India is now the fourth country to successfully make a moon landing, along with the former Soviet Union, the U.S.A., and China. However, not only that, but it is the first to land near the moon’s south pole.
The Indian Chandrayaan-3 spacecraft landed on Wednesday on an unexplored territory that scientists believe has craters that may consist of frozen water and so much more.
The ISRO control room went wild, with scientists cheering and celebrating this success.
This has been a mission decades in the making, which is a milestone for India and puts it on the map as an elite space power.
“This is a victory cry of a new India and the sky is not the limit,” said Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
This was India’s second attempt, which was achieved at a cost of just under $75m – a much lower budget compared to other nations.
The six-wheeled rover has already started sending new images of the moon’s surface back to Earth and will continue to do so for the duration of its two-week lifespan.
As India made history, millions of Indians across the country tuned in either on their TV or social media to watch as they prayed for a smooth landing.
Kids of Ananta Khushiyaan Ashram Foundation watched the moon landing on YouTube with sheer excitement.
“It is a proud moment for our country beyond imagination, this is something that really moved us. This will give kids everywhere more dreams of wanting to be scientists and engineers,” said Chinu Kwatra, the Founder of Khushiyaan Foundation.
Indian Screenwriter Abbas Aziz Dalal said: “Many moons ago when the sun set on the British Raj, we saw a dream called Hindustan.
“We decided to fly and today we are on the moon. Literally.”
Wednesday’s landing on the moon was a huge and proud day for India and it absolutely shows it is set to achieve so much more. With this, India hopes to build more for future missions and even send human exploration into space.
