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

I have a secret crush on ISRO. They manage to pull off amazing feats on a minuscule budget routinely. The media treats it like an amazing surprise every time but they are perhaps the best run national space program over the long term. Their batting average (cricket not baseball, naturally) is really impressive.

The Mangalyaan mars orbiter was a stunning success and landing on the moon is still a risky and difficult endeavor. I’m really proud of them and impressed at what they can do with so few resources. So much science per dollar, so to speak.

This is the best summary I could come up with:

“We have achieved a soft landing on the Moon," said Sreedhara Somanath, chairman of the Indian Space Research Organization, or ISRO.

The Vikram lander, measuring more than 6 feet (2 meters) high, launched from India on July 14 with a propulsion module to guide it out of Earth orbit on a course to the Moon.

After entering lunar orbit on August 5, the Chandrayaan 3 lander separated from its propulsion section and lined up for its final approach on Wednesday.

The lander began its powered descent to the lunar surface about 20 minutes before touchdown, initially bleeding off speed in a horizontal orientation before pitching over to start a vertical approach to the landing zone.

The autonomous navigation system then commanded the lander to resume its descent, and the spacecraft settled on the ground with its four landing legs.

India's space agency released the first photo from the landing site a few hours later, showing the vehicle standing upright on the Moon's charcoal-color surface.

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