India Launches Lander, Rover to the Moon
2023-07-15
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1An Indian spacecraft traveled to the far side of the moon Friday.
2India's space agency said it is a follow-up mission to its failed effort nearly four years ago.
3The mission was to land a space vehicle, called a rover, on the moon's surface.
4Chandrayaan-3, the word for "moon craft" in Sanskrit, took off from Sriharikota in southern India. It included an orbiter, a lander, and a rover in a demonstration of India's growing space technology.
5The spacecraft will take a little more than a month before landing on the moon's surface later in August.
6Engineers and scientists from the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) celebrated as they watched the launch of the spacecraft at mission control at Satish Dhawan Space Center.
7Thousands of Indians cheered outside the center and waved the national flag as they watched the spacecraft rise into the sky.
8"Congratulations India. Chandrayaan-3 has started its journey towards the moon," ISRO Director Sreedhara Panicker Somanath said shortly after the launch.
9A successful landing would make India the fourth country - after the United States, the former Soviet Union, and China - to do so.
10Dr. Jitendra Singh is an Indian official for Science and Technology.
11He said part of Chandrayaan-3 has equipment that would provide data to the scientific community on the scientific makeup of moon soil and rocks.
12Several countries and private companies are in a race to successfully land a spacecraft on the moon's surface.
13In April, a Japanese company's spacecraft is thought to have crashed while attempting to land on the moon.
14An Israeli organization tried to do something similar in 2019, but its spacecraft was destroyed on hitting the moon.
15With India becoming the world's fifth-largest economy, Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government is ready to show off the country's strength in security and technology.
16India is using research from space and elsewhere to solve problems at home.
17Its space program has already helped develop satellite, communication and remote-sensing technologies.
18And it has been used to measure underground water levels and predict weather in the country.
19"This is a very critical mission," said Pallava Bagla.
20He is a science writer and co-writer of books on India's space exploration.
21He added that India will require soft landing technology if it wants to attempt more missions to the moon.
22India is also looking forward to its first mission to the International Space Station next year.
23It will be working with the United States as part of agreements reached between Modi and U.S. President Joe Biden at the White House last month.
24Bagla said the visit by an Indian astronaut to the International Space Station will not slow down India's own program.
25The program aims to launch an Indian astronaut from Indian soil on an Indian rocket in late 2024.
26As part of its space program, active since the 1960s, India has launched satellites for itself and other countries, and successfully put one in orbit around Mars in 2014.
27Singh said that based on the current path of growth, India's space industry could be a trillion-dollar economy in the coming years.
28I'm Gregory Stachel.
1An Indian spacecraft traveled to the far side of the moon Friday. 2India's space agency said it is a follow-up mission to its failed effort nearly four years ago. The mission was to land a space vehicle, called a rover, on the moon's surface. 3Chandrayaan-3, the word for "moon craft" in Sanskrit, took off from Sriharikota in southern India. It included an orbiter, a lander, and a rover in a demonstration of India's growing space technology. The spacecraft will take a little more than a month before landing on the moon's surface later in August. 4Engineers and scientists from the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) celebrated as they watched the launch of the spacecraft at mission control at Satish Dhawan Space Center. Thousands of Indians cheered outside the center and waved the national flag as they watched the spacecraft rise into the sky. 5"Congratulations India. Chandrayaan-3 has started its journey towards the moon," ISRO Director Sreedhara Panicker Somanath said shortly after the launch. 6A successful landing would make India the fourth country - after the United States, the former Soviet Union, and China - to do so. 7Dr. Jitendra Singh is an Indian official for Science and Technology. He said part of Chandrayaan-3 has equipment that would provide data to the scientific community on the scientific makeup of moon soil and rocks. 8Several countries and private companies are in a race to successfully land a spacecraft on the moon's surface. In April, a Japanese company's spacecraft is thought to have crashed while attempting to land on the moon. An Israeli organization tried to do something similar in 2019, but its spacecraft was destroyed on hitting the moon. 9With India becoming the world's fifth-largest economy, Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government is ready to show off the country's strength in security and technology. 10India is using research from space and elsewhere to solve problems at home. Its space program has already helped develop satellite, communication and remote-sensing technologies. And it has been used to measure underground water levels and predict weather in the country. 11"This is a very critical mission," said Pallava Bagla. He is a science writer and co-writer of books on India's space exploration. He added that India will require soft landing technology if it wants to attempt more missions to the moon. 12India is also looking forward to its first mission to the International Space Station next year. It will be working with the United States as part of agreements reached between Modi and U.S. President Joe Biden at the White House last month. 13Bagla said the visit by an Indian astronaut to the International Space Station will not slow down India's own program. The program aims to launch an Indian astronaut from Indian soil on an Indian rocket in late 2024. 14As part of its space program, active since the 1960s, India has launched satellites for itself and other countries, and successfully put one in orbit around Mars in 2014. 15Singh said that based on the current path of growth, India's space industry could be a trillion-dollar economy in the coming years. 16I'm Gregory Stachel. 17Aijaz Rahi And Ashok Sharma reported this story for The Associated Press. Gregory Stachel adapted it for VOA Learning English. 18______________________________________________________________ 19Words in This Story 20craft - n. an airplane, helicopter, or spacecraft 21journey - n. an act of traveling from one place to another 22critical - adj. extremely important 23_______________________________________________________________ 24What do you think of this story? 25We want to hear from you. We have a new comment system. Here is how it works: 26Each time you return to comment on the Learning English site, you can use your account and see your comments and replies to them. Our comment policy is here.