NEW DELHI: As the lander module of the Chandrayaan-3 made a soft landing near the south pole of the Moon, the Indian Space Research Organisation (Isro) on Wednesday shared images of the lunar surface from Vikram during the descent.
Taking to social media platform X, formerly called Twitter, Isro said, “The communication link is established between the Ch-3 Lander and MOX-ISTRAC, Bengaluru. Here are the images from the Lander Horizontal Velocity Camera taken during the descent.”
https://twitter.com/isro/status/1694360664675127726
Earlier, Isro on Wednesday shared an image of the site on the lunar surface where Vikram, the lander module of Chandrayaan-3, landed.
Taking to social media platform X, formerly called Twitter, Isro said, “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,” ISRO wrote on X.
After the lander module Vikram of the country’s third lunar mission made a safe and soft landing, Isro chief S Somanath said, “India is on the Moon”.
Officials at India’s space agency ISRO headquarters in Bengaluru broke into applause after the Vikram began its powered vertical descent towards its landing site.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who is attending the 15th BRICS Summit in Johannesburg, watched the live telecast and, as soon as the touchdown happened, he sported a big smile and waved the Tricolour.
The countdown of the Vikram hovered at 150 metres, then 130 metres, and 50 metres and decelerated as it approached the Moon’s surface before finally touching down.
As the Vikram lander, carrying the Pragyaan rover in its belly, touched down on the lunar surface, it marked a giant leap in India’s spacefaring journey providing a well-deserved finale to Isro’s long years of toil.
This makes India the fourth country, after the US, China, and Russia, to have successfully landed on the Moon’s surface. India has earned a place in record books as the first to touchdown on the south side of Earth’s only natural satellite.
Special screenings of the soft landing were organised across the country, including schools, science centres, and public institutions. ISRO made the live action available on the ISRO website, its YouTube channel, Facebook, and public broadcaster DD National TV.
The spacecraft was launched from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Andhra Pradesh’s Sriharikota on July 14. (ANI)