Chandrayaan-3: Former Pakistan Minister congratulates Indian scientists on mission

He also suggested that Pakistan's media should broadcast the landing, calling it a historic moment for humankind

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Photo: AP File
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Trends Desk

Published: Wed 23 Aug 2023, 1:06 PM

India is set to create history if its latest space mission Chandrayaan-3 succeeds in making a touchdown on the Moon today.

A successful mission will make India the first country to land on the Moon’s south pole, notorious for its large craters and deep trenches. It will also be the fourth country to achieve a soft landing on the lunar surface after the US, China, and Russia.

As the country stands at the cusp of realising its most ambitious lunar mission, a former minister from India’s neighbour Pakistan has extended his congratulations to the Indian space community.

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Fawad Chaudhry, who was the ex-Minister of Information and Broadcasting in the Imran Khan government, has shared a post on X, formerly known as Twitter, congratulating the scientists who have worked on the mission. He also suggested that Pakistan's media should broadcast the Chandrayaan-3 landing on the Moon, calling it “a historic moment for humankind”.

Chaudhry wrote, “Pak media should show the #Chandrayan moon landing live tomorrow at 6:15 PM...historic moment for Humankind especially for the people, scientists and Space community of India...Many Congratulations.”

Developed by the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) Chandrayaan-3 includes a lander module Vikram named after Vikram Sarabhai, the pioneer of the Indian space program.

On July 14, the lunar lander embarked on its journey, riding atop a robust LVM 3 heavy-lift launch vehicle. Its arrival in lunar orbit was achieved on August 5.

The landing by Vikram will be attempted at 6.04pm IST (4.34pm UAE time). The live telecast of the event will begin at 5.20pm IST (3.50pm UAE time) on the ISRO website and its YouTube channel.

Photo: AP

After a successful landing, Vikram carrying the rover Pragyaan will be used to analyse the chemical makeup of the moon's surface and search for water given that the south pole is believed to contain water.

This is India’s second attempt at landing in the same area. In 2019, the Chandrayaan-2 mission failed to land safely in the south pole.

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Trends Desk

Published: Wed 23 Aug 2023, 1:06 PM

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