Scripting history, the Lander Module (LM) of the Indian Space Research Organisation’s (ISRO) third lunar mission Chandrayaan-3 made a successful landing on the lunar surface at around 6:04 pm IST on Wednesday.

ISRO Chief S Somanath said, "India is on the Moon", soon after Chandrayaan-3 made the soft landing on the moon. With this, India has become the first country in the world to land on the south pole of the Moon.

This was India’s third lunar exploration mission after the Chandrayaan-2 mission failed in 2019. The Chandrayaan-3 was launched from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Andhra Pradesh's Sriharikota at 2.35 pm on July 14. The LVM3 Launch Vehicle Mk III took the Chandrayaan-3 spacecraft to Geo Transfer Orbit (GTO).

Right after the Chandrayaan-3 made soft-landing on the moon, ISRO took to Twitter and wrote, "Chandrayaan-3 Mission: 'India,I reached my destination and you too!' : Chandrayaan-3. Chandrayaan-3 has successfully soft-landed on the moon 🌖!. Congratulations, India!"

All of the spacecraft that have landed on the Moon previously have landed in the equatorial region, either a few degrees of latitude north or a few degrees south of the lunar equator. NASA’s Surveyor 7 is the mission that went farthest from the equator in history, landing as far away as 50 degrees south of the equator.

It is not without reason that so many missions land near the equator. The terrain and temperature there are more welcoming, making the long and sustained operations of instruments easier. Also, the surface there is relatively smooth with very few steep slopes, hills and craters.