 

The scientists at ISRO are analysing the data shared by the lander. Chandrayaan's lander module is very close to powered descent, says ISRO. 

Chandrayaan 3 Mission's landing event from ISRO's Mission Control Complex from Bengaluru.

ISRO begins LIVE streaming ahead of soft landing on moon.

ISRO will begin the LIVE streaming of landing shorty.

Singer Kailash Kher dedicates a special song to Chandrayaan-3 mission.

Watch visuals from ISRO Mission Control Centre in Bengaluru as the space agency prepares for moon landing.

Students cheer for Chandrayaan-3 mission in Jammu and Kashmir.

"We are going to join the elite group of four (countries) touching the Moon's surface... Failures gives lessons. We've learnt a lot...They (ISRO) have taken enough cautions to have a soft landing of Chandrayaan-3 over the Moon's surface," said Senior scientist CSIR Satyanarayana on Chandrayaan-3 landing today.

2 hours to go! The adrenaline is high as anticipation builds ahead of India's soft landing on the moon. 

The landing of Chandrayaan-3's lander module, which includes Vikram Lander and Pragyan Rover, will take place at 6.04 PM. 

The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) is all set to soft land on the moon's South pole. (Image: X/ ISRO)

The live telecast of operations at the Mission Operations Complex (MOX), ISTRAC, Bengaluru, begins at 5:20 PM (17:20 Hrs IST). 

Below are the links to the LIVE telecast of Chandrayaan-3 landing:

ISRO Website: https://t.co/osrHMk7MZL
YouTube: pic.twitter.com/zyu1sdVpoE

The Lander Module (LM) of Chandrayaan-3 will reach the designated point around 5.44 PM (17:44 Hrs IST) after which its descent will begin.

All set to initiate the Automatic Landing Sequence (ALS).

Awaiting the arrival of Lander Module (LM) at the designated point, around 17:44 Hrs IST.

Upon receiving the ALS command, the LM activates the throttleable engines for powered descent. 

The mission operations team will keep confirming the sequential execution of commands.

The live telecast of operations at MOX begins at 17:20 Hrs. IST

Yoga guru Ramdev performs rituals in Haridwar, Uttarakhand, for the successful landing of the Chandrayaan-3's lander module.

On Chandrayaan-3 mission, son of ISRO founder Vikram Sarabhai, Kartikeya Sarabhai says, "It is a big day. It is a fantastic thing for anyone on the planet not just India to be able to send this precision with which we have been able to send Chandrayaan-3 and also through a process that is different from others...In science and engineering, we learn from mistakes...It will be a great thing for humanity because no one has been able to land on the south side of the moon."

On Chandrayaan-3 mission, Union Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia says, "History will be created today when under the leadership of PM Modi India's flag will be hoisted on the moon. The entire country is eagerly waiting for this moment. The efforts of the scientists and the government for the last nine years will be fulfilled today. We are moving towards success. With this India has been scaling new heights."

The Indian diaspora here is eagerly waiting for Chandrayaan-3's much-anticipated landing on the Moon today with many of them saying the lunar mission will propel India as a global leader in space technology and inspire millions of children to take up science, physics and astronomy as their area of pursuit.

The Chandrayaan-3 Mission aims at soft-landing of the spacecraft on the unexplored southern pole of the Moon. It would make India the fourth country to achieve this remarkable feat after the United States, erstwhile Soviet Union and China.

Namakkal in Tamil Nadu has has supplied soil to ISRO for testing for the Chandrayaan Mission capability since 2012. The properties of earth in Namakkal district, which is about 400 km from Chennai, is similar to that of the lunar surface. The tests have enabled ISRO to test the lander module for soft landing on the surface of the Moon.

This is the third time that Tamil Nadu has supplied the necessary soil to the Bengaluru headquartered space agency for performing the tests for its ambitious Moon missions.

Tamil Nadu scientists, who sculpted India's space sector and scripted history over the years, are former President Dr APJ Abdul Kalam, Chandrayaan-2 Mission Director Mayilsamy Annadurai, and Chandrayaan-3 Project Director Veeramuthuvel P.

Maharashtra NCP workers perform havan at Shree Ganesh Mandir Tekdi for the successful landing of Chandrayaan-3 on moon.

Prayers offered at Ajmer Sharif Dargah in Rajasthan for the successful lunar landing of Chandrayaan-3.

Students in Jammu brim with excitement ahead of Chandrayaan-3 landing on moon at 6.04 PM today. Students at a Jammu schools held an exhibition and sang songs for the successful touchdown of India's moon mission.

