"Keep our flag flying high" - Sachin Tendulkar and Virat Kohli lead cricket fraternity wishes as Chandrayaan-3 lands on moon
The Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) on Wednesday (August 23) scripted history as they successfully landed Chandrayaan-3 on the south pole of the moon. India also became the first country to accomplish the feat.
For the uninitiated, Chandrayaan-3 was a reattempt of Chandrayaan-2 that crash-landed in 2019. The new mission began at the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Andhra Pradesh on July 14 and was completed on the lunar surface at 6.04 pm IST on August 23.
India has now become the fourth country to land on the lunar surface, after the United States of America, China, and Russia.
On the historic development, ISRO wrote on X (previously known as Twitter):
"Chandrayaan-3 Mission: 'India, I reached my destination and you too!”
On the occasion, Indian cricketers took to the micro-blogging site to congratulate ISRO on Chandrayaan-3’s success.
Sachin Tendulkar wrote on X:
“विजयी विश्व तिरंगा प्यारा, झंडा ऊँचा रहे हमारा (Victorious world tricolor lovely, keep our flag flying high.) @ISRO represents the best of India. Humble, hardworking women & men, coming together, overcoming challenges, and making our tricolour fly high."
He added:
"India must celebrate and congratulate the Chandrayaan-2 team, which was led by Shri K Sivan, along with Shri S Somanath’s #Chandrayaan3 team. Every hard landing has lessons, which take us closer to a soft landing - on the moon, and in life. Jai Hind!”
Virat Kohli tweeted:
“Many congratulations to the #Chandrayaan3 team. You have made the nation proud. Jai Hind!”
Here are some of the other Twitter reactions from Indian cricketers as Chandrayaan-3 landed on moon:
A special screening of the soft landing was organized across the country. Team India also watched the live coverage of the historic mission's final phase in Dublin ahead of the third T20I against Ireland.
The main objectives of Chandrayaan-3 are - safe and soft landing on the Moon, the rover moving on the lunar surface and in-situ scientific experiments.
Usually, the spacecraft missions have targeted the equatorial region due to favorable terrain and operating conditions. The south pole of the lunar surface presents a completely different and challenging terrain.