How India won the race to the moon’s south pole

The scientists were glued to their screens, as were millions of others tuning in at home. All watched anxiously as the spacecraft’s four silver feet touched down.

“India is on the moon,” declared Sreedhara Somanath, the chief of the Indian Space Research Organization, as the control room in the southern Indian city of Bengaluru erupted in cheers.

It was a moment the whole nation had been waiting for. By becoming one of the few countries to land on the moon – and the first to do so near its south pole – India has proved its