who visit moon first in india

• Share full article

Advertisement

‘India Is on the Moon’: Lander’s Success Moves Nation to Next Space Chapter

The Chandrayaan-3 mission makes India the first country to reach the lunar south polar region in one piece and adds to the achievements of the country’s homegrown space program.

By Hari Kumar ,  Alex Travelli ,  Mujib Mashal and Kenneth Chang

Hari Kumar and Alex Travelli reported from Bengaluru, India, near the Chandrayaan-3 mission control.

• Published Aug. 23, 2023 Updated Aug. 24, 2023

Two visitors from India — a lander named Vikram and a rover named Pragyan — landed in the southern polar region of the moon on Wednesday. The two robots, from a mission named Chandrayaan-3, make India the first country to ever reach this part of the lunar surface in one piece — and only the fourth country ever to land on the moon.

“We have achieved soft landing on the moon,” S. Somanath, the chairman of the Indian Space Research Organization, said after a roar ripped through the ISRO compound just past 6 p.m. local time. “India is on the moon.”

The Indian public already takes great pride in the accomplishments of the nation’s space program, which has orbited the moon and Mars and routinely launches satellites above the Earth with far fewer financial resources than other space-faring nations.

But the achievement of Chandrayaan-3 may be even sweeter, as it comes at a particularly important moment in the South Asian giant’s diplomatic push as an ambitious power on the rise.

India Successfully Lands Spacecraft on Moon’s Surface

The control room at the indian space research organization erupted in cheers when the chandrayaan-3 spacecraft landed on the southern polar region of the moon..

The altitude is being brought down from 800 meters. And we are nearing and approaching the lunar surface. He hung up a painting for the exact day. He the. People are applauding. From the Secretary department of space and chairman isro Somnath. I’m confident. That all countries in the world. Including those from the Global South. Are capable of achieving such feats. We can all aspire. Part of the moon and beyond.

Indian officials have been advocating in favor of a multipolar world order in which New Delhi is seen as indispensable to global solutions. In space exploration, as in many other fields, the message of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government has been clear: The world will be a fairer place if India takes on a leadership role, even as the world’s most populous nation works to meet its people’s basic needs.

That assertiveness on the world stage is a central campaign message for Mr. Modi, who is up for re-election to a third term early next year. He has frequently fused his image with that of India’s rise as an economic, diplomatic and technological power.

Mr. Modi has been physically present at mission control for other recent moments in India’s space history, including during a successful orbit of Mars in 2014 and a failed moon landing in 2019 where he was seen consoling the scientists and hugging the chief of ISRO, who was weeping.

But the Chandrayaan-3 landing coincided with his trip to South Africa for a meeting of the group of nations known as BRICS . Mr. Modi’s face beamed into the control room in Bengaluru during the landing’s final minutes, where he was split-screen with the animation of the lander.

“Chandrayaan-3’s triumph mirrors the aspirations and capabilities of 1.4 billion Indians,” Mr. Modi said when the landing was complete, declaring the event as “the moment for new, developing India.”

In a country with a deep tradition of science, the excitement and anticipation around the landing provided a rare moment of unity in what has otherwise been fraught times of sectarian tension stoked by divisive policies of Mr. Modi’s ruling Hindu nationalist party.

Prayers were offered for the mission’s success at Hindu temples, Sikh Gurdwaras and Muslim mosques. Schools held special ceremonies and organized live viewings of the moon landing, with an official YouTube video of the event racking up tens of millions of views. The police band in the city of Mumbai, India’s commercial and entertainment hub, sent a “special musical tribute” to the scientists, performing a popular patriotic song.

“There is full faith,” the song, in Hindi, says. “We will succeed.”

The Indian mission launched in July, taking a slow, fuel-conscious route toward the moon. But Chandrayaan-3 out-endured its Russian counterpart, Luna-25, which launched 12 days ago. Luna-25 was scheduled to land on the moon on Monday in the same general vicinity as the Indian craft but crashed on Saturday following an engine malfunction.

That India managed to outdo Russia, which as the Soviet Union put the first satellite, man and woman in space, speaks to the diverging fortunes of the two nations’ space programs.

Much of India’s foreign policy in recent decades has been shaped by a delicate balancing act between Washington and Moscow, but the country is grappling more with an increasingly aggressive China at its borders. The two countries’ militaries have been stuck in a standoff in the Himalayas for three years now, and the vulnerability to a threat from China is a major driving factor in India’s calculations.

A shared frustration with Beijing has only increased U.S. and Indian cooperation , including in space, where China is establishing itself in direct competition with the United States.

And with the success of Chandrayaan-3, Mr. Modi can reap benefits in leaning into India’s scientific prowess to “more confidently assert Indian national interest on the world stage,” said Bharat Karnad, an emeritus professor of national security studies at the Center for Policy Research in New Delhi.

The control room in Bengaluru became a joyous scene among the engineers, scientists and technicians of the Indian Space Research Organization.

Speaking after the landing, members of the ISRO leadership who managed Chandrayaan-3 made clear that the failure of their last moon landing attempt, in 2019, was a major driving force behind their work.

“From the day we started rebuilding our spacecraft after Chandaryaan-2 experience, it has been breathe in, breathe out Chandrayaan-3 for our team,” said Kalpana Kalahasti, the mission’s associate project director.

Chandrayaan-3 has been orbiting the moon since early August. On Sunday, an engine burn pushed the lander into an elliptical orbit that passed within 15 miles of the surface. On Wednesday, as the spacecraft approached the low point of the orbit, moving at more than 3,700 miles per hour, a preprogrammed sequence of maneuvers commenced.

The craft’s four engines fired again at the start of what ISRO called the “rough braking” portion of the descent, its speed of fall accelerating. After 11.5 minutes, the lander was just over 4.5 miles above the surface and started rotating from a horizontal to a vertical position while continuing its descent.

The spacecraft stopped to hover about 150 yards above the surface for a few seconds, then resumed its downward journey until it settled gently on the surface, about 370 miles from the south pole. The landing sequence took about 19 minutes.

Chandrayaan-3 is a scientific mission, timed for a two-week period when the sun will shine on the landing site and provide energy for the solar-powered lander and rover. The lander and rover will use a range of instruments to make thermal, seismic and mineralogical measurements.

India and ISRO have many other plans afoot.

Although an Indian astronaut flew to orbit on a Soviet spacecraft in 1984, the country has never sent people to space on its own. India is preparing its first astronaut mission, called Gaganyaan. But the project, which aims to send three Indian astronauts to space on the country’s own spacecraft, has faced delays, and ISRO has not announced a date.

The country is also working on launching a solar observatory called Aditya-L1 in early September, and later, an Earth observation satellite built jointly with NASA. India is also planning a follow-up to its recently concluded Mars orbiter mission.

Mr. Somanath has described the current moment as an inflection point, with the country opening its space efforts to private investors after half a century of state monopoly that made advances but at “a shoestring budget mode of working.”

“These are very cost-effective missions,” Mr. Somanath said after the landing. “No one in the world can do it like we do.”

When pressed by reporters about the cost of Chandrayaan-3, Mr. Somanath deflected with laughter: “I won’t disclose such secrets, we don’t want everyone else to become so cost-effective!”

While ISRO will continue exploring the solar system, the accomplishments of India’s private sector may soon garner as much attention. A younger generation of space engineers, inspired by SpaceX , have started going into business on their own. While ISRO’s budget in the past fiscal year was less than $1.5 billion, the size of India’s private space economy is already at least $6 billion and is expected to triple as soon as 2025.

And the pace of change is quickening. Mr. Modi’s government wants India to harness the private sector’s entrepreneurial energy to put more satellites and investment into space — and faster.

Up on the moon Vikram and Pragyan were set to get to work, with the rover possibly rolling onto the lunar surface in the coming hours or sometime on Thursday according to Mr. Somanath. The landing site, on a plateau south of the Manzinus crater and to the west of the Boguslawsky crater, is at about the same latitude as the edge of Antarctica on Earth.

To date, spacecraft have successfully landed on the moon closer to the equator. The polar regions are intriguing because there is frozen water at the bottom of permanently shadowed craters. If such water can be found in sufficient quantities and extracted, astronauts could use it for future space exploration.

The lunar south pole is the intended destination for astronauts who could visit the moon as part of NASA’s Artemis program, and also for upcoming Chinese and Russian missions. In the nearer term, as many as three robotic missions, one from Japan and two from private U.S. companies working with NASA, could head to the moon later this year.

But in Bengaluru after the launch, Mr. Somanath hinted that India had its eyes on worlds beyond the moon.

“It is very difficult for any nation to achieve. But we have done so with just two attempts,” he said. “It gives confidence to land on Mars and maybe Venus and other planets, maybe asteroids.”

Hari Kumar is a reporter in the New Delhi bureau. He joined The Times in 1997. More about Hari Kumar

Alex Travelli is a correspondent for The Times based in New Delhi, covering business and economic matters in India and the rest of South Asia. He previously worked as an editor and correspondent for The Economist. More about Alex Travelli

Mujib Mashal is The Times’s bureau chief for South Asia. Born in Kabul, he wrote for magazines including The Atlantic, Harper’s and Time before joining The Times. More about Mujib Mashal

Kenneth Chang has been at The Times since 2000, writing about physics, geology, chemistry, and the planets. Before becoming a science writer, he was a graduate student whose research involved the control of chaos. More about Kenneth Chang

What’s Up in Space and Astronomy

Keep track of things going on in our solar system and all around the universe..

