The first country to set foot on spacecraft close to the Moon’s south pole is India.

India made history on Wednesday by being the first country to land a vehicle close to the Moon’s south pole. This achievement was made possible by the country’s ambitious, low-cost space program and its largest population.At 6:04 p.m. India time (1234 GMT), the unmanned Chandrayaan-3, or “Mooncraft” in Sanskrit, touched down.

Mission control technicians joyfully applauded and hugged one other.Its landing occurs four years after the previous Indian attempt was aborted at the last minute and days after a Russian probe crashed in the same area.

During a live broadcast, Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced the mission’s success with a broad smile and an Indian flag wave that went beyond his nation’s boundaries.

“I would like to address the people of the world on this joyous occasion,” Modi declared while standing on the sidelines of the BRICS diplomatic conference in South Africa.He went on, “India’s successful moon mission is not just India’s alone.” It is the collective success of all humanity.

The Chandrayaan-3 mission, which was launched in front of thousands of enthusiastic onlookers about six weeks ago, has captured the public’s imagination.

In order to wish for the mission’s success, politicians performed Hindu prayer rituals, and students watched live broadcasts of the landing’s last minutes in class.

In comparison to the Apollo missions of the 1960s and 1970s, which reached the Moon in a matter of days, Chandrayaan-3 took a lot longer to arrive.

Since India’s rockets were far weaker than what the US was using at the time, the probe had to circle the Earth multiple times in order to pick up speed before setting out on its month-long mission.

Since entering lunar orbit on August 5, the lander Vikram—which translates to “valour” in Sanskrit—has been sending back pictures of the Moon’s surface.

It separated from its propulsion module last week.

Now that Vikram has touched down, a two-week-long solar-powered rover will investigate the surface and send information back to Earth.