“India made history Wednesday, becoming the first to land on the south pole region of the moon. The Indian Space Research Organization landed the unmanned Chandrayaan-3 spacecraft on the lunar surface shortly after 8:30 a.m. EDT. The mission, streamed live on YouTube, comes days after a robotic Russian spacecraft lost control and crashed trying to do the same thing.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi joined the ISRO via video from South Africa, where he is attending the BRICS Summit, waving the Indian flag as the Chandrayaan-3 safely landed on the moon. Many at the ISRO control center stood up and applauded at the altitude meter reached 0.00, indicating the spaceship had landed.

Modi gave brief comments commending the space agency on the historic landing as they prepared for the next phase, the deployment of the lunar rover. India became the third country to make a soft landing on the moon, behind the United States, the former Soviet Union and China, and the first to land on the south pole.”