Indian lunar lander Chandrayaan-3 is the first to land at the moon’s south pole

India’s Chandrayaan-3 spacecraft has successfully landed on the moon’s surface. It is the first time that a successful landing took place at the south pole of the moon. Earlier this week, a Russian lunar lander crashed near that landing site.

The Chandrayaan-3 mission successfully completed a soft landing near the moon’s south pole on Wednesday afternoon around 2:33 p.m. This makes India the fourth country to land on the moon, after the United States, the former Soviet Union and China. It is also the first successful mission to the moon’s south pole; all previous moon missions landed near the equator, a safer landing area with fewer craters and sunlight for charging space equipment with solar panels.

The Chandrayaan-3 mission was launched on July 14 and entered lunar orbit on August 5. The Indian spacecraft has a rover on board that will conduct research at the moon’s south pole, including using X-ray spectrometry to determine the elemental composition of the moon’s surface. The hope is that frozen water can be found. Astronauts could use that water for future missions. The rover is expected to remain active for two weeks.

A few days ago, Russia also attempted to land a spacecraft on the moon’s south pole. That mission failed; the Luna-25 lander entered an “unpredictable orbit” while preparing for landing and eventually crashed onto the moon’s surface.

The successful landing of Chandrayaan-3. Source: Indian Space Research Organisation