India makes history with south pole Moon landing

BBC – India’s Chandrayaan-3 becomes the first space mission to land near the south pole of the Moon.

“India is now on the Moon,” announces PM Narendra Modi immediately after the Vikram lander touches down on the lunar surface.

Inside the lander is the six-wheeled Pragyaan rover, which, if all goes to plan, will roam the lunar surface gathering images and data.

This is a massive moment for India – and it bumps them up the space superpower list.

Landing on the Moon is far from easy – as Russia’s attempt this week highlighted – and many missions have failed, including India’s first attempt.

But it was second time lucky, and India now joins three other nations – the US, the former Soviet Union and China – who’ve successfully touched down on the lunar surface.

And they’re now ready to explore an area where no other spacecraft has been – the lunar south pole.

There’s growing scientific interest here. The craters in this region are permanently in shadow and contain frozen water.

This would be a crucial resource for future human exploration – Nasa’s Artemis mission, which is sending astronauts to the Moon, is targeting this region too.

Water would also be crucial for propelling us further out into the solar system.

Splitting it into its constituent parts of hydrogen and oxygen could provide a potential fuel for exploring places like Mars and beyond.