'A great pic': Singapore's High Commissioner lauds Chandrayaan-3's lunar images

Singapore's High Commissioner to India, Simon Wong congratulated India and the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) for the Chandrayaan-3 insertion phase, on Sunday.

He also praised the pictures of the moon, captured by the lunar mission.

ALSO READ: Chandrayaan-3 lowers lunar orbit. What's ahead for Moon soft landing

“Big congratulations to the Chandrayaan-3 moon insertion phase. What a great pic! HC Wong,” High Commissioner Wong said on X.

Meanwhile, the first images of the moon as captured by Chandrayaan-3, were put out by Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) on Sunday.

ALSO READ- Watch: Chandrayaan-3 shares first-ever images after entering Moon's orbit

Chandrayan-3 captured stunning images of the lunar surface after entering the Moon's orbit on Saturday.

"The Moon, as viewed by #Chandrayaan3 spacecraft during Lunar Orbit Insertion (LOI) on August 5, 2023," tweeted the Mission's official Twitter handle.

The Chandrayaan-3 spacecraft, which covered about two-thirds of the distance to the Moon since its launch, successfully entered the Lunar orbit on Saturday, according to ISRO.

The spacecraft, mounted on GSLV Mark 3 (LVM 3) heavy-lift launch vehicle, successfully lifted off from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Andhra Pradesh’s Sriharikota on July 14.

India will become only the fourth country after the US, China, and Russia to land its spacecraft on the surface of the moon, demonstrating the country’s ability for a safe and soft landing on the lunar surface.

Upon landing, it will operate for one lunar day, which is approximately 14 Earth days. One day on the Moon is equal to 14 days on Earth.

The approved cost of Chandrayaan-3 is ₹250 crore (Excluding Launch Vehicle Cost).

Chandrayaan-3’s development phase commenced in January 2020 with the launch initially planned in 2021. However, the Covid-19 pandemic brought an unforeseen delay to the mission's progress.

Chandrayaan-3 is the ISRO's follow-up attempt after the Chandrayaan-2 mission faced challenges during its soft landing on the lunar surface in 2019 and was eventually deemed to have failed its core mission objectives. Chandrayaan-3 lowers lunar orbit. What's ahead for Moon soft landing