On Chandrayaan-3 mission, CEO and chief educator, Rocketeers Research Institute, Divyanshu Poddar says, "It will be a great achievement for us if we successfully land on the moon. We will become the second country to make a soft landing...We have learnt a lot from Chandrayaan 2...We have made changes in our communication, propulsion and in the legs...Russia's failure just shows how difficult it is to land on the moon..."

BJP leader Mohsin Raza prays for the success of Chandrayaan-3 at Hazrat Shah Meena Shah Dargah in Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh. "All people of the country are excited for Chandrayaan-3 and are praying for its success. We are also praying for its successful landing and it will be a proud moment for the country," he says. (Screengrab: ANI video)

Seers at the Shree Mahakaleshwar Temple in Ujjain, Madhya Pradesh, performed special 'Bhasma Aarti' for the successful landing of Chandrayaan-3 at 6.04 PM today. (Screengrab: ANI video)

Astronomer, Professor, Dr RC Kapoor hopes for the success of Chandrayaan-3 mission. "The world and various space agencies are tracking and have their eyes on Chandrayaan. ISRO is one of the best space agencies in the world. We hope that we are successful in the soft landing...With this ISRO will become the fourth agency to have done a soft landing (successful landing) on the moon," he says.

Bharatanatyam and Kuchipudi dancer Pooja Hirwade performs the classical dance of Tamil Nadu, Bharatanatyam, on the songs 'Namō Namō Bhāratāmbē' and Chandrayaan Anthem, as the Indian spacecraft is all set to make a soft landing on moon's south pole at 6.04 PM today.

Pooja Hirwade says, "India's Chandrayaan-3 is all set to land on the moon today. So, to make this moment memorable, I performed Bharatnatyam on Chandrayaan Anthem. This is a proud and historic moment for the entire India. We would like to extend heartfelt gratitude to all the scientists whose hard work made this possible today."

Watch seers perform havan in Varanasi for the successful landing of India's moon mission Chandrayaan-3.

On Chandrayaan-3 mission, former director of ISRO, Dr Surendra Pal says, "I am confident just like the ISRO scientists that we will do much better because a lot of changes have been done in comparison to Chandrayaan 2. A lot of algorithms have been changed...Absolute calibration is done. The Lander has the capacity to hover. The landing area has been increased from 2.5 km to 4 km."

Chandrayaan-3 will change its direction from horizontal to vertical, which is a crucial move ahead of the spacecraft's soft landing. This is where Chandrayaan-2 witnessed a problem.

Prayers are resonating around the globe as people of various religious affiliations unite for the successful landing of India's Chandrayaan-3 on the Moon's South Pole.

Uttar Pradesh government schools will open for an hour on August 23 evening to show the live telecast of Chandrayaan-3’s moon landing, Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath announced on Monday. The historic event will take place at 5.27 pm and will be streamed on the ISRO website, YouTube channel and DD National.

Mylswamy Annadurai, a renowned former ISRO scientist revealed significant upgrades to the upcoming Chandrayaan-3 mission. He said that the spacecraft's landing zone has been expanded to a broader area measuring 4.5 km by 2.5 km. The primary focus of the mission remains to ensure a safe and successful landing, with enhanced fuel requirements and an improved power source compared to its predecessor, Chandrayaan-2.

Ahead of the Chandrayaan-3 landing on Moon's surface, in Rishikesh Ganga Aarti was performed with a tricolour in hands at Parmarth Niketan Ghat. 

#WATCH | Uttarakhand: Ganga Aarti performed with tricolour in hands at Parmarth Niketan Ghat in Rishikesh ahead of the landing of the Chandrayaan-3 Mission on August 23.#Chandrayaan3Mission pic.twitter.com/I45spQjJ1a

— ANI (@ANI) August 22, 2023

West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee on Tuesday said that Chandrayaan 3 mission pride of India, ‘we must all stand together and cheer for its successful soft landing’. 

"The @isro team belongs to India. Their hard work is a testament to the country's progress which has come from the people, scientists and economists, and not any political entity. Scientists from across the country, including Bengal, have greatly contributed to the mission. I applaud the efforts of all those who have worked hard at taking India's lunar exploration to greater heights! With Chandraayan-3 inching closer to reaching the lunar South Pole, we must all stand together and cheer for its successful soft landing," tweeted Mamata Banerjee X (formerly Twitter). 

Reportedly, PM Modi will attend Vikram's landing virtually from South Africa. The Rs 600 crore Chandrayaan-3 mission was launched on July 14 onboard Launch Vehicle Mark-III (LVM-3) rocket, for a 41-day voyage to reach near the lunar south pole.

