We know that the Russian Lunar Mission named the Luna-25 was not successful in landing on the Moon and it crashed into the Moon’s surface few days ago. At the time, Roscosmos also said that they are now rooting for India and its mission to successfully land on the Moon. The mission which is named as Chandrayaan 3 was launched last month and we have some exciting news about the same. We can report that India’s Chandrayaan-3 has successfully made a soft landing on the Moon’s surface and the achievement is even more significant as this landing is on the far side of the Moon, near the South Pole.
The mission which has been named Chandrayaan-3 because of the Chandrayaan-2 that was launched back in 2019 but was not able to land on Moon’s South Pole at that time in 2019, can be translated to “Moon Rover” in Hindi. ISRO, India’s Space Agency, also reported later on that the landing was normal and that the rover named “Pragyan” has also touched down on the Moon’s surface and will collect as much data as possible during its expedition. On the successful landing on India’s Chandrayaan-3, India’s Prime Minister Modi said “All the people of the world, the people of every country and region: India’s successful moon mission is not just India’s alone … this success belongs to all of humanity,”
Wendy Whitman Cobb, professor of strategy and security studies at the U.S. Air Force School of Advanced Air and Space Studies, says that ″[The south pole is] really a very interesting, historical, scientific and geologic area that a lot of countries are trying to get at that can serve as a base for future exploration,” and added that it would be “really important” if water is found on Moon’s South Pole. ISRO estimated the Chandrayaan-3 mission would cost about $75 million, which is quite a lot less of a budget than what the Bollywood and Hollywood movies are made from. It is also worth noting that NASA and ISRO are expected to “work together to fly Indian astronauts to the International Space Station by next year.”
