India becomes first country to land spacecraft on the Moon’s South Pole

India on Wednesday, August 23 became the first country to successfully land a spacecraft on the moon’s south pole.

The unmanned Chandrayaan-3, which means “Mooncraft” in Sanskrit, touched down at 6:04 pm India time (1234 GMT), six weeks after launching on board a rocket from a spaceport in Andhra Pradesh, Sky News reports.

Its landing comes days after a Russian probe crashed in the same region & four years since the previous Indian attempt failed at the last moment.

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Prime Minister Narendra Modi smiled broadly & waved an Indian flag on a live broadcast to announce the mission’s success as a triumph that extended beyond his country’s borders. “This is the heartbeat of 1.4bn people.

This is the new India, the new beginning, the new thinking of the new efforts. This is a feature of the shine of India- we made a promise & we made it true on the surface of the moon. This is a historic moment, and for every Indian, we are all very proud.”