When India’s lander module successfully landed on the South Pole of the Moon on Wednesday, Aug. 23, the Indian Space Research Organization Mission Control team burst into cheers, clapping, hugs, as Prime Minister Narendra Modi, watching by live video hookup from Johannesburg, South Africa, waved an Indian flag. If you have not yet watched the video from ISRO’s control room of the final descent, do so! (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DLA_64yz8Ss) As Modi told the happy team immediately after the landing: “When we see such history being made in front of our eyes, life becomes blessed…. This success belongs to all of humanity.”
India is only the fourth nation to ever land on the Moon, and the first nation to land at its South Pole—a whole new territory for Mankind’s exploration. The joy was especially great, as the team had worked without rest to achieve this in the four years since the Chandrayaan-2 lander crashed on the Moon in 2019.
Within two hours of its landing, ISRO released the first images of the Moon’s surface around the lander, named Vikram, and is readying the scientific instruments aboard it and the yet-to-be released rover, Pragyan. Both have a mission life of one lunar day (about 14 Earth days), in which to study the Moon’s atmosphere and mineral composition, the spectral and polarimetric measurements of Earth from the lunar orbit, seismic activity, amongst other scientific tasks.
Modi’s speech to the team captures how space exploration lifts up a nation. The Prime Minister outlined the new, greater tasks to be accomplished. It was delivered in Hindi, except for his special message to all humanity, made in English. The following is a machine-translation:
“When we see such history being made in front of our eyes, life becomes blessed. Such historical events become the living consciousness of national life. This moment is unforgettable. This moment is unprecedented…. This is the moment to chant the slogan of new India. This is a moment to cross an ocean of difficulties. This is a moment to walk on the lunar path of victory…. This is a moment of new energy, new faith and new consciousness in India. This is a moment of invocation for India’s emerging destiny…. We made a resolution on Earth, and realized it on the Moon…. Today, we are witnessing a new flight of new India into space….