Never miss an eclipse, a meteor shower, a rocket launch or any other 2024 event  that’s out of this world with  our space and astronomy calendar .

A celestial image, an Impressionistic swirl of color in the center of the Milky Way, represents a first step toward understanding the role of magnetic fields  in the cycle of stellar death and rebirth.

Scientists may have discovered a major flaw in their understanding of dark energy, a mysterious cosmic force . That could be good news for the fate of the universe.

A new set of computer simulations, which take into account the effects of stars moving past our solar system, has effectively made it harder to predict Earth’s future and reconstruct its past.

Dante Lauretta, the planetary scientist who led the OSIRIS-REx mission to retrieve a handful of space dust , discusses his next final frontier.

Is Pluto a planet? And what is a planet, anyway? Test your knowledge here .

• Latest News
• Emergencies
• Ask the Law
• GN Fun Drive
• Visa+Immigration
• Phone+Internet
• Reader Queries
• Safety+Security
• Banking & Insurance
• Dubai Airshow
• Corporate Tax
• Top Destinations
• Corporate News
• Electronics
• Home and Kitchen
• Consumables
• Saving and Investment
• Budget Living
• Expert Columns
• Community Tips
• Cryptocurrency
• Cooking and Cuisines
• Guide to Cooking
• Art & People
• Friday Partner
• Daily Crossword
• Word Search
• Philippines
• Australia-New Zealand
• Corrections
• From the Editors
• Special Reports
• Pregnancy & Baby
• Learning & Play
• Child Health
• For Mums & Dads
• UAE Success Stories
• Live the Luxury
• Culture and History
• Staying Connected
• Entertainment
• Live Scores
• Point Table
• Top Scorers
• Photos & Videos
• Course Reviews
• Learn to Play
• South Indian
• Arab Celebs
• Health+Fitness
• Gitex Global 2023
• Best Of Bollywood
• Special Features
• Investing in the Future
• Know Plan Go
• Gratuity Calculator
• Notifications
• Prayer Times

Meet the scientists behind India’s historic mission to the moon

More than 50 women engineers worked directly on the Chandrayaan-3 project

Also in this package

• Chandrayaan-3 lands on Moon: Indians across the world celebrate the historic moment
• Photos: India blasts Chandrayaan-3 lander toward moon's south pole
• Photos: Prayers, parties, student shows planned in India for Chandrayaan-3 moon landing
• Russia launches lunar lander in race to find water on moon

India’s historic landing on the moon has been the result of the hard work of hundreds of scientists and engineers who pooled together their expertise and resources to achieve the goal.

For every scientist at the forefront of the Chandrayaan-3 mission, there are dozens of others who have spent many hours poring over data and studying design to ensure that India became the first nation to land a craft near the Moon’s south pole.

“There are about 54 female engineers/scientists who worked directly in the Chandrayaan-3 mission. They are associate and deputy project directors and project managers of various systems working at different centres,” IANS quoted a senior official of ISRO as speaking on condition of anonymity.

For Chandrayaan-3, the Mission Director was Mohan Kumar and the Vehicle/Rocket Director was Biju C. Thomas.

Here’s a look at some of the senior scientists who headed the project.

Dr. S. Somanath, Chairman, ISRO

As Chairman of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), Dr S. Somanath heads important missions.

As a young engineer, Somanath set right an anomaly along with two of his seniors in a Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) that was ready for takeoff.

Normally in such a situation, the rocket launch would have been postponed. The other option was trying to set the problem right, when the rocket is fuelled up - a risky proposition.

The three officials, including the young Somanath, set right the problem. The rocket lifted off safely and made the mission a success.

Nearly two decades later, Somanath heads ISRO.

Son of a Hindi teacher, Somanath pursued B.Tech in Mechanical Engineering but had an active interest in rocketry.

In 1985 Somanath got a job with ISRO and joined the Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre (VSSC) in Thiruvananthapuram, which was responsible for rockets.

Somanath took his B. Tech in Mechanical Engineering from TKM College of Engineering, Kollam and Masters in Aerospace Engineering from Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore with specialisation in Structures, Dynamics and Control.

Rising up the ranks, he joined GSLV MkIII Project during 2003 and was the Deputy Project Director responsible for overall design and integration of India’s heaviest and most powerful rocket. He was the Project Director of GSLV Mk-III (now LVM-3) from June 2010 to 2014.

Somanath also led the team of LPSC (ISRO’s Liquid Propulsion Systems Centre) to complete the development and qualification of CE20 cryogenic engine and the C25 stage, which was successfully flown in GSLV MkIII-D1 flight.

Prior to becoming ISRO Chairman, Somanath headed VSSC as its Director.

Dr S. Unnikrishnan Nair, Director, Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre

Dr Unnikrishnan Nair is a distinguished scientist heading the Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre (VSSC) - India’s rocket centre - as well as a Malayalam short story writer.

Dr. S. Unnikrishnan, is a BTech in Mechanical Engineering from Kerala University, ME in Aerospace engineering from the Indian Institute of Science, Bengaluru and a doctorate in Mechanical Engineering from Indian Institute of Technology-Madras.

That apart, he also holds an MA in Telecommunications and Space Law from NALSAR, Hyderabad.

Unnikrishan began his career in VSSC in 1985 and was involved in the development of various aerospace systems and mechanisms for Indian rockets - PSLV, GSLV and LVM3.

He played a key role in the maiden orbital re-entry experiment, Space Capsule Recovery Experiment (SRE), right from the study phase onwards to its mission accomplishment in 2007.

He was associated with Human Spaceflight Programme from its study phase since 2004 and was the Project director for Pre-project technology development activities.

Unnikrishnan led the project team for defining the Vehicle configuration, Systems engineering and in identifying various critical technology development areas to initiate the pre-project activities.

As founding Director of the youngest Centre in ISRO, the Human Space Flight Centre (HSFC) Unnikrishnan has led the team for Gaganyaan Project and established the Astronaut Training Centre at Bangalore in HSFC at Bangalore.

Dr P. Veeramuthuvel, Project Director, Chandrayaan-3

Son of a railway employee, Dr. P. Veeramuthuvel, has been in charge of the overall mission of putting together Chandrayaan-3 in coordination with multiple ISRO centres.

Since the launch of Chandrayaan-3 on July 14, Veeramuthuvel and his team have constantly monitored the operations of the spacecraft at the mission control room at the ISRO Telemetry, Tracking and Command Network Centre (ISTRAC).

However, during the last minutes of the moon lander’s descent, the team had to be content to just watch the proceedings as the landing procedures were automated.

Hailing from Tamil Nadu’s Villupuram district, Veeramuthuvel completed his Diploma in Mechanical Engineering and went on to get a Degree in Engineering.

Later he did his PhD at IIT-Madras. He joined ISRO in 2014 and was made project director after the failure of Chandrayaan-2 landing mission in September 2019.

M. Shankaran, Director, U R Rao Satellite Centre

M. Shankaran took over as Director of U R Rao Satellite Centre (URSC), the lead Centre in the country for design, development and realisation of all satellites of ISRO, on June 1, 2021.

He is currently leading the satellite fraternity to realise various types of satellites to meet the national requirements in the areas like communication, navigation, remote sensing, meteorology and inter-planetary exploration.

During his 35 years of experience in URSC/ISRO, he has contributed primarily in the areas of Solar arrays, Power systems, Satellite Positioning System and RF communication systems for Low Earth Orbit(LEO) Satellites, Geostationary Satellites, Navigation Satellites and Outer Space Missions like Chandrayaan, Mars Orbiter Mission (MOM) and others.

He is now leading the efforts to the miniaturisation of avionics systems, indigenisation of electronics and power system components, micro/mini satellite bus development and others. He is also spearheading the avionics system design, realisation and qualification for the Gaganyaan Programme.

He joined the ISRO Satellite Centre (ISAC), currently known as URSC after obtaining his Master’s degree in Physics from Bharathidasan University, Tiruchirappalli in 1986.

Dr. V. Narayanan, Director, Liquid Propulsion Systems Centre

Dr V. Narayanan is the scientist heading the centre that provides the propulsion power to Indian rockets.

An Alumni of Indian Institute of Technology- Kharagpur, Dr Narayanan stood first for M.Tech in Cryogenic Engineering in 1989 and has a Ph.D in Aerospace Engineering (2001).

A rocket propulsion expert, Narayanan joined ISRO in 1984 and functioned in various capacities before becoming Director of the Centre. As Project Director for C25 Cryogenic Project, he led the team and successfully developed C25 Cryogenic Stage.

When India was denied the complex Cryogenic Propulsion Technology for GSLV Mk-II vehicle, Narayanan played a crucial role in the successful development of Cryogenic Upper Stage (CUS) and contributed in making it operational for the GSLV Mk II vehicle.

He has guided the team and designed a 200-tonne thrust Lox-Kerosene Semi Cryogenic Rocket Engine.

