Union Civil Aviation Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia said on Wednesday that the country was on track to make history with the attempted landing of the Chandrayaan-3 lander on the unknown south pole of the Moon.
The Chandrayaan-3 lander is slated to touchdown on the Moon’s south face at roughly 18:04 hours IST, according to an official notification from the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO).
“History will be created today. The whole country is eagerly waiting for the tricolour to go up on the lunar surface. Under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and through the relentless efforts of our scientists, our country is set to script history today,” Scindia told reporters on Wednesday.
“It is largely down to the hard work and excellence of our scientists and the efforts that our government has put in over nine years that our country is progressing and scripting success stories across fields. The people believe that the country will write new chapters of success in the coming days,” the Civil Aviation Minister added.
Earlier, wishing success to India’s third lunar mission, Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan told the media that, “The whole country is proud of our space programme. My heart is filled with joy and happiness. I want to thank all the scientists from the bottom of my heart as it is because of their excellence and hard work that we are on the cusp of history today.”
“I salute the determination of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, under whose leadership the country is breaking new grounds across spheres. Today is a day for every Indian to take pride in, to immerse in unbridled joy,” the CM added.
Meanwhile, special services and prayers were held around the state in celebration of the successful moon landing. On Wednesday morning, a special ‘Bhasma Aarti’ was performed at the Mahakaleshwar temple in the Ujjain district.
Special worship and ‘Rudrabhishek’ were held at Bhopal’s Maa Vaishno Dham Adarsh Nava Durga Temple. A vast crowd gathered at Bageshwar Dham in Chhatarpur district to pray for the success of India’s third lunar mission.