India throws party to accompany moon landing attempt – 08/22/2023 – Science

Excitement rose in India on Tuesday, on the eve of a long-awaited moon landing, with prayers for the mission’s success, schools urging students to watch a live stream of the event and space enthusiasts. organizing parties to celebrate.

The Chandrayaan-3 spacecraft of the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) is scheduled to land at the lunar south pole on Wednesday (23), days after the failure of a Russian vehicle trying to reach the same spot. done.

The success of the mission will make India the first country to land at the lunar south pole, a region whose shadowed craters contain frozen water that could supply an eventual future settlement.

Students from different regions of the country sent numerous messages wishing ISRO luck for a successful landing, the agency said.

In Gujarat, the home state of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the Science and Technology Council has invited more than 2,000 students “to witness the historic moment” in a grand exhibition, said its head, Narottam Sahoo.

The Ministry of Culture of the state in which the eastern city of Calcutta is located is organizing a science party to celebrate the mission, asking people to “embark on an exciting educational adventure” with a live stream.

Hindu prayer ceremonies were organized on Tuesday in the cities of Mumbai and Varanasi for the success of the space mission.

Srikant Chunduri, a businessman and founder of a group of space enthusiasts called “Agnirva”, said he organized an “observation party” for the landing at a popular Bengaluru restaurant.

“If we want to build a community for space enthusiasts, (there is) nothing more important than this landing to bring people together,” he told Reuters.

ISRO has been sharing regular mission updates through posts on the X platform, formerly known as Twitter.