ISRO chief explains why they chose Moon's South Pole for Chandrayaan 3's landing

A day after India scripted history with Chandrayaan 3's successful soft landing on the Moon, Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) chief S Somanath on Thursday explained why they chose the Moon's South pole for landing. According to him, the South Pole has a “specific advantage with respect to being less illuminated by the sun.”

“We have gone closer to the South Pole which is 70 degrees almost. The South Pole has a specific advantage with respect to being less illuminated by the sun. There is a potential to have more scientific content," the ISRO chief told news agency ANI.

Also read: Will Chandrayaan 3 return to earth? What will Vikram, Pragyan do after 14 days?

He added, “Scientists who are working on the moon showed a lot of interest in the South Pole because ultimately human beings want to go and create colonies and then travel beyond.”

In a giant leap for its space program, India's Moon mission Chandrayaan-3 touched down on the lunar south pole at 6.04 pm on Wednesday after a 41-day voyage. With this, India became the first ever country to land on the Moon's south pole and just the fourth country to land on the lunar surface after Russia, China, and the US.

Now, the solar-powered rover Pragyan has begun exploring the lunar surface and will transmit data to Earth in one lunar day which is equivalent to 14 Earth days.

Also read: Sonia Gandhi writes to ISRO chief on Chandrayaan 3 success: ‘Great pride and excitement’

As the Chandrayaan 3 lander module Vikram made a safe and soft landing on the Moon, ISRO chief S Somnath said, “India is on the Moon”.

PM Modi dialled ISRO chief

PM Modi, who watched the Chandrayaan 3's successful landing from South Africa's Johannesburg, immediately dialed ISRO chairman S Somanath to congratulate him.

"Somnath Ji, your name is Somnath, which is associated with the moon, and therefore your family members will also be very happy today. Many many congratulations to you and your entire team from my side," PM Modi said in the telephone conversation.

He added, “Please convey my greetings to everyone. If possible, I would personally greet you very soon.”

(With inputs from ANI)