India became the world's first nation to reach the South pole of the moon.
On August 20.
India is now on the moon.
Mission control erupted in cheers as the Chan Tayan three landed in a part
of the moon where no country has ever landed before.
For India.
It's a matter of national pride.
It happened just three days after a similar mission from Russia failed.
It's a blow to the Kremlin because they are trying to show through this mission that
Russia is again a superpower.
The lunar South Pole is significant because the expected presence of ice could support
future human settlements.
Here's why Moscow and New Delhi were in a race to get there and how their missions were not
just about science but also about politics.
India's Chandra three which means moon vehicle in Sanskrit blasted off from
earth on July 14th.
Since then,
the spacecraft made several maneuvers around the earth and has been orbiting the moon to prepare
for a landing.
Russia launched its lunar 25 less than a month later,
it took a much faster and more direct route to the moon and was projected to reach the
surface first on August 21 the South Pole is strategic
because the expected presence of ice could provide fuel oxygen and drinking
water,
making it a potential site for mining and human settlements.
But experts say a smooth landing is extremely challenging.
That's because the area has much tougher terrain compared to other parts of the moon.
It is bumpy littered with craters and has limited sunlight.
The module has begun its descent.
India tried but failed to reach there four years ago and finally succeeded
on August 23.
This success belongs to all
of humanity and it will help
by other countries in the future that makes India the
fourth country in the world to reach the moon after the United States.
Russia and China.
India is expected to get a lot of offers from other space agencies,
foreign countries to launch commercial satellites for them,
which is going to be also a revenue earner for India.
A happy landing for Russia's unmanned lunar 17 spacecraft.
Russia was the first country to send a rover to the moon back in 1970
towards the end of a space race between the US and the Soviet Union during the Cold
War.
But Russia hasn't launched another lunar lander since the 19 seventies and the stakes this
time around were especially high.
More than 18 months after it launched the invasion of Ukraine.
Western sanctions imposed on Russia since the war complicated its
collaborations in space with Europe and the US because of Western
sanctions.
A lot of the cooperation that used to take part in terms of space
projects,
they have come to an end.
And also because of technology export bans Russia cannot
receive a lot of the electronics and other technology that it would have in the past from
European nations that supported its space program.
So this is extremely significant for India.
There are political and financial reasons driving its mission to the Lunar South Pole.
The successful mission could boost Prime Minister Narendra Modi's election campaign early
next year.
These kind of missions adds to the national pride.
Prime Minister Modi is going to tell his voters how the country
has reached the moon and which would make to his benefit.
The Indian Space Agency works on a shoestring budget in February,
the government slashed funding for the Department of Space by 8% to
$1.5 billion.
In comparison,
nasa's budget for 2023 is more than $25 billion.
India is hoping to get a lot of foreign collaborations in terms of like offers for
joint venture missions to launch commercial satellites.
So it relies on these foreign collaborations to support its space missions.
India's successful landing on the Lunar South Pole could change its standing in the
global space race,
especially in Asia.
India's position as a global space power would definitely be reinforced.
It definitely puts India ahead of countries like Japan and Korea
and just behind China meanwhile,
Russia still has a way to go to catch up with the US and China,
it's not the be all and end all for Russia.
There are other lunar lunar 26 and lunar 27.
They both depend on electronics from the West.
And for as long as sanctions continue,
it's going to be difficult for Russia to obtain the kind of technology that it needs to
continue collaborating and ensuring that it is number one as it
wants to be in the space race.