'India is now on the moon': PM Modi hails Chandrayaan 3's landing on lunar surface

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday congratulated India after Chandrayaan 3's Vikram lander successfully touched down on Moon's South Pole. “This is historic movement and sounds the bugle for a developed India”, Modi, who witnessed the historic moment virtually from Johannesburg in South Africa, said in his address to the ISRO scientists. “Historic day for India's space sector. Congratulations to @isro for the remarkable success of Chandrayaan-3 lunar mission”, the prime minister posted on X.

“Humne dharti par sankalp kiya aur chand pe usse sakaar kiya...India is now on the Moon”, the prime minister said, while congratulating the ISRO scientists for the feat. Pointing to India becoming the first country to land on the south pole of the lunar surface, Modi said the feat will change all narratives and stories about the moon.“I may be in South Africa but my heart has always been with Chandrayaan mission”, he said. The Vikram lander touched down on the lunar surface at 6:04 ocal time, sparking cheers and applause among the space scientists watching in Bengaluru. After an unsuccessful attempt nearly four years ago, India made history by becoming the first country to touch down near the little-explored south pole region and joins the United States, the Soviet Union and China in achieving a moon landing. The Chandrayaan-3 was put into orbit on July 14 in a copybook style by India's heavy lift rocket LVM3.The spacecraft completed orbiting around the Earth and headed towards the moon on August 1.