New Delhi: Amid the race with Russia to the uncharted territory of the Moon, India on Thursday exuded confidence in its Chandrayaan-3 mission and said it will become the first country to land on the lunar south pole. Speaking to the media after the Chandrayaan-3 spacecraft’s lander module ‘Vikram’ successfully separated from the propulsion module that was propelling it all these days in space, Union Minister Jitendra Singh said that the exclusive findings and inputs of India’s mission will benefit the entire world.
“Even though the USA and the then USSR had started their space journey long before us and America also landed a human being on the surface of the Moon in 1969, it was nevertheless our Chandrayaan that brought home the pictures of water on the surface of the Moon and startled the entire world,” Singh, who is the Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) Science & Technology, said.
India will become the fourth country in the world after the United States, Russia, and China, to land on the moon, and will be the only nation to touch the lunar south pole, he added.
India, however, is currently in a race with Russia, which is also gearing up for a lunar landing next week. While India’s Chandrayaan-3 is expected to land on Moon’s south pole on August 23, Russia’s lunar spacecraft Luna-25 may make a soft landing on August 21.
Chandrayaan-3 to make safe landing on moon on August 23
Jitendra Singh said that the Chandrayaan-3 mission is designed in such a way that it will make a safe landing on August 23, 2023 between 5.30 PM to 6.00 PM.
“Every Indian and the whole world is watching every moment and waiting with bated breath for the final outcome,” he said.
Giving credit to Prime Minister Narendra Modi for providing an enabling environment for space workers, Singh said, based on the current trajectory of growth, India’s space sector could be a $ 1 trillion economy in the coming years.
