India launches historic Chandrayaan-3 moon rover to land at the lunar south pole

An Indian spacecraft blazed its way to the far side of the moon in a follow-up mission to its failed effort nearly four years ago to land a rover softly on the lunar surface.

The rocket will attempt to land a spacecraft at the lunar south pole, an unprecedented feat that would advance India’s position as a major space power.

Only three other space agencies – the United States, the former Soviet Union and China – have touched down a lander on the moon’s surface.

None has landed near the lunar south pole.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who is currently visiting France, tweeted that the mission was carrying the “hopes and dreams of our nation”.

Television footage on Friday showed the Indian Space Research Organisation’s (ISRO) LVM3 launch rocket blast off from the country’s main spaceport at Sriharikota in the southern state of Andhra Pradesh, leaving behind a plume of smoke and fire.

Applause and cheers swept through mission control at Satish Dhawan Space Centre, where the ISRO engineers and scientists celebrated as they monitored the launch of the spacecraft.

Thousands of Indians cheered outside the mission control centre and waved the national flag as they watched the craft rise into the sky.

“Congratulations India. Chandrayaan-3 has started its journey towards the moon,” ISRO Director Sreedhara Panicker Somanath said shortly after the launch.

Upon touchdown, the rover will roll off the lander, named Vikram, which means valour in Sanskrit and explore the nearby area, gathering images to be sent back to Earth for analysis.

SOURCE:  NEWS AGENCIES