Slowly and steadily India approaches the moon. Dust rises as four Indian legs touch the surface of the moon, marking a proud moment for a nation brimming with bright young minds. A vision of a developing nation, a dream of a billion people covered in gold, a mission to stitch one’s name into history.

On a historic afternoon, on the 14th of July, thousands of people were waiting in anticipation, staring at a tall white piece of metal. After a few seconds, the thing is gone, it soars high into the sky, millions watching its live flight. And now we see it land on the moon, THE 4TH NATION to do so. This is just the start of a wonderful journey to unlock the secrets of space.

The chandrayaan-3 mission is part of the series of moon missions launched by India, the first one being launched in 2008. Around 7 decades ago scholars and leaders across the world predicted that this young nation wouldn’t live long and would never be successful. But now we are the 5th largest economy, a nation of great strength, we proved the entire world wrong, and now we celebrate this historic moment as the first nation to send a mission to the south pole of the moon. The Indian rover will now research and study the moon.

After the partially successful chandrayaan-2, ISRO was looking forward to launching another mission to land on the moon. The last-minute errors onboard chandrayaan-2 led it to crash directly on the moon’s surface. But this time they have upgraded the model. Fitted with a lander named Vikram and a rover named Pragyan. Launched using the LVM3 M4 rocket, from the Satish Dawan Space Station in Sriharikota, the chandrayaan-3 is an updated and modified version of its predecessor Chandrayaan-2. A major difference between the missions is the absence of an orbiter in the current mission. Chandrayaan-3 is much better equipped when compared to its predecessor, it has 2 cameras and alerting systems and stronger legs to land softly.

Many people question the need for launching another mission worth lakhs and crores of rupees, they ask the government to spend it on the people, as poverty and illiteracy are major problems, instead of burning it into space. But there is a clear reason for such a move. Around 75 years ago we were under the British for 200 years, suffering with pain and agony, but now we stand independent. So such moves can be a show of strength and growth of our nation.

Another event was the Pokhran nuclear testing when Indians questioned the need for becoming a nuclear country. And the exact reason is the answer. India can easily be invaded and this is an example, showing the power of our nation, and our strong will to remain independent, because we are the people who realized that slavery is more bitter than poverty. But we should not miscalculate, that there is nothing beneficial from these discoveries. No one can predict anything, maybe we will find a vast water reservoir or maybe a huge collection of minerals, both of these discoveries can revolutionize and change the entire nation. The discovery of vast quantities of water can pave the way for future habitation of mankind.

ISRO selected the south pole of the moon, due to the occurrence of water ice on the surface, and to study its reasons. This selection is due to less knowledge of the far side of the moon. But it also comes with a slight disadvantage as the temperature is very extreme and the area is filled with craters, so a soft landing is quite difficult. The scientists at ISRO managed the soft landing, which was the first main objective, and since it is completed the second main objective is to conduct experiments and observations with the materials on the moon’s surface.

This success will pave the way for upcoming space missions of India such as Gangayaan 1, 2, and 3, Aditya L1, Shukrayaan, Mangalyaan 2, etc. A big salute to the chairman of ISRO, S. Somanath, and his team, for working diligently and devotedly to make this mission successful and make our country proud. At the same time, we should not forget the lessons learned from the previous Chandrayaan 2 mission under the leadership of the former chairman K. Sivan. The information and studies attained from the current mission will serve as the next step for space missions across the world.