Johannesburg [South Africa]: While referring to the Chandrayaan-3 mission, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday said the enthusiasm of our diaspora in South Africa for India’s achievements in the space sector is truly gladdening.
“Feeling the fervour 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 truly gladdening,” PM Modi tweeted on Wednesday.
The Prime Minister also shared pictures of him greeting the members of the Indian diaspora who were gathered in a Johannesburg hotel on Wednesday.
Chandryaan-3 on Wednesday successfully performed a soft landing on the moon.
ISRO tweeted: “Chandrayaan-3 Mission: ‘India, I reached my destination and you too!’ Chandrayaan-3 has successfully soft-landed on the moon! Congratulations, India!”
As the Vikram lander carrying the Pragyaan rover in its belly touched down on the lunar surface, it marked a giant leap in India’s spacefaring journey providing a well-deserved finale to ISRO’s long years of toil.
This makes India the fourth country – after the US, China, and Russia – to have successfully landed on the moon’s surface, it has earned a place in record books as the first to touchdown on the south side of Earth’s only natural satellite.
Special screenings of the soft landing were organized across the country, including schools science centres, 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 from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Andhra Pradesh’s Sriharikota on July 14.
The success was met with jubilation at ISRO’s headquarters, as Chief S Somanath extended his gratitude to the team and supporters for their unwavering dedication. Reflecting on the journey, he emphasized the invaluable lessons learned from previous setbacks that ultimately paved the way for this triumph.
He said, “Thank you everyone for the support…We learned a lot from our failure and today we succeeded. We are looking forward to the next 14 days from now for Chandrayaan-3.”
“India is on the Moon”, he said as Chandrayaan-3 lander module Vikram made a safe and soft landing on the Moon.
