Mainstream American newspapers, many of which had been sceptical of India's space mission and sometimes even made fun of it through cartoons, noted the great Indian achievement.
The cryogenic upper stage of the LVM3 M4 launch vehicle, which successfully injected the Chandrayaan-3 spacecraft into the intended orbit on July 14 this year, made an uncontrolled re-entry into the Earth's atmosphere, the ISRO said.
India scripted history as the ambitious third Moon mission of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) touched down on the Moon's south pole, propelling the country to an exclusive club of four and making it the first nation to land on the uncharted surface.
Leading scientists and experts said this monumental accomplishment not only marks India's indelible imprint on lunar exploration but also demonstrates the prowess of human collaboration, determination, and cutting-edge technology.
As scientists at the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) gear up for the much-awaited soft landing of the Chandrayaan-3 spacecraft on the Moon's surface, the space agency may postpone the touchdown to August 27 in the event that health parameters of the lander module are found to be "abnormal", a senior official has said.
'Today onwards, the onboard thrusters will be fired and Chandryaan-3 will be taken away from Earth for an eventful landing on Moon's surface on August 23'
India's ambitious third Moon mission's spacecraft Chandrayaan-3 after the launch on July 14, had entered into lunar orbit or the Moon's orbit on August 5.
The NASA astronaut with a storied career in space exploration also commended India's substantial role in shaping the field of space exploration.
The soft landing of the spacecraft is planned for late August. The mission is expected to be supportive to future interplanetary missions.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi was accorded a warm reception as he arrived at the Indian Space Research Organisation headquarters in Bengaluru on Saturday morning.
Rajasthan Sports Minister Ashok Chandna made the slip hours before the touchdown by Chandrayaan's lander on the lunar surface - an unmanned landing eagerly anticipated across the country.
India created history on Wednesday when the lander module of Chandrayaan-3 touched down on the lunar south pole, propelling the country to an exclusive club of four and making it the first country to land on the uncharted surface.
People gathered in educational institutions, offices, city squares and religious places to watch the Indian Space Research Organisation's live telecast of Chandrayaan-3's final descent to the uncharted surface of the lunar south pole.
For the Gaganyaan programme, LVM3 rocket is re-configured to meet the human rating requirements and has been christened as 'Human Rated LVM3', ISRO said and it would be capable of launching the Orbital Module to an Low Earth Orbit of 400kms.
ISRO chairman S Somanath on Monday said instead of a success-based design in Chandrayaan-2, the space agency opted for a failure-based design in Chandrayaan-3, focused on what all can fail and how to protect it and ensure a successful landing.
Here is the timeline of the moon mission as undertaken by the Indian Space Research Organisation.
Russia's state space corporation, Roskosmos, according to the Reuters report, said it had lost contact with the spacecraft shortly after a problem occurred as it was shunted into pre-landing orbit on Saturday.
The Luna-25 spacecraft crashed into the Moon after it spun into an uncontrolled orbit, Russia's Roscosmos space agency said on August 20.
The Propulsion Module (PM) of Chandrayaan-3 has been moved from an orbit around the Moon to an orbit around Earth, the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) has said, terming the operation a unique experiment.
Announcing that the health of Chandrayaan-3's Lander Module is normal, ISRO on Friday said that the module has successfully undergone a deboosting (slowing down) operation, taking it closer to the Moon.
The Chandrayaan-3 mission that aims for a soft landing on the moon's surface, paving the way for future interplanetary missions, carries six payloads that would help ISRO understand the lunar soil and also get the blue planet's photographs from the lunar orbit.
The space strategist said that this shows that one should not take anything for granted in space exploration.
Singh also said a final decision on the launch of India's sun mission 'Aditya-L1', scheduled for September 2 at present, will rest on the prevailing cosmic aspects.
This image features the left image within the red channel, and the right image within the blue and green channels, resulting in a striking cyan hue.
'A person weighing 68 kilograms on the Earth would weigh only over 11 kg on the Moon'
Weighing 6,100 kg, the communication satellite would be the heaviest payload to be placed into the Low Earth Orbit (LEO) in LVM3 launch history from Indian soil.
In a giant leap for its space programme, India's Moon mission Chandrayaan-3 touched down on the lunar south pole at 6.04 pm on Wednesday, propelling the country to an exclusive club of four and making it the first country to land on the uncharted surface.
Friday's mission is the fourth operational flight of LVM3 which aims to launch the Chandrayaan-3 spacecraft into a Geo Transfer Orbit.
A complaint was lodged against the accused Mitul Trivedi, after he was seen giving interviews to the local media since the Vikram lander successfully made soft landing on August 24, claiming to have designed the lander module of Chandrayaan-3, the official said.
The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) on Thursday announced that its lunar mission Chandrayaan-3 will be launched on July 14 from the space port at Sriharikota in Andhra Pradesh.
The heaviest communication satellite to be launched from the Indian soil onboard a new generation, homegrown 'Bahubali' rocket was successfully placed into the intended orbit on Sunday, the Indian Space Research Organisation said.
August 23, the day the Chandrayaan-3 lander touched down on the lunar surface, would be celebrated as 'National Space Day'.
From a surge in startups to crewed mission preparations, 2025 marks a transformative year as India eyes $44 billion space economy by 2033.
The COVID-19 lockdown has hit several projects of the ISRO including Chandrayaan-3, which was scheduled to be launched in late 2020, and Gaganyaan, the country's first manned space mission.
Here is ISRO's SAC Director, Nilesh M Desai explains the crucial stage of soft landing.
'The ISRO has done enough simulations and also redundancies have been built in so that chances of such failure are remote. Still, we have to keep our fingers crossed'
The entire process being autonomous when the lander has to fire its engines at the right times and altitudes, use the right amount of fuel, and scan of the lunar surface for any obstacles or hills or craters before finally touching down.
He noted that Chandrayaan-3 will be inserted into the lunar transfer trajectory after the orbit raising manoeuvres.
The satellite, weighing about 4,410 kg will be the heaviest to be launched from the Indian soil and into a Geosynchronous Transfer Orbit (GTO), the space agency said. The satellite will travel onboard a LVM3-M5 rocket, dubbed as 'Bahubali' for its heavylift capability.
The space agency said the Mission Operations Complex (MOX), located at the ISRO Telemetry, Tracking and Command Network (ISTRAC) in Bengaluru, is buzzing with energy and excitement.