During the initial period from 1984 to 1988 in ISRO, he also contributed to the Solid Propulsion System realisation for launch vehicles. As Associate Director of LPSC, he was guiding the liquid propulsion activities of ISRO and was instrumental in finalising the Liquid Propulsion Roadmap of ISRO for the next 20 years.

A. Rajarajan, Director, Satish Dhawan Space Centre

Dr Rajarajan first joined India’s rocket centre – Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre (VSSC) - and over the years rose through the ranks.

He now heads the Satish Dhawan Space Centre (SDSC) that provides the solid fuel for the rocket and also the country’s rocket port in Sriharikota in Andhra Pradesh.

A mechanical engineer, Rajarajan joined VSSC’s Fibre Reinforced Plastics Division and over the years grew within the organisation and assumed additional challenges.

B.N. Ramakrishna, Director, ISTRAC

Ramakrishna is the director ISRO Telemetry, Tracking and Command Network Centre (ISTRAC), the facility in Bengaluru which is the control centre for deep space missions that puts together data from deep space network stations.

For the latest moon mission, ISTRAC is linked to an ISRO deep space network station located at Byalalu outside Bengaluru and to foreign deep space monitoring earth stations like those of the Jet Propulsion Laboratory of USA and ESA of Europe.

Ramakrishna holds a Master’s degree in science from Bengaluru and is considered an expert in the areas of navigation using satellites and orbit determination of spacecraft.

S. Mohana Kumar, Mission Director for launch of Chandrayaan-3

ISRO’s Mission Director for the July 14 launch of Chandrayaan-3, Mohana Kumar, was the person who made the first formal announcement of the successful launch from Sriharikota on July 14.

The ISRO veteran was in March this year the mission director for an LVM3 launch of satellites for the One Web India 2 service.

Mohana Kumar is a senior scientist at the Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre in Thiruvananthapuram, which is the centre for building rocket capabilities for the ISRO.

He has been with ISRO for more than 30 years.

- with inputs from IANS

Hajj-related ‘Road to Mecca’ expanded in Pakistan

SR20,000 fine for sticking out hands, legs on train

Saudi Crown Prince gives speech at WEF special meeting

Saudi Arabia moves to expose illegal Hajj pilgrims

Restaurants put on notice after Riyadh food poisoning

Indonesia plans to offer dual citizenship

Nmdc group reports 112% rise in net profits for q1, saudi employers urged to meet registration deadline, saudi arabia: ground cleared for tree per baby, make-up trends for spring-summer and akshaya tritiya, etihad makes travel easier with five airline deals.

Get Breaking News Alerts From Gulf News

We’ll send you latest news updates through the day. You can manage them any time by clicking on the notification icon.

We have completed maintenance on Astronomy.com and action may be required on your account. Learn More

• Login/Register
• Solar System
• Exotic Objects
• Upcoming Events
• Deep-Sky Objects
• Observing Basics
• Telescopes and Equipment
• Astrophotography
• Space Exploration
• Human Spaceflight
• Robotic Spaceflight
• The Magazine

India makes history with its first Moon landing

On Aug. 23, 2023, the Indian Space Research Organization’s (ISRO) Chandrayaan-3 mission landed near the Moon’s south pole, and a day later, the rover took a walk on the lunar surface. India is the first country to land on the Moon since 2020, when China’s Chang’e 5 visited our satellite to collect lunar surface samples.

“The country has now joined a select club of nations that have achieved this technically difficult feat,” says Richard de Grijs, professor for the School of Mathematical and Physical Sciences for Macquarie University in Sydney, in an email. India joins the U.S., Russia, and China as lunar visitors.

Chandrayaan-3 officially launched into orbit on July 14 from the island Sriharikota off the coast of India. To achieve the proper landing, the mission performed multiple orbit-raising maneuvers before entering translunar orbit. On Aug. 23, the mission announced on the ISRO website, “I reached my destination and you too!” The Vikram lander, which contained the Pragyan rover, made a soft landing on the surface and the rover rolled out of the lander the day after. They are expected to conduct experiments for the next 14 days, or one lunar day, but they are not expected to return to Earth.

This is the first successful landing for the country. Four years ago, Chandrayaan-2 entered into lunar orbit, but the lander and rover crashed into the Moon’s surface. (The orbiter, however, remains operational to this day.)

The current goals of this mission are to demonstrate the capability of the lander and rover on the lunar surface, as well as conduct scientific experiments, according to ISRO. The modules will test the Moon’s surface plasma density, thermal properties, soil composition, and internal activities. The surface of the Moon’s south pole is believed to house water ice across its more rugged terrain than previously explored areas of the Moon. “That might give us new insights into the formation of the lunar surface and the internal processes that operated much earlier during the Moon’s lifetime,” says de Grijs.

Failed mission

Recently, a similar venture by Roscosmos, Luna-25, launched on Aug. 10 with the same goal as Chandrayaan-3: to land on the lunar south pole. However, on Aug. 19 an “abnormal situation occurred,” according to a translated news release on the agency’s social media. The craft then lost contact with ground control and crashed on the lunar surface.

According to the organization, there was a technical glitch; Roscosmos is investigating the incident. The last time Russia (at the time the Soviet Union) visited the Moon was in 1976, with Luna-24.

Despite the recent loss of the rocket, Russia continues to plan for future Moon missions such as the Luna-26 (Luna-Resurs Orbiter) for 2027 and Luna-27 (Luna-Resurs Lander) for 2028. It has yet to be determined whether these will be pushed back in order to reassess the technology used.

Sights on the future

Roscosmos and ISRO’s missions are just the start of what could be a new space race. 

“We will no doubt see more such efforts from a range of established and emerging space-faring nations, not least from Japan in the near future, and with a particular focus on landing near the Moon’s south pole,” says de Grijs. Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency’s (JAXA) and NASA are expected to launch the Smart Lander for Investigating Moon ( SLIM ) with the X-Ray Imaging and Spectroscopy Mission (XRISM) over the weekend. JAXA is also working in collaboration to launch the Chandrayaan-4 mission as early as 2026.

As nations continue to set their sights on visiting the Moon, NASA’s plans also continue to move forward. It was announced in March that the Artemis II mission would take place in November 2024. This marks the first time astronauts will head to the Moon in over 50 years.

Over a 10-day period, four astronauts will take a trip into translunar orbit before returning to Earth. The purpose of the mission is to test Space Launch System rocket on the Orion spacecraft and the communications with ground control.

These tests will allow astronauts aboard Artemis III, scheduled for 2025, to explore the Moon’s South Pole. This would be the first time anyone has set foot on the lunar surface since 1972.

On April 25, 2023, the author added additional information about JAXA’s space program. The previous information was attributed to de Grijs in error.

The Boeing Starliner launches soon, with a crew, and its success would be a big deal

The science behind the ‘spiders’ on Mars and the Inca City

What happens if someone dies in space?

Meet Katya Echazarreta, the first Mexican-born woman to travel to space

A metal chunk that burst through a Florida home came from the ISS

The search is on for extraterrestrial life on worlds like Enceladus

The clever prince Ulugh Beg built — and used — an ingenious observatory in the 15th century

An updated list of space missions: Current and upcoming voyages

The largest digital camera ever made for astronomy is done

India moon landing - live updates: Landing 'changes geopolitics of space' - as Indian PM confirms manned mission to moon

India's Chandrayaan-3 spacecraft becomes the first ever to land on the moon's south pole, just days after a Russian attempt ended in a crash. The region's shadowed craters are believed to contain water ice that could help make a permanent lunar base for humans a reality.

Wednesday 23 August 2023 16:47, UK

Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player

Key points:

• Watch: Moment India's Chandrayaan-3 succeeds in first ever landing on moon's south pole
• What happens now?
• Indian PM confirms manned mission to moon
• South pole's craters thought to contain water ice that could be used for fuel, oxygen and drinking water - potentially supporting human base
• India becomes real space superpower - for less than the cost of Barbie
• Moon could be staging post to get to Mars | Tom Clarke
• Read more: All you need to know about today's landing
• Updates by Tom Acres, technology reporter, and Ollie Cooper

Thanks for tuning in to our live coverage of the historic Chandrayaan-3 lunar landing.

Today's successful mission means India becomes the first country to ever land on the south pole of the moon, and just the fourth country to ever get there in the first place - joining the US, the Soviet Union and China.

India's President Modi said the mission marked a new era for the country, proving that the "sky is not the limit" for his nation. 

We hope you've enjoyed following along today, and remember, if you've missed anything - you can either scroll back through this liveblog to see updates as and when they happened, or you can check out this article which paints the full picture:

The head of the Indian space programme S Somnath has just addressed a news conference in the wake of the successful and historic Chandrayaan-3 landing. 

He thanked "each and every person who prayed the mission" to be successful, before praising Prime Minister Narendra Modi for his "endless support and faith" in the space agency's work. 

"This is not our work alone, this is the work of a generation of ISRO scientists," he added. 

Crowds across India gathered to watch live streams of the Chandrayaan-3 landing, some anxiously clutching signs. 

You can see schoolchildren - schools stayed open late - praying for a successful landing, and then the moment of touchdown. 

There has been much discussion about how other countries around the globe would react to a successful Indian landing, with Russia expected to remain quiet after its own mission ended in disaster last week.

We have had some reaction internationally - not from Russia, but from the US and the UK. 

