India launches historic Chandrayaan-3 mission to land spacecraft on the moon
India is bidding to become only the fourth country to execute a controlled landing on the moon with the successful launch Friday of its Chandrayaan-3 mission.
Chandrayaan, which means “moon vehicle” in Sanskrit, blasted off from the Satish Dhawan Space Center at Sriharikota in southern Andhra Pradesh state at just after 2:30 p.m. local time (5 a.m. ET).
Crowds gathered at the space center to watch the history-making launch and more than 1 million people tuned in to watch on YouTube.
The Indian Space Research Organization confirmed on Twitter later Friday that Chandrayaan-3 is in “precise orbit” and has “begun its journey to the moon.”
It added that the health of the spacecraft is “normal.”
In response, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi tweeted: “Chandrayaan-3 scripts a new chapter in India’s space odyssey. It soars high, elevating the dreams and ambitions of a every Indian. This momentous achievement is a testament to our scientists’ relentless dedication. I salute their spirit and ingenuity!”
The craft is expected to land on the moon on August 23.
@Budwick Today India successfully landed its spacecraft near the moon's south pole, making it the first country to do so. Indian PM Modi says mission's success “belongs to all of humanity.”
@thatbuggerpaul I don't think Indians are going up there anytime soon. I don't think Americans went up there 50 years ago. The Japanese are smarter and their moon probe crashed.
@Matt85 I can understand your concerns about India's spending on space programs. For your information India spend 5% this year's budget on food, it's transportation & distribution, while only 0.017% for space missions. India did this moon mission in very low budget of just $75 million, which is less than many Hollywood movies and 5 times less than a Boing 777. The epic science fiction movie Interstellar, which was created at a cost of $165 million in 2014.
Hopefully this video will answers all your questions and tell you some truths also.
I can see the jealousy & hatred in people of few countries. However the Indian PM Modi says mission's success “belongs to all of humanity.” India did this in very low budget of just $75 million, which is less than many Hollywood movies and 5 times less than a Boing 777. The epic science fiction movie Interstellar, which was created at a cost of $165 million in 2014.
India has it's own problems, which India is fighting, and will overcome them soon, but biased western media shows that in a bad light with many things shown falsely or with not showing the complete picture.
And which country doesn't have problems? I don't want to list the issues western counties are having because my intention is not to show hatred towards west. When I see such comments, full of jealousy and hatred towards India, I don't see any concern or sympathy, why? I don't know it's because the biased media has a different narrative or the people don't have a empathy and sensibility.
Your government wants to concentrate its efforts into putting bathrooms into everyones homes before it wanks away a load of money in trying to keep up with Merica and the Ruskies
