INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
seen waving the Indian flag as he watched the landing from South Africa, where he is attending the BRICS summit.Scientists and officials
clapped, cheered and hugged each other as the spacecraft landed and as the government now looks to spur investment in private space launches
Somanath, chief of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) as the Chandrayaan-3 spacecraft landed on the lunar south pole.This was
functional for two weeks, running a series of experiments including a spectrometer analysis of the mineral composition of the lunar
surface.Rough terrain makes a south pole landing difficult, and a first landing is historic
allow India to explore if there is water ice on the moon
at consultancy SpaceTec Partners.Anticipation before the landing was feverish, with banner headlines across Indian newspapers and news
channels running countdowns to the landing.Prayers were held at places of worship across the country, and schoolchildren waved the Indian
tricolour as they waited for live screenings of the landing.Children gathered on the banks of the Ganga river, considered holy by Hindus, to
pray for a safe landing, and mosques in several places offered prayers.At a Sikh temple, known as a gurduwara, in the capital New Delhi,