NASA and the UK Space Agency have congratulated the Indian Space Research Organisation after it oversaw the successful landing of the Chandrayaan-3 mission on the south pole of the moon. 

"History made," the UK Space Agency said on X, formerly Twitter.   

"Congratulations to the Indian Space Research Organisation," it added. 

Head of NASA Bill Nelson also weighed in on the historic moment, stating that the US and NASA were "glad to be your partner on this mission". 

India becomes just the fourth country to reach the moon, joining the Soviet Union, the US and China, and the first to successfully land on the south pole, with both achievements also praised by Mr Nelson. 

Today is not just a big day for India, but for space exploration as a whole. 

Our science and technology editor Tom Clarke  says the successful landing has "changed the geopolitics of space". 

"India has been a player in space for a considerable time, but this totally cements its position," he says. 

"This is a huge sign of the capability of India's hi-tech sector because the amount of tech required in these missions to the moon involves all areas of the economy."

Our India reporter and producer Neville Lazarus , who has been following this story, says it is a "proud moment" for India. 

As the spacecraft came in to land, he says there was "palpable tension" among those sitting in mission control.

"Everyone was tense," he says.

But as soon as the craft landed, there was "jubilation". 

"This will have a big impact in India for generations to come," Lazarus says.

India plans to build on the success of the Chandrayaan-3 mission by sending a manned mission to the moon in the near future, the prime minister has just confirmed. 

Continuing his address in the wake of the landing, Narendra Modi said India "will look into a human flight mission as well for the future". 

"India is showing and proving that the sky is not the limit", he added.

The excitement doesn't end at the landing.

In a few hours, the spacecraft's lander will deploy a rover that will spend two weeks gathering rock samples, images, and data.

During the fortnight, it will run a series of experiments to determine the mineral composition of the lunar surface.

Between them, the lander and rover are carrying a number of instruments to carry out the required measurements.

The moon rover, which weighs 26kg, is named Pragyaan, which is the Sanskrit word for wisdom.

Dr Ian Whittaker, a space physics expert at Nottingham Trent University, said: "The successful landing means the rover and station should provide us with a more accurate determination of lunar crust composition. 

"Particularly around the lunar south pole which is a suggested location for a lunar base due to the ability to have constant sunlight for power. The instruments onboard the rover will be useful for if we want to build structures out of local material."

As has been stressed repeatedly today, a focus for the rover will be examining the presence of water ice in the craters dotted around the moon's south pole.

We know from previous missions that it's there, but this is the first opportunity to get up close.

It could be a source of fuel, oxygen and drinking water, laying the groundwork for a base on the moon - potentially as a staging post for deeper space exploration.

Sky News' science and technology editor Tom Clarke said there could be a billion years' worth of water stored in craters on the moon - and this might also give us lots of insight into the evolution of the solar system.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi is now addressing the Space Research Organisation and the wider world, remoting in from the BRICS summit in South Africa. 

He begins his speech by praising India: "This is the heartbeat of 1.4 billion people. This is the new India, the new beginning, the new thinking of the new efforts.

"This is a feature of the shine of India - we made a promise and we made it true on the surface of the moon." 

"Today we are in space, we have proved to the world... [and] my mind and heart is on the Chandrayaan mission," he says. 

"This is a historic moment, and for every Indian, we are all very proud... I want to congratulate all 1.4 billion citizens of our country."

He concludes: "This success belongs to all of humanity and it will help moon missions by other countries in the future."

Be the first to get Breaking News

Install the Sky News app for free

• International edition
• Australia edition
• Europe edition

India lands spacecraft near south pole of moon in historic first

Vikram lander touches down at lunar south pole shortly after 6pm India time

India has become the first country to successfully land a spacecraft near the south pole of the moon, in a historic moment that drew cheers at watching parties around the country.

“India is on the moon,” Sreedhara Panicker Somanath, the chair of the Indian Space Research Organisation, said as the Chandrayaan-3 spacecraft’s Vikram lander touched down shortly after 6pm (1230 BST) near the little-explored lunar south pole in a world first for any space programme.

The successful landing marks India’s emergence as a space power as the government looks to spur investment in private space launches and related satellite-based businesses.

People across the country were glued to television screens as the spacecraft approached territory that scientists believe could hold vital reserves of frozen water and precious elements.

“This is a victory cry of a new India,” said the prime minister, Narendra Modi , who was seen waving the Indian flag as he watched the landing from South Africa, where he is attending the Brics summit. “We are witnessing history.”

A wave of nervous excitement has gripped Indians in recent days as the scheduled descent approached. Temples and mosques held special prayers for a safe landing. On the banks of the River Ganges in Varanasi, Hindu monks bestowed blessings on the mission and blew conch shells.

At street parties on Wednesday evening, Indians celebrated the double triumph of being the first to land on the south pole and the fourth to land on the moon.

In the final few minutes before touchdown, the lander executed a complex manoeuvre, slowing down from 3,730 miles an hour to nearly zero and turning from a horizontal to a vertical position.

The right tilt and thrust at this moment were vital. If too much force was applied, the lander would have toppled. Too little force and it might have hit the lunar surface at the wrong place.

It was this end manoeuvre that went wrong in the final few minutes of India’s last moon mission in 2019, when the lander failed to change position and hurtled towards the surface during the final braking phase.

Chandrayaan-3 – “moon craft” in Sanskrit – took off from a launchpad in Sriharikota in southern India on 14 July, taking much longer to reach the moon than the Apollo missions in the 1960s and 70s, which arrived in a matter of days.

India is using rockets much less powerful than the US did back then. Instead, the probe orbited Earth several times to gain speed before embarking on its month-long lunar trajectory.

If all goes to plan, a rover called Pragyaan, the Sanskrit word for wisdom, will roll out of the belly of the lander on a ramp then roam around the moon’s surface for two weeks. It has been designed to take pictures, conduct experiments on the geology and the origins of the Earth, and investigate the presence of water ice.

If found in significant quantities, water ice could allow future crew missions to set up base there as it could be used to extract oxygen and fuel. Some scientists believe that the south pole, which is hidden from Earth’s view and is full of craters and trenches, may be the most promising site for a future base.

India’s successful landing comes days after Russia said its first moon mission in 47 years, which also targeted the south pole, had failed after its Luna-25 spacecraft spun out of control and crashed . Russia’s head of the state-controlled space corporation, Roscosmos, attributed the failure to lack of expertise due to the long break in lunar research that followed the last Soviet mission to the moon in 1976.

The former Soviet Union, the US and China have already achieved a soft landing on the moon but in another region, near the moon’s equator.

With nuclear-armed India emerging as the world’s fifth-largest economy last year, Modi’s nationalist government is eager to showcase the country’s rising standing as a technology and space powerhouse. A successful moon mission dovetails with Modi’s image of an ascendant India asserting its place among the global elite and would help bolster his popularity ahead of a crucial general election next year.

The anticipation for a successful landing rose after Russia’s failed attempt and as India’s regional rival China reaches for new milestones in space. In May, China launched a three-person crew for its orbiting space station and hopes to put astronauts on the moon before the end of the decade.

• South and central Asia
• Narendra Modi

More on this story

Bases, experiments, mining: the race to protect the surface of the moon

Aditya-L1: India’s solar mission reaches sun’s orbit

Japan’s moon lander survives two-week lunar night after wonky landing

India launches space mission to the sun – video

Private moon lander lifts off aiming for first US lunar touchdown in 52 years

India launches space mission to the sun a week after moon landing

Japan’s Slim spacecraft lands on moon but struggles to generate power

India’s rover takes walk on the moon after frenzied celebrations

Doomed Peregrine moon lander on course for fiery return to Earth

India’s south pole moon landing is big business for global space race

Most viewed.

• Become A Member
• Gift Membership
• Kids Membership
• Other Ways to Give
• Explore Worlds
• Defend Earth

How We Work

• Education & Public Outreach
• Space Policy & Advocacy
• Science & Technology
• Global Collaboration

Our Results

Learn how our members and community are changing the worlds.

Our citizen-funded spacecraft successfully demonstrated solar sailing for CubeSats.

Space Topics

• Planets & Other Worlds
• Space Missions
• Space Policy
• Planetary Radio
• Space Images

The Planetary Report

The eclipse issue.

Science and splendor under the shadow.

Get Involved

Membership programs for explorers of all ages.

Get updates and weekly tools to learn, share, and advocate for space exploration.

Volunteer as a space advocate.

Support Our Mission

• Renew Membership
• Society Projects

The Planetary Fund

Accelerate progress in our three core enterprises — Explore Worlds, Find Life, and Defend Earth. You can support the entire fund, or designate a core enterprise of your choice.

• Strategic Framework
• News & Press

The Planetary Society

Know the cosmos and our place within it.

Our Mission

Empowering the world's citizens to advance space science and exploration.

• Explore Space
• Take Action
• Member Community
• Account Center
• “Exploration is in our nature.” - Carl Sagan

Chandrayaan-1, India’s first Moon mission

Highlights Chandrayaan-1 was India’s first mission to another world. The orbiter discovered water on the Moon, catalyzing plans by nations to further explore our cosmic neighbor and even send astronauts. Technologies developed for Chandrayaan-1 kickstarted a promising Indian planetary science program with increasingly ambitious missions.

