Astronomy (RSS)

For the average Indian, national self-confidence is the real reward from the Chandrayaan-3 landing “I let out an involuntary whoop when it landed,” my friend Shivansh told me. He was travelling on London Underground at the time. “Everyone on the tube was staring at me.” Shivansh is just one of millions of Indians all over the world who are celebrating the successful landing of the Chandrayaan-3 lunar exploration mission. Indians even broke YouTube’s record for livestreams, with more than 8 million people staying glued to their screens last Wednesday, as the spacecraft edged close to the lunar surface. The excitement is understandable, especially considering the fact that just four years ago, the preceding Chandrayaan lander crashed into the moon after a software glitch. Continue reading...