- India has made history as its Moon mission becomes the first to land in the lunar south pole region.
- India joins an elite club of countries to achieve a soft landing on the Moon, after the US, the former Soviet Union and China.
- From The New York Times to BBC and The Guardian to The Washington Post, ISRO made headlines in all major international news sites across the globe.
- BBC called the achievement a ‘massive moment for India’ and ‘it bumps them up the space superpower list.
- The Guardian writes ’the successful landing marks its (India’s) emergence as a space power’.
- CNN wrote in its article that this lunar mission ‘could cement India’s status as a global superpower in space’.
- Associated Press termed the mission an ‘eagerness’ of the Narendra Modi government ‘to showcase technology and space powerhouse’.
- the German state-owned media, commended India for being ‘able to compete at the international level and part of the big league even in its space program’.
- Japanese daily Nikkei appreciated the mission by calling it a ‘historic leap’ as it makes ‘the South Asian country only the fourth to successfully reach the lunar surface’.
India has made history as its Moon mission became the first to land in the lunar south pole region. With this, India joins an elite club of countries to achieve a soft landing on the Moon, after the US, the former Soviet Union, and China. The Vikram lander from Chandrayaan-3 successfully touched down as planned. Celebrations have broken out across the country, with Prime Minister Narendra Modi saying “India is now on the Moon”.
Indian Space Research Organization chief Sreedhara Panicker Somanath said the successful landing “is not our work alone, this is the work of a generation of ISRO scientists”. India’s achievement comes just days after Russia’s Luna-25 spacecraft spun out of control and crashed into the Moon.
The crash also put the spotlight on how difficult it is to land in the South Pole region where the surface is “very uneven” and “full of craters and boulders”.
India’s second lunar mission, which also attempted to soft-land there in 2019, was unsuccessful – its lander and rover were destroyed, though its orbiter survived.
On Wednesday, tense moments preceded the touchdown as the lander – called Vikram after ISRO founder Vikram Sarabhai – began its precarious descent, carrying within its belly the 26kg rover named Pragyaan (the Sanskrit word for wisdom). The lander’s speed was gradually reduced from 1.68km per second to almost zero, enabling it to make a soft landing on the lunar surface. In a few hours – scientists say once the dust has settled – the six-wheeled rover will crawl out of the lander’s belly and roam around the rocks and craters on the Moon’s surface, gathering crucial data and images to be sent to Earth.
Here’s how foreign media featured Chandrayaan-3’s success.
Chandrayaan-3’s successful soft landing made headlines in major international publications, and they peg India as a global superpower in space.
The successful touchdown of the Chandrayaan-3 mission’s lander on the Moon’s surface has got the world talking about the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO). The major stride by the space agency positioned India as the fourth nation to successfully carry out a soft landing on the Moon and the first to land on the lunar south pole.
From The New York Times to BBC and The Guardian to The Washington Post, ISRO made headlines in all major international news sites across the globe.
UK-based publication BBC called the achievement a ‘massive moment for India’ and ‘it bumps them up the space superpower list. Similarly, the headline by The Guardian reads ’the successful landing marks its (India’s) emergence as a space power’. US-based publication CNN wrote in its article that this lunar mission ‘could cement India’s status as a global superpower in space’. International news agency Associated Press termed the mission an ‘eagerness’ of the Narendra Modi government ‘to showcase technology and space powerhouse’. Deutsche Welle, the German state-owned media, commended India for being ‘able to compete at the international level and part of the big league even in its space program’.
Coming to publications from Asia, the Japanese daily Nikkei appreciated the mission by calling it a ‘historic leap’ as it makes ‘the South Asian country only the fourth to successfully reach the lunar surface’.
(With inputs from agencies)
