
India lands on lunar South Pole
The Indian spacecraft “Chandrayaan-3” landed at the Moon’s south pole on Wednesday afternoon Danish time as confirmed by television footage from the Indian control centre. The soft landing was the first time ever that a craft has managed to land on that part of the Moon and is considered a major breakthrough for Indian space travel. Wednesday’s landing came four years after India attempted to land a similar unmanned spacecraft that crashed on landing. It also came less than a week after Russia tried in vain to land at the lunar south pole. The vehicle was destroyed on landing.
India’s mission is considered highly important for future lunar exploration, and not least for India’s self-understanding as a space power. Before landing, Carla Filotica of the SpaceTec Partners company said that it will allow India to explore whether there is water in the form of ice on the Moon, collect data and further the science of the geology of the Moon. /ritzau/