On October 22, 2008, an Indian PSLV rocket launched the Chandrayaan-1 spacecraft into Earth orbit. After a series of orbit-raising maneuvers, Chandrayaan-1 successfully entered orbit around the Moon on November 8 of that year.

Over the next four days, it fired its engines multiple times at precise intervals to attain a circular orbit of 100 kilometers (62 miles) so it can closely study the Moon with its 11 instruments , roughly half of which came from NASA and space agencies in Europe. Communication with the orbiter was lost on August 29, 2009 but the mission’s key objectives were met, including discovering water on the Moon .

Why did India launch Chandrayaan-1?

The Mission Director of Chandrayaan-1, Srinivasa Hegde, recalls the mission’s inception in an interview as being thanks to Dr. K. Kasturirangan. During his time as chair of the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) from 1994 to 2003, Kasturirangan wanted ISRO to play a small role in India’s ambition to become a superpower. This planted the seed for undertaking more ambitious missions. The idea of a Moon orbiter was floated around and was received positively by everyone.

At the time, ISRO already had satellites designed for geostationary orbits, which could carry plenty of fuel on board. The basic infrastructure was ready and the only change required was adapting a geostationary satellite for the Moon. Initial calculations showed that India’s PSLV rocket could provide an Earth-bound orbit beyond which the fuel on the spacecraft could be used to go to the Moon and perform orbital capture. In all, Chandrayaan-1 was a logical extension of ISRO’s capabilities.

How did Chandrayaan-1 discover water on the Moon?

Finding water on the Moon was a primary scientific objective when ISRO was planning Chandrayaan-1. Space agencies globally were keen to confirm water’s presence, hopefully in relatively large amounts, as that would have implications for future human settlements as well as the Moon’s origin . NASA pitched and got to fly two of its water-hunting instruments on Chandrayaan-1.

Their Miniature Synthetic Aperture Radar (Mini-SAR) found the patterns of reflected signals from more than 40 polar craters to be consistent with water ice . But just like with previous efforts such as NASA’s Clementine Moon-mapping orbiter, the mini-SAR data on its own wasn’t bulletproof. But  Chandrayaan-1 carried with it another instrument, NASA’s Moon Mineralogical Mapper (M3), that  could differentiate between ice, liquid water, and water vapor based on how the lunar surface reflected and absorbed infrared light. It was M3 that confirmed our Moon hosts water once and for all, and found the majority of it to be concentrated on the poles .

Among the many more scientific results from other Chandrayaan-1 instruments, the Indian and European Space Agency’s (ESA) collaborative instrument SARA stands out. By analyzing how protons (hydrogen nuclei) in the solar wind impact the Moon and get reflected, SARA helped scientists better estimate the amount and distribution of water or hydroxyl locked in the soil across the Moon. The discovery proved timely for ESA’s BepiColombo mission to study Mercury, which carries two similar instruments for detecting water.

What was Chandrayaan-1’s impact on lunar exploration?

Chandrayaan-1’s discovery of lunar water helped revitalize global interest in exploring our Moon. This includes NASA’s Artemis plans to return humans to the Moon and use resources like water to sustain future habitats as well as the flurry of upcoming robotic missions seeking the exact nature, state, and amount of lunar water.

There’s also India’s own Chandrayaan-2 orbiter, which uses its advanced radar to better map and quantify water ice on the Moon’s poles . South Korea’s first lunar orbiter KPLO will also help detect vast polar water ice deposits using its ultrasensitive camera. And NASA’s Lunar Trailblazer orbiter will map the form, abundance, and changes in water in sunlit regions on the Moon.

Surface missions like NASA’s upcoming VIPER rover will take a much closer look by physically studying water ice inside polar permanently shadowed regions , informing us how to extract the water to live on the Moon sustainably. VIPER’s findings will set the stage for NASA’s Artemis campaign, which envisions an eventual long-term human presence on our Moon.

Cost and collaboration

Less-noticed aspects of the Chandrayaan-1 mission are its total cost of less than $100 million and its collaboration model. As evidenced by the mission’s discoveries, welcoming foreign instruments proved effective in increasing mission science without increasing costs.

For the participating agencies, they got to fly their instruments without having to build and launch an entire mission of their own. At the same time, experience gained from collaborating with NASA and ESA in developing planetary instruments helped ISRO make fully indigenous, state-of-the-art instruments for the Chandrayaan-2 orbiter. South Korea is now following this very model for its first lunar orbiter KPLO .

What technologies did ISRO develop for Chandrayaan?

Chandrayaan-1 was the first time India explored another world. To materialize the mission, ISRO developed a number of new technologies. They established the Indian Deep Space Network to communicate with the spacecraft and made the Indian Space Science Data Center to process and archive scientific data from the mission. Future missions like India’s popular Mangalyaan Mars orbiter would go on to leverage this infrastructure. Even Chandrayaan-1’s spacecraft structure design formed the basis for Mangalyaan. Later this decade, ISRO also intends to launch a Venus orbiter .

In the decade since Chandrayaan-1 flew in lunar orbit, India attempted a Moon landing with Chandrayaan-2 but the spacecraft unfortunately crashed at the last moment. ISRO will retry landing with Chandrayaan-3 next year. The Japanese and Indian space agencies will be launching a joint mission in 2024 or later called Lunar Polar Exploration (LUPEX) to explore water and other resources on the Moon’s south pole using a rover.

In all, Chandrayaan-1 launched not just a science orbiter to the Moon but India’s planetary program.

Acknowledgments : This page was authored by Jatan Mehta in 2022.

For full functionality of this site it is necessary to enable JavaScript. Here are instructions on how to enable JavaScript in your web browser .

How India Became the First Country to Reach the Moon’s South Pole

And then there was one. 

Since earlier this month, there had been something of a footrace in space, with India and Russia vying to be the first country to land a spacecraft in the moon’s south polar region.

On July 14 , the Indian spacecraft, Chandrayaan-3, blasted off from the Satish Dhawan Space Center in southeastern India, carrying a 1,726 kg (3,805 lb) lander , which itself contains a little 26 kg (57 lb) rover . Then on Aug. 9 , Russia followed in hot pursuit, launching its 1,750 kg (3,858 lb) Luna 25 lander from the newly built Vostochny Cosmodrome in the country’s far eastern Amur Oblast region.

On Aug. 23, India won the cosmic competition, setting Chandrayaan-3 down gently in the polar dust at 8:34 AM ET. “We have achieved a soft landing on the moon,” announced S. Somanath, the chairman of ISRO—the Indian Space Research Organization , to a packed mission control. “India is on the moon!”

“India’s successful moon mission is not just India’s alone,” added Prime Minister Narendra Modi in a live address to the control center and the nation. “This success belongs to all of humanity. And it will help moon missions by other countries in the future.” Moments later he expanded the celebration to X, (formerly Twitter), writing , “Historic day for India’s space sector. Congratulations to @isro for the remarkable success of Chandrayaan-3 mission.”   

That India and Russia were in a race at all despite India’s 26-day head start was due to the fact that ISRO sent Chandrayaan-3 on a relatively leisurely five-week trajectory, making an ever-widening series of looping orbits around the Earth until it at last reached the the lunar vicinity, where it was captured by the moon’s gravity. Luna 25 was sent on a more direct path, one designed to get it to the moon in less than two weeks. Both ships were targeted for landing on or about Aug. 23.

But that was then. On Aug. 16, Luna 25 achieved lunar orbit ; but on Aug. 20, it crashed into the moon’s surface , after an engine firing, intended to fine-tune its descent, went awry. 

“At about 14:57 Moscow time, communication with the Luna-25 spacecraft was interrupted,” said Roscosmos, the Russian space agency, in a post on Telegram, translated by Google Translate. “According to the results of a preliminary analysis, [the spacecraft] switched to an off-design orbit and ceased to exist as a result of a collision with the lunar surface.” Even as heads bowed at Roscosmos, fists pumped at ISRO because that was the same day Chandrayaan-3 entered lunar orbit and posted images on X of the moon’s far side.

Modi wasn’t kidding when he said the landing was historic. Three other countries—the U.S., China, and the former Soviet Union—have also achieved soft lunar landings, but none has ever reached the south lunar pole, and that’s not for lack of trying. In 2019, Israel’s privately built and funded Beresheet spacecraft crashed after ground controllers lost touch with it when it was only 149 m (489 ft.) above the polar soil. In late April , a Japanese probe carrying a rover built by the United Arab Emirates came to ruin in the same region, when it too lost contact with Earth and went into a 4.8 km (3 mi.) death plunge before making impact with the surface. 

The moon’s south pole is one of the harder places on the lunar surface to land because it is heavily boulder strewn, without the wide, flat expanses that the Apollo astronauts and early uncrewed landers targeted in the equatorial regions of the moon’s Earth-facing hemisphere. Of the spacecraft that have crashed in the south pole, none got close enough to try to negotiate the boulder fields. That ISRO was able to do so—briefly placing Chandrayaan-3 in hover mode when it was 850 m (2,800 ft.) above the surface while it looked for a clear parking spot—is a testament both to the nimbleness of the ship and the deft touch of the engineers in mission control.

