Historic: 🌖🇮🇳 India becomes the first ever country to successfully land a space probe near the lunar South Pole and the fourth country to soft-land the probe on the lunar surface. The LM successfully touched down on a flat plain near the south pole of the moon at around 6:02 pm IST (12:32 pm UTC) on 23 August 2023, making India the first country in history to achieve a soft landing on this region of the moon. The LM will deploy its ramp and release the RM soon which will begin its exploration of the lunar terrain. The mission’s main objective is to explore the south polar region of the moon, which is believed to contain water ice and other resources that could be useful for future human settlements. The mission also aims to conduct various scientific experiments on the lunar surface using its instruments. After orbiting the moon for about a month, the LM separated from the orbiter on 23 August 2023 and began its descent towards the lunar surface. The LM performed a series of automatic maneuvers to reduce its speed and align itself vertically to the landing site. The LM and the RM communicated with each other and with the orbiter, which relayed their data and images to the ground station in India. The mission’s scientists and engineers celebrated this remarkable feat, which was also witnessed by millions of people around the world through live telecast and streaming. A proud moment for @isro, India, and all of humanity!