MUMBAI: Indians will never forget August 23, 2023 as on this date our nation created history by becoming the first country to land on the South Pole of the lunar surface.
The Indian Space Research Organisation’s (ISRO) Chandrayaan-3 mission landed successfully after a 40-day journey starting from the Satish Dhawan Space Center in Sriharikota. India’s success in landing the spacecraft on the moon’s south pole comes days after a Russian probe Luna-25 crashed in the same region.
Chandrayaan-3 spacecraft put down the Vikram lander on the lunar surface, descending and tilted to a horizontal position ahead of landing.
On this historic feat, ISRO scientists and engineers have been showered with love from people across the globe. Our Indian film industry too lauded their efforts.
In a tweet, actor Jr NTR called ISRO the “pride of India.”
“My heartiest congratulations to @ISRO on a successful soft landing of #Chandrayaan3 mission on the surface of the moon. As always, you are the pride of India,” he tweeted.
Taking to Twitter, actor Akshay Kumar wrote, “A billion hearts saying THANK YOU @isro. You’ve made us so proud. Lucky to be watching India make history. India is on the moon, we are over the moon. #Chandrayaan3.”
Superstar Salman Khan also expressed his happiness at India’s successful moon mission.
“Congratulations to all the scientists at ISRO as #Chandrayaan3 has successfully soft-landed on the moon. The entire country is proud. Bharat Mata Ki Jai,” he wrote on Instagram.
Extending his heartfelt greetings to all Indians, Anil Kapoor wrote on Twitter, “What a brilliant display of Indian Space technology and genius! Congratulations to our brightest minds for adding yet another notch to our belt.”
Malayalam superstar Mohanlal congratulated ISRO on “getting Chandrayaan3 to touch history at the Moon’s South Pole! Here’s to curiosity, persistence and innovation that has made a whole nation proud.”
“And finally, the South Pole opens up for humankind! Congratulations to every scientist, technician and staff member of @isro on getting #Chandrayaan3 to touch history at the Moon’s South Pole! Here’s to curiosity, persistence and innovation that have made a whole nation proud! Jai Hind!#IndiaOnTheMoon,” he tweeted.
Actor Suniel Shetty tweeted, “Chandrayaan 3 just dropped the mic on the moon’s surface — One small step for @isro, one giant ‘lunar leap’ for India! Heart swelling with Pride. From gazing at #Chandamama with wonder since our childhood days, to now witnessing our very own moon mission triumph, the journey has been out of this world! Kudos to the entire ISRO team for scripting history and reminding us that no dream is too big! Let’s keep reaching for the stars… #Chandrayaan3 #ISRO #ProudIndian #MoonMissionSuccess #ChandamamaFeels.”
Actor Sanjay Dutt described it as a “giant leap for India.”
“Chandrayaan-3 has successfully landed on the lunar surface, marking a monumental achievement for our space exploration journey. Congratulations to @isro and the entire team! Jai Hind #Chandrayaan3,” he wrote.
R Madhavan also applauded the scientists and the entire team behind this massive feat.
Posting a video of himself on Instagram, we can see a teary-eyed Madhavan express his thoughts on this historic day. He says, “What an achievement, I am so so happy and proud as everybody should be in India. Main bata nahi sakta, yeh kitni badi achievement hain, yeh baat toh sehraniya hain hi ki hum chand par utar paye, woh bhi south pole mein pehli baar, but jis limited resources and budget ke saath humne ise achieve kiye…I don’t know kitna tareef kar sakte hain (I can’t begin to express, how big this achievement is, it is commendable that we landed on the surface of the moon, but the fact that we did it with limited resources and budget, I don’t know how much can one be praised for that.”
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Actress Kareena Kapoor Khan also beamed with joy.
Taking to Instagram, she wrote, “What an amazing and stellar touchdown. Proud Proud.” “And the rest is history,” Alia Bhatt wrote on Instagram.
The spacecraft was launched from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Andhra Pradesh’s Sriharikota on July 14. A GSLV Mark 3 (LVM 3) heavy-lift launch vehicle was used for the launch of the spacecraft that was placed in the lunar orbit on August 5 and since then it was through a series of orbital manoeuvres been lowered closer to the moon’s surface.
Ever since the July 14 launch, ISRO had been maintaining that the health of the spacecraft remained “normal”. On August 5, Chandrayaan-3 was successfully inserted into the lunar orbit with multiple key manoeuvres thereafter.
Then on August 17, the mission marked another giant leap in its lunar quest as the ‘Vikram’ lander module of the spacecraft successfully separated from the propulsion module on Thursday. The Chandrayaan-3 mission’s lander is named after Vikram Sarabhai (1919–1971), who is widely regarded as the father of the Indian space programme. (ANI)