Despite the hazards, there is good reason for the world’s space agencies and private space companies to continue targeting the south pole. Scientists had long believed that the lunar regolith—or soil—might be shot through with crystals of water ice. More significantly, there had been speculation that permanently shadowed craters in the south pole might effectively be frozen lakes. India’s Chandrayaan-1 , launched in 2008, proved those theories correct. An on-board spectrometer confirmed the existence of the icy regolith, and a 29 kg (64 lb.) impactor probe dropped on the south pole proved the existence of water there too just before it hit.

For future astronauts hoping to settle the moon and live off the land, that matters a lot. Not only can ice be harvested for drinking water , the H 2 0 molecule can be broken down to provide breathable oxygen, and the hydrogen and oxygen can be recombined to make rocket fuel. It’s for that reason that NASA’s Artemis program has targeted the south pole for its first crewed lunar landing sometime in the second half of this decade. China is aiming for the same region for its own crewed landing around 2030.

But boots on the moon are for later. For now, Chandrayaan-3 will get to work, using its suite of on-board instruments and its little six-wheeled rover to study a region of the moon that future explorers hope to call home.

More Must-Reads From TIME

• The 100 Most Influential People of 2024
• How Far Trump Would Go
• Scenes From Pro-Palestinian Encampments Across U.S. Universities
• Saving Seconds Is Better Than Hours
• Why Your Breakfast Should Start with a Vegetable
• 6 Compliments That Land Every Time
• Welcome to the Golden Age of Ryan Gosling
• Want Weekly Recs on What to Watch, Read, and More? Sign Up for Worth Your Time

Write to Jeffrey Kluger at [email protected]

India wants to fly its own astronauts to the moon, after becoming the first nation to land near the lunar south pole

• India plans to build on its historic lunar landing by sending people to the moon.
• India landed its first lunar spacecraft , and the first robotic mission near the moon's south pole .
• India will "look into a human flight mission as well in the future," said Prime Minister Narendra Modi .

Prime Minister Narendra Modi confirmed India's intention to send people to the moon in the near future as the nation celebrated the successful landing of the world's first-ever robotic mission to the lunar south pole region.

India's Chandrayaan-3 probe defeated all odds on August 23 after it managed to successfully land near the south pole of the moon, beating competing nations to the strategically important site.  

With the landing, India has become the fourth nation — after Russia, the US, and China — to land on the moon.

"It definitely puts them on the international stage as an emerging space power," Robert Braun, head of space exploration at Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory, told Insider.

The nation will build on this mission success by launching its first crewed mission to the moon , Modi said in Hindi during a livestream of the landing, Sky News reported .

"India is now on the moon," said Modi, per the BBC . 

Related stories

The nation "will look into a human flight mission as well for the future," he said, per Sky News. 

Indian astronauts to Earth's orbit and beyond

India has previously said it will attempt a crewed mission to low-Earth orbit by late 2024 , the Times of India reported.

"India is showing and proving that the sky is not the limit," said Modi per Sky News.

Per the Indian Space Research Organisation, India plans to first launch two uncrewed missions, Gaganyaan 1 and 2, the first of which is planned by the end of this year. The missions should test the capacity of the nation's rocket, LVM3.

This should be followed by the nation's first crewed mission, which will aim to send three astronauts to low-Earth orbit for a three-day mission.

India nailed a difficult feat amid multiple moon crashes

The Chandrayaan-3 mission , which successfully landed the Vikram lander near the south pole of the moon, cemented India's position as a frontrunner in the race to the moon.

The south polar region is strategically important because scientists believe water ice is present in the area. The hope is this water could someday support humans living on the moon and help manufacture fuel for rockets launching from the moon to Mars.

Russia's space agency, Roscosmos, tried to land its own robotic mission near the south pole of the moon, but on August 20 it misfired its engines and crashed .

Both Japanese private company ispace and Israeli nonprofit SpaceIL have also crashed on the moon in recent years.

India's first attempt at the lunar south pole region in 2019, called Chandrayaan-2, crashed as well. Clearly the Indian space agency learned a lot from that failed landing .

"Last time they got to the playoffs, if you will, and this time they won the Super Bowl," Braun said.

Correction: August 28, 2023 — An earlier version of this article misstated Robert Braun's title. He is head of space exploration at Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory, not head of a Space Exploration Center there.

Correction August 23, 2023: An earlier version of this article misstated which entities have tried to land on the lunar south pole. Two countries have attempted this feat so far: India and Russia. Only India has succeeded. An earlier version of this article also misstated the planned orbit of India's first crewed mission. It's expected to orbit Earth.

This post has also been updated with new information. It was originally published on August 23, 2023.

Editor's note September 1, 2023: This article has been updated to clarify that India's spacecraft landed in the lunar south pole region, not on the point of the lunar south pole.

Watch: India becomes the first country to land on the moon's south pole

• Main content

• International
• Today’s Paper
• Lok Sabha Polls
• Andhra Pradesh
• Arunachal Pradesh

India and the Moon: 1969’s year of turmoil, and one moment that surpassed it

In her message on man landing for the first time on moon, pm indira gandhi called it a symbol of "the irresistible spirit of man"... "the spirit which crosses oceans on a bundle of reeds and leaps from one celestial body to another in a small vehicle of its own making”.

INDIA’S third lunar mission and second attempt to land on the Moon set off on Friday afternoon, with a tentative deadline a month from now. A lot rides on the project given the failure of Chandrayaan II in its mission in the last moments.

Space exploration has seen its many moments, but the Moon retains a special place as the one interspatial object which humans have touched down upon.

It was a little over half a century ago that Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin became the first people to set foot on the Moon, on July 20, 1969. India was going through the pangs of bank nationalisation, there was turmoil within the ruling Congress which would eventually lead to concentration of more and more powers by an insecure Indira Gandhi as Prime Minister, finally resulting in the Emergency six years later.

But the sentiment of that moment, of “a small step for man, a giant leap for mankind”, overrode all these underlying tensions. The capsule of the Apollo 11 aircraft carried messages from across the world’s leaders, and Indira Gandhi’s read: “This unique occasion when man traverses outer space to set foot on Earth’s nearest neighbour, Moon, I send my greetings and good wishes to the brave astronauts who have launched on this great venture. I fervently hope that this event will usher in an era of peaceful endeavour for all mankind.”

The Congress government also made arrangements to cover the historic event. On July 15, it was announced that the Apollo-11 lunar broadcast will be made on All India Radio in a programme titled “Spotlight”. A special correspondent would be sent to Paris to report on the launch, the release noted.

On July 21, a day after the landing, the PM hailed it as “one of the most exciting and significant moments in the history of man”. As per a Press Bureau of India (PIB) note, Gandhi said Armstrong and Aldrin were “delegates of the irresistible spirit of man – the spirit which discovered fire and thought, song and science, the spirit which crosses oceans on a bundle of reeds and leaps from one celestial body to another in a small vehicle of its own making”.

“This moment of triumph and achievement is also a moment of humility and self search,” she wrote, adding: “Has man who seeks heavenly suburbs, made his own Earth more habitable, friendly and beautiful? Let us direct this power of man which soars starwards into strengthening the bonds of peace and brotherhood on Earth.”

All India Radio also broadcast a discussion titled ‘Flight to Moon’ with eminent individuals from the Planning Commission, and scientists, among others, while the Films Division released a newsreel capturing the historic event.

Later that year, in November, the government launched a special stamp to depict man on the Moon’s surface.

The euphoria of the Moon landing was an opportune break for the beleagured Indira Gandhi-led government. The Congress had won the 1967 elections but had seen its majority drop while a Syndicate of old Congress leaders in the Congress was posing a challenge to her complete control over the party. Indira Gandhi needed something to capture the national imagination, and the nationalisation of private banks was seen as one such move.

Many senior Congress leaders such as Y B Chavan, Jagjivan Ram and K Kamaraj pressed for urgent takeover of private sector banks. The opposite group was led by Morarji Desai, the Deputy PM and Finance Minister. Desai conceded that the promise made to the electorate to do so had to be fulfilled, but pleaded for a cautious approach.

By December 1967, the scheme for ‘social control’ was ready. Desai agreed that the traditional links of banks with industrial and business houses needed to be snapped and that credit decisions should be conforming to the needs of priority sectors like agriculture, small-scale industries and exports. By early 1969, a Bill to this effect was passed and enforced.

The government also created a National Credit Council (NCC) to assess the demand for bank credit from various sectors of the economy and to determine priorities for the grant of loans.

On July 9, 1969, Indira Gandhi mooted nationalisation of major banks. A history of the RBI notes: “But Indira Gandhi had, by then, decided to confront the Syndicate in what was a bid to wrest control of the party. She needed a dramatic issue and bank nationalization fitted the Bill.”

The two warring factions in the Congress were now clearly aligned — one led by Gandhi, projecting herself as a revolutionary saviour of the masses, and the other by the Syndicate, portrayed as being anti-people and pro-rich. A split in the Congress followed. “To drive home her point, Indira Gandhi assumed the Finance portfolio.”

On Saturday, July 19, 1969 — a day before the Apollo 11 landing — an ordinance was promulgated to nationalise 14 major banks, with deposits exceeding Rs 50 crore, with immediate effect. While Indira Gandhi went on to say that nationalisation would mark “a new and more vigorous phase in the implementation of our avowed plans and policies” and reassured industry and trade bodies that their legitimate credit needs would be safeguarded, the truth was different.

