Cycle Se Chaand Tak: India’s Journey From Once Hidden Nation To Joining Elite Space Club After Landing Chandrayaan-3 Spacecraft On Moon

India's remarkable journey from its modest beginnings in the 1970s, when it transported rocket components on the back seats of bicycles, to its recent historic achievement as the first nation to successfully land a spacecraft on the Moon's south pole, stands as a testament to the nation's grit, determination, and collective strength.

New Delhi: India scripted history on August 23 at 6:04 pm IST by becoming the first nation in the world to make a soft landing near the south pole in the dark region of the Moon. ISRO’s lander ‘Vikram’ had been successfully landed near the south pole of the Moon under ‘Chandrayaan-3 mission’. This is the second attempt of India after Chandrayaan-2 failed to make a soft landing. The lander started the descent at 5:20 pm IST and touched down at 6:04 on the Moon surface.  

Chandrayaan-3 mission was launched on July 14 from Sriharikota, Satish Dhawan Space Centre, Andhra Pradesh. The spacecraft took over a month to reach near the Moon as ISRO didn’t have a powerful rocket to thrust it directly to the Moon’s orbit.

India's Humble Beginning

This marks an important moment when India started as a humble nation transporting the parts of rockets on the cycle’s back seat. ISRO was founded on August 15, 1969 under the leadership of Vikram Sarabhai.  

The first rocket was taken on the back seat of the cycle. The image has been a start reminder how far India has come in the last 40 years. Those were the times when the technology had been taken from other leading countries before India became self-reliant. Learning from the mistakes of previous failures and taking the help of Chandrayaan-2 orbiter, which is currently working and orbiting the Moon, ISRO ensured many layers to not face the same problem as they did in earlier attempt.

Four countries had recently failed to make a soft landing on the Moon amid the space race. Russia, Israel, Japan and India’s first attempt failed in recent times.

Three days ago, Russia’s moon mission ‘Luna-25’ crashed onto the Moon’s surface after facing a problem in communication. The country sent its first moon mission in nearly 50 years since the last successful landing in 1976.