From Aditya-L1, India's first sun mission or Gaganyaan, ISRO has scheduled several other missions.  Check Post-Chandrayaan-3 ISRO Schedule Here

Oleg Nikolayevich Avdeev, Russian Consul General to South India on Tuesday expressed his excitement for the touchdown of Chandrayaan-3's Vikram lander module on the Moon's surface, which is scheduled for 06:04 pm tomorrow (August 23).

"Everybody in India and also myself are all eagerly waiting for tomorrow's event in the lunar orbit. I am sure that it will be a success for the Indian lunar program and the rover will land safely and start functioning," the Russian diplomat was quoted as saying by news agency ANI.

"I am sure this will be a very fruitful lunar program for India and it will definitely be a great success and there will be more exploration on the moon," he added.

#WATCH | Uttar Pradesh | People offer namaz at the Islamic Center of India in Lucknow for the successful landing of Chandrayaan-3, on August 23. pic.twitter.com/xpm98iQM9O

— ANI (@ANI) August 22, 2023

ISRO releases images of moon clicked from Chandrayaan-3.

Chandrayaan-3 inches closer to the moon. ISRO shares pictures of moon clicked from the spacecraft's lander from a distance of 70 km.

A successful mission would make India only the fourth country to successfully land on the moon, after the former USSR, the United States and China, and mark its emergence as a space power, just ahead of national elections next year.

Earlier on Sunday, Russia's first moon mission in 47 years failed over the weekend when its Luna-25 spacecraft crashed into the moon. A private Japanese space startup, ispace, failed an attempted lunar landing in April.

Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray) leader Anand Dubey organises a havan in a temple in Mumbai. During the havan at Chandramauleshwar Shiv Mandir, the leader and Shiv Sena UBT workers pray for the successful landing of Chandrayaan-3 on the moon, on August 23.

Rough terrain is one of the complications for a south pole landing. ISRO scientists say they have made adjustments that make it more likely the current mission will stick its landing. That includes a system to broaden the potential landing zone. The lander has also been equipped with more fuel and sturdier legs for impact.

The Chandrayaan-3 lander stands about 2 meters tall and has a mass of just over 1,700 kg (3,747.86 lb), roughly on par with an SUV. It's designed to deploy a smaller, 26-kg lunar rover.

If Chandrayaan-3 lands successfully, it is expected to remain functional for two weeks. The Indian moon mission will run a series of experiments including a spectrometer analysis of the mineral composition of the lunar surface.

The Chandrayaan-3 will land at the lunar south pole, where space agencies, including NASA, have detected water water ice, or frozen water. The presence of water on moon facilitate supply of oxygen, fuel and water for future moon missions. It would make longer moon mission or a more permanent moon colony possible.

Chandrayaan-3 lander will touch down on moon on August 23, at 6.04 PM. The space agency has shared links for LIVE viewing of the landing of Chandrayaan-3 mission's lander module on moon. The Live telecast of Landing event will begin at 5.20 PM (17:20 Hrs). IST. Check these links for Chandrayaan-3 landing LIVE:

ISRO Website: https://t.co/osrHMk7MZL
YouTube: pic.twitter.com/zyu1sdVpoE

ISRO Chairman and Secretary Department of Space S Somanath met Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) Science and Technology, Atomic Energy and Space Jitendra Singh yesterday and apprised him of the status of Chandrayaan-3. Briefing the Chairman on the health status of Chandrayaan-3 lander module, ISRO chairman said all systems are working perfectly and no contingencies are anticipated on Wednesday.

A senior official at ISRO has said the landing of Chandrayaan-3's lander module may be postponed to August 27 in case of any unfavourable factor. The decision to postpone will be taken two hours before the scheduled touchdown.

"On August 23, two hours before Chandrayaan-3 lands on the Moon, we will take a decision on whether or not it will be appropriate to land it at that time based on the health of the lander module and the conditions on the Moon. In case, if any factor appears to be not favourable, then we will land the module on the Moon on August 27. No problem should occur and we will be able to land the module on August 23," news agency quotes Nilesh M Desai, Director, Space Applications Centre-ISRO, Ahmedabad.

The lander module of Chandrayaan-3 made contact with the orbiter of Chandrayaan-2, which failed to land on the moon in 2019. "'Welcome, buddy!' Ch-2 orbiter formally welcomed Ch-3 LM. Two-way communication between the two is established," said ISRO on X.

The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) released fresh pictures of the Vikram lander determining the landing site on the moon. In a post on microblogging site X, ISRO shared images of the moon's far side area captured by the Lander Hazard Detection and Avoidance Camera (LHDAC).

Good morning and welcome to Jagran English's LIVE blog on India's moon mission Chandrayaan-3. The Indian space agency ISRO is on the brink of scripting history as the lander module of Chandrayaan-3 is expected to make a soft landing on the southern pole of the moon.