“The main force driving nationalization was fully comprehended by everyone as being political, rather than economic. Indira Gandhi had won the struggle for supremacy within the Congress party and managed to wrest control, decisively and finally,” states RBI history.

• Chandrayaan 3
• Chandrayaan-2
• Indira Gandhi
• Political Pulse

CBSE to announce Class 10 and 12 exam results this month, but date and time not confirmed yet. Fake circulars circulating on social media, students cautioned to check official website for updates. Past few years' results declared in May and July, except for 2020 and 2021 when exams were cancelled due to Covid-19.

• Stock Market Today Live Updates: Nifty plunges 200 pts after hitting all-time high, Sensex tanks 1000 pts 20 mins ago
• Lok Sabha Elections 2024 Live Updates: Rahul Gandhi files nomination from Rae Bareli, hours before deadline 41 mins ago
• NEET UG Admit Card 2024 (Out) Live Updates: Hall ticket link active at exams.nta.ac.in, exam guidelines 1 hour ago
• Delhi News Live Updates: Delhi High Court seeks CBI, ED response in Manish Sisodia bail pleas 1 hour ago

Best of Express

Buzzing Now

May 03: Latest News

• 01 Hardik Pandya casts long shadow as Rohit Sharma and Ajit Agarkar defend T20 World Cup squad
• 02 IPL 2024 Purple Cap update: Natarajan surpasses Bumrah to top spot during SRH vs RR match
• 03 Poll Pourri | Rs 500 notes vanish from Baramati co-op bank: Rohit Pawar
• 04 US says Israel should prevent attacks on aid convoys, Hamas diverting aid also unacceptable
• 05 BJP ‘punished’ Uddhav after go-ahead from Amit Shah: Shelar
• Elections 2024
• Entertainment
• Movie Review
• Newsletters
• Gold Rate Today
• Silver Rate Today
• Petrol Rate Today
• Diesel Rate Today
• Web Stories
• Premium Stories
• Express Shorts
• Health & Wellness
• Board Exam Results
• Brand Solutions

How the Indian Government Celebrated the Moon Landing

New Delhi: With celebrations for the 50th anniversary of the Apollo 11 mission, which sent man to the Moon for the first time, underway, the Press Information Bureau of India has shared a series of press releases that show how India commemorated the achievement. The Apollo 11 mission, with its crew of Neil Armstrong, Edwin ‘Buzz’ Aldrin and Michael Collins, was launched on July 16, 1969 and ended eight days later, on July 24. The Moon-landing itself happened on July 20.

#FromPIBArchives : #MoonLanding50 : The historic landing of #Apollo11 on the #moon on July 20, fifty years ago, left footprints on our press releases from that period as well.They ranged from announcement of a commemorative stamp, special programmes, to an official statement pic.twitter.com/Iko8twhSwF — PIB India (@PIB_India) July 19, 2019

The first press release, issued on July 21, 1969 – a day after Armstrong and Aldrin set foot on the natural satellite – Prime Minister Indira Gandhi hailed the mission as “one of the most exciting and significant moments in the history of man”. (Interestingly, the press releases contain Indian calendar dates, too: July 21, 1969 is also recorded as Asadha 30, 1891.)

Also Read: What the First Labour Strike in Space Taught NASA About Human Spaceflight

Gandhi’s message celebrates the “irrepressible spirit of man”, which she says “leaps from one celestial body to another in a small vehicle of its own making”. She also says the moment calls for some humility and self-search. “Has man who seeks heavenly suburbs, made his own Earth more habitable, friendly and beautiful? Let us direct this power of man which soars starwards into strengthening the bonds of peace and brotherhood on Earth.”

On the next day, July 22, 1969 (Asadha 31, 1891), another press release announces that the All India Radio will broadcast a discussion on the Moon landing. The discussion, in English, was titled ‘Flight To Moon’ and was broadcast on July 23 at 9:45 pm. Participants in the discussion included planning commission member B.D. Nag Chaudhury, Solid-State Physics Laboratory director S.C. Jain, National Physical Laboratory scientist V.G. Bhide and Delhi University professor F.C. Auluck.

A fortnight later, on August 7, 1969 (Sravana 16, 1891), the PIB says the films division newsreel will present the “significance of man’s footsteps on the Moon” in a “vivid manner”. The newsreel, titled ‘Footprints on the Moon’ was released on August 8, and also covered the visit of US President Richard Nixon and his wife Pat Ryan to India.

In the last of the press releases shared by the bureau, the posts and telegraph department announced on November 2, 1969 (Kartika 11, 1891) that, to commemorate the “epoch making achievement of moon landing”, it would release a special stamp on November 19.

The 20-paise stamp was to be printed in raw sienna colour, with a vertical design, according to the department. “It will depict a man on the moon’s surface. A part of space and the earth will be shown in the background.”

The stamp’s release date (November 19, 1969) was planned to coincide with the Apollo 12 mission’s scheduled landing on the Moon. This mission – carrying astronauts Charles Conrad Jr, Richard F. Gordon Jr and Alan L. Bean – was launched on November 14 and also completed its mission successfully.

In the background information provided by the press release, it remarks that 15 years before the landing happened, “talk of sending man to the moon would have been dismissed as ‘moon-shine'”.

After Intense Debates About Timelines, Next IPCC Synthesis Report to Arrive in 2029

Are ‘Zombie’ Cancer Cells Why the Disease Sometimes Returns?

The Moon is a Tough Customer

A Heatwave in Antarctica Totally Blew the Minds of Scientists. What They Deciphered is Alarming

• The Sciences
• Environment

Dailymotion

Watch Amazing Views Of Earth And Moon From India’s Aditya-L1 Spacecraft

Posted: May 2, 2024 | Last updated: May 2, 2024

A camera aboard India’s Aditya-L1 spacecraft captured the Earth and moon. The spacecraft launched atop a PSLV rocket. Credit: Space.com | footage courtesy: ISRO | edited by Space.com's Steve Spaleta

More for You

Average US annual salary by age revealed – see how you compare

Another Boeing whistleblower is dead—this time a healthy 45-year-old who battled a sudden, severe infection

The most successful musician of all time, based on data—and see the rest of the top 50

34 Things Non-Americans Think Are "Myths" About Americans, But I'm Sorry, They're All True

The 11 Smells That Squirrels and Chipmunks Hate

US Intelligence assesses potential end of war in Ukraine soon

Here’s What the US Minimum Wage Was the Year You Were Born

7 weird jobs that are well-paying but nobody knows about, according to a viral Reddit thread

25 Classic Comedies That Are Still Laugh Out Loud Funny Today

Here's Your Best Look Yet At The Facelifted 992.2 Porsche 911

Rock Queens: Recognizing 25 Women Who Shaped the Music Industry

The US mistake that led to an invasion of killer snakes – and costs millions each year

The college majors that earn the most money, based on data

Don’t crank down your thermostat when it’s hot out. Do this instead.

Letitia James Celebrates New $6.3 Million Win

Ghosts of the USA: The Most Haunted Places in America

I drove the Tesla Cybertruck. These 7 design flaws surprised me.

17 Phrases Older People Use That No One Else Gets

What the 25 biggest bands of the '80s look like today

This is the salary it takes to be considered rich in every state

NASA partners up with Nokia to establish the first 4G cellular network on the moon

Fly Me To The Moon - Official Trailer

Sign up here.

Reporting by Aditya Kalra; Additional reporting by Shivangi Acharya; Editing by Christian Schmollinger

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles. New Tab , opens new tab

Thomson Reuters

Aditya Kalra is the Company News Editor for Reuters in India, overseeing business coverage and reporting stories on some of the world's biggest companies. He joined Reuters in 2008 and has in recent years written stories on challenges and strategies of a wide array of companies -- from Amazon, Google and Walmart to Xiaomi, Starbucks and Reliance. He also extensively works on deeply-reported and investigative business stories.

World Chevron

Officers of Russia's FSB state security service have killed a Ukrainian saboteur planning to attack a fuel terminal in the northwesterly Leningrad region with explosives, the FSB said on Friday, according to the Interfax news agency.

Ekrem Ramadani used to work in the once flourishing textile industry in the town of Tetovo in North Macedonia. Today, 76 and still working, he scrapes by selling beans, onions and garlic from his modest farm.

Private moon mission to carry NASA electric moon dust shield in 2024

NASA is sending a technology demonstrator to the moon on the upcoming private Firefly Blue Ghost Mission 1 in order to test how to repel and remove lunar dust using electricity.

Let's be honest — many of us hate dusting. 

But at least even as thick the dust coating might be around the house, with one fell swoop of duster, the particles are wiped away and the surface is clean again. Unfortunately, for our astronauts and spacecraft, dust poses much more of a threat on other bodies such as on the moon and Mars due to the harsh, 'sticky' nature of the dust on those worlds. 

