The following is from The Telegraph.
Narendra Modi has declared victory in a new space race as India became the first country to reach the Moon’s unchartered south pole.
“This moment is unforgettable. It is phenomenal. This is a victory cry of a new India,” the Indian prime minister said as the Vikram Lander touched down in search of frozen water on the Chandrayaan-3 mission.
The successful landing means India joins an elite club of countries to reach the Moon after the former Soviet Union, the US and China.
It comes just days after Russia’s Luna-25 craft crash-landed before it could reach the Moon’s south pole, in a blow to the prestige of the Roscosmos space agency and ambitious plans to build a base on the planet.
The US hopes to land on the Moon in 2025 as part of the Artemis 3 mission, sending astronauts onto its surface for the first time since 1972, and is also planning a base.
‘Success belongs to all of humanity’
India, however, are the first to reach the milestone of the south pole, and all on a shoestring $50 million budget compared with rivals.
“This success belongs to all of humanity and it will help Moon missions by other countries in the future,” Mr Modi said in a video message
“I am confident that all countries in the world including those from the global south are capable of achieving such feats. We can all aspire to the Moon and beyond.”
India’s lander carried a solar-powered rover, Pragyaan, which will explore the south pole and send data back to Earth over the next fortnight as it searches for ice.
If this proves possible to extract, it could be converted into drinking water or oxygen for astronauts, or broken down to provide rocket fuel.
India, which has firmly established itself in the latest space race, previously discovered water molecules and an atmosphere on the Moon in 2008.
Link to full article here.
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Isn’t India a developing nation and somehow exempt from climate warming rules and regulations? Can’r the same be said for China? Seems odd that they are busy landing on the moon or trying to.
Fake news. Nobody’s been to the moon..?
Wouldn’t surprise me if future moon landers discover a great curry restaurant awaiting their patronage!
I think this is awesome and for 50 million, wow, it’s like their money has value and gets value with results. Almost like them getting people prescription eyeglasses for 2 dollars instead of 500 dollars. But, I guess it’s because we are better off
India has a lot of extreme poor people and India could have better used that Money to better develop water and sewer infrastructure ? They probably figured not to because then Vladimir Putin would try and take there land next like parts of Africa and Ukraine ?