India is set to become the first nation to land a spacecraft on the moon’s south pole Wednesday, marking a historic moment for the world’s most populous nation as it closes in on milestones set by global space powers.
AFP reported that chandrayaan-3, which means “Mooncraft” in Sanskrit, is scheduled to touch down shortly after 6:00pm India time (1230 GMT) near the little-explored lunar south pole.
The most-anticipated news is already on every local newspaper’s front page with The Times of India’s front-page headline saying, “India reaches for the Moon”, on Wednesday while The Hindustan Times’ headline said, “It’s D-Day for Moon Mission”.
The Indian space mission, which failed in 2019, is set to touch down on the moon days after Russia’s first lunar mission in almost 50 years crashed on the lunar surface. However, the latest photos transmitted by the lander suggest the final leg of the voyage will succeed, according to former Indian space chief K Sivan.
“It is giving some encouragement that we will be able to achieve the landing mission without any problem,”