The difference between dust on the moon versus on Earth is that it's more jagged and piercing like glass. "Simply brushing lunar regolith across surfaces can make the problem worse because it's also very electrostatically charged and highly insulating," said Charles Buhler, lead research scientist at the Electrostatics and Surface Physics Laboratory at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

"For these CLPS and Artemis missions, dust exposure is a concern because the lunar surface is far different than what we're used to here," Buhler said in a statement . "Lunar regolith dust can get into gaskets and seals, into hatches, and even into habitats, which can pose a lot of issues for spacecraft and astronauts."

Related: NASA's Artemis moon astronauts may wear electric field spacesuits to fight pesky lunar dust

One possible solution to mitigate damage caused by this dust is NASA's new Electrodynamic Dust Shield (EDS) technology.

EDS technology has been in the works at NASA Kennedy since 2004 and is a derivation of the Electric Curtain concept originally crafted in 1967. It uses a combination of electrodes and electric fields to pick up and remove dust from objects such as thermal radiators, solar panels, camera lenses, spacesuits, boots, and helmet visors. 

Get the Space.com Newsletter

Breaking space news, the latest updates on rocket launches, skywatching events and more!

The original testing for EDS in space took place in vacuum chambers and was used to remove lunar dust samples from NASA's Apollo Missions. The first time it was tested in space was in 2019 as part of the NASA Materials International Space Station Experiment 11 mission inserted in a dozen different glass, polyimide, and prototype spacesuit fabric panels. 

 —  Scientists want to make moon roads by blasting lunar soil with sunlight

 — Artemis astronauts may be able to spray away sticky moon dust

— Computer-simulated moon dust may help lunar robots pass a major hurdle

A recent experiment was part of Intuitive Machines' first lunar lander mission where EDS technology was used in two lenses of the EagleCam CubeSat camera system instrument which was successful in providing some usable data sets. 

The next demonstration will include a lunar landing attempt through NASA's Commercial Lunar Payload Services program, which sends agency science payloads up on commercial lunar landers with the goal of assisting with future Artemis program missions. 

The EDS system will fly aboard Firefly Aerospace's Blue Ghost Mission 1 , which will put a lunar lander on the moon's surface later in 2024. A total of ten agency payloads will launch to the moon on Blue Ghost Mission 1, including the EDS prototype.

"The team has put in a tremendous amount of work and dedication. EDS is considered the leading technology and the best we have for the removal of dust for space applications," Buhler said. "To fly as a dedicated payload on a mission to the moon is very exciting."

Join our Space Forums to keep talking space on the latest missions, night sky and more! And if you have a news tip, correction or comment, let us know at: [email protected].

Meredith is a regional Murrow award-winning Certified Broadcast Meteorologist and science/space correspondent. She most recently was a Freelance Meteorologist for NY 1 in New York City & the 19 First Alert Weather Team in Cleveland. A self-described "Rocket Girl," Meredith's personal and professional work has drawn recognition over the last decade, including the inaugural Valparaiso University Alumni Association First Decade Achievement Award, two special reports in News 12's Climate Special "Saving Our Shores" that won a Regional Edward R. Murrow Award, multiple Fair Media Council Folio & Press Club of Long Island awards for meteorology & reporting, and a Long Island Business News & NYC TV Week "40 Under 40" Award.

SpaceX's Starship could help this start-up beam clean energy from space. Here's how (video)

Private moon lander will carry Nokia's 4G cell network to the lunar surface this year

Curious asteroid Selam, spotted by NASA's Lucy spacecraft, is a cosmic toddler

Most Popular

• 2 Astronauts on the moon could stay fit by running in a Wheel of Death
• 3 Watch live: China launching Chang'e 6 mission to far side of the moon early May 3 (video)
• 4 Watch ULA assemble Atlas V rocket ahead of Boeing Starliner astronaut test flight (video)
• 5 NASA's Hubble Telescope is back in action — but its TESS exoplanet hunter may now be in trouble

Google lays off hundreds of 'Core' employees, moves some positions to India and Mexico

Just ahead of its blowout first-quarter earnings report on April 25,  Google  laid off at least 200 employees from its “Core” teams, in a reorganization that will include moving some roles to India and Mexico, CNBC has learned.

The Core unit is responsible for building the technical foundation behind the company’s flagship products and for protecting users’ online safety, according to Google’s  website . Core teams include key technical units from information technology, its Python developer team, technical infrastructure, security foundation, app platforms, core developers, and various engineering roles.

At least 50 of the positions eliminated were in engineering at the company’s offices in Sunnyvale, California, filings show. Many Core teams will hire corresponding roles in Mexico and India, according to internal documents viewed by CNBC.

Asim Husain, vice president of Google Developer Ecosystem, announced news of the layoffs to his team in an email last week. He also spoke at a town hall and told employees that this was the biggest planned reduction for his team this year, an internal document shows.

“We intend to maintain our current global footprint while also expanding in high-growth global workforce locations so that we can operate closer to our partners and developer communities,” Husain wrote in the email.

Alphabet has been slashing headcount since early last year, when the company announced plans to  eliminate about 12,000 jobs , or 6% of its workforce, following a downturn in the online ad market. Even with digital advertising rebounding recently, Alphabet has continued downsizing, with layoffs across multiple organizations this year.

Chief Financial Officer Ruth Porat  announced  in mid-April that the company’s finance department would undergo restructuring, entailing layoffs and moving positions to Bangalore and Mexico City. The company’s search boss, Prabhakar Raghavan,  told employees  at an all-hands meeting in March that Google plans to build teams closer to users in key markets, including India and Brazil, where labor is cheaper than in the U.S.

The latest cuts come as the company enjoys its fastest growth rate since early 2022, alongside improving profit margins. Last week, Alphabet reported a 15% jump in first-quarter revenue from a year earlier and  announced  its first-ever dividend and a $70 billion buyback.  

“Announcements of this sort may leave many of you feeling uncertain or frustrated,” Husain wrote in the email to developers. He added that his message to developers is that the changes “are in service of our broader goals” as a company.

The teams involved in the reorganization have been key to the company’s developer tools, an area Google is streamlining as it incorporates more artificial intelligence into the products. In February, Google announced a  major rebrand  of its chatbot from Bard to Gemini, the same name as the suit of AI models that power it.

Alphabet is gearing up for its annual developer conference, Google I/O, on May 14, where the company traditionally reveals new developer products and tools underway during the prior year. Husain said in a memo explaining the developer changes that generative AI is at an “inflection point.”

“Recent advances in Generative AI across the industry, including Google’s Gemini, are changing the very nature of software development as we know it,” Husain wrote.

In a separate email, Pankaj Rohatgi, Google’s security engineering vice president, told his team, “In order to optimize for our business goals, we are expanding work to other locations, which will result in some role eliminations and proposed role eliminations.”

The Core layoffs also include the governance and protected data group, which will be at the center of regulatory challenges facing the company, particularly as lawmakers across the globe focus more on developments in AI. The European Union’s Digital Markets Act, which  went into effect in March , aims to clamp down on anti-competitive practices in tech.

Evan Kotsovinos, Google’s vice president of governance and protected data, addressed the upcoming changes last week.

Kotsovinos in an email said the team’s success means responding to “escalating regulatory focus” and is contingent on “moving faster.”

Raghavan, Google’s senior vice president overseeing search, recently  referenced  heightened competition, a more challenging regulatory environment, and slower organic growth as the company’s “new operating reality.”

When reached for comment, Google confirmed the Core reorganization and layoffs, and a spokesperson told CNBC that employees will be able to apply for open roles within Google and to access outplacement services.

“As we’ve said, we’re responsibly investing in our company’s biggest priorities and the significant opportunities ahead,” the spokesperson said in an email. “A number of our teams made changes to become more efficient and work better, remove layers and align their resources to their biggest product priorities.”

More from CNBC:

• Johnson & Johnson to pay $6.5 billion to resolve nearly all talc ovarian cancer lawsuits in U.S.
• Yum Brands earnings miss estimates as Pizza Hut, KFC sales disappoint
• To train car dealers on EVs and other topics, Ford turns to gamification and AI

Jennifer covers Google parent company Alphabet Inc. and Silicon Valley culture for CNBC.com in San Francisco.

• India Today
• Business Today
• Reader’s Digest
• Harper's Bazaar
• Brides Today
• Cosmopolitan
• Aaj Tak Campus
• India Today Hindi

President Droupadi Murmu to visit Ram Mandir in Ayodhya tomorrow

This will be president droupadi murmu's first visit to the newly built ram mandir in ayodhya, the consecration ceremony for which was held on january 22..

Listen to Story

• President Droupadi Mumru to visit Ayodhya tomorrow
• First visit to the newly-constructed Ram Mandir
• Will perform 'darshan' and 'aarti' at multiple temples

President Droupadi Mumru will visit Ayodhya on Wednesday to pay obeisance at the Ram temple, the Rashtrapati Bhavan has said.

It will be her first visit to the newly built temple, the consecration ceremony for which was held on January 22.

The president will visit Ayodhya on May 1, the statement said on Tuesday.

"During her stay in Ayodhya, the president will make 'darshan' and 'aarti' at the Shri Hanuman Garhi Temple, Prabhu Shri Ram Temple and Kuber Teela," the Rashtrapati Bhavan said.

She will also perform Saryu puja and 'aarti', it added. Published By: Sahil Sinha Published On: Apr 30, 2024 ALSO READ | Congress to impose 55% inheritance tax if voted to power: PM's big charge