India becomes the fourth country to land a spacecraft on the Moon

Enlarge / The first view from the Moon’s surface captured by Chandrayaan 3’s Vikram lander, showing the shadow of one of the craft’s landing legs. (credit: ISRO)

A robotic landing craft from India successfully touched down in the southern polar region of the Moon on Wednesday, making the rising space power the fourth nation to achieve a soft landing on the lunar surface.

The Vikram lander from India’s Chandrayaan 3 mission landed at approximately 8:33 am EDT (12:33 UTC) after a nail-biting final descent broadcast to the world by India’s space agency.

Confirmation of the successful landing triggered a celebration across India, both inside and outside the mission control center in Bangalore. Chandrayaan 3 ends a 47-year drought in successful lunar landings by any country outside China, which has placed three probes on the Moon’s surface, including one on the lunar far side, since 2013.