Referring to the Chandrayaan-3 mission, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday said the enthusiasm of our Indian diaspora in South Africa for India’s achievements in the space sector is indeed heartening.
“Feeling the excitement all the way from Johannesburg for Chandrayaan-3! The enthusiasm of our diaspora in South Africa for India’s achievements in the space sector is really heartening,” PM Modi tweeted on Wednesday.
The Prime Minister also shared photographs of himself on Wednesday greeting the Indian diaspora gathered at a hotel in Johannesburg.
Chandrayaan-3 successfully soft-landed on the Moon on Wednesday.
ISRO tweeted, “Chandrayaan-3 mission: ‘India, I have reached my destination and so have you!’ Chandrayaan-3 has successfully soft-landed on the Moon! Congratulations, India!”
As the Vikram lander carrying the Pragyan rover in its belly touched down on the lunar surface, it marked a giant leap in India’s space travel, bringing a well-deserved culmination to ISRO’s long years of toil.
This made India the fourth country to successfully land on the surface of the Moon – after the US, China and Russia, making it into the record books as the first country to land on the south side of Earth’s only natural satellite.
Special screenings of Soft Landing were held across the country, including in schools, science centers 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 on 14 July from the Satish Dhawan Space Center in Sriharikota, Andhra Pradesh.
The success was celebrated at the ISRO headquarters as chief S Somnath thanked the team and supporters for their unwavering dedication. Reflecting on the journey, he emphasized the invaluable lessons learned from past failures, which ultimately led to this victory.
“Thank you all for the support…we learned a lot from our failure and today we have succeeded. We are waiting for the next 14 days from now for Chandrayaan-3,” he said.
“India is on the Moon”, he said as Chandrayaan-3’s lander module Vikram made a safe and soft landing on the Moon.