Get all your news in one place.
100's of premium titles.
One app.
Start reading
The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Comment
Hannah Abraham

How India’s moon landing has boosted its self image

Students and teachers in Bikaner, Rajasthan, celebrate the Chandrayaan-3 landing at the moon's south pole.
Students and teachers in Bikaner, Rajasthan, celebrate the Chandrayaan-3 landing at the moon's south pole. Photograph: Dinesh Gupta/Pacific Press/Shutterstock

“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.

Sign up to read this article
Read news from 100's of titles, curated specifically for you.
Already a member? Sign in here
Related Stories
Top stories on inkl right now
One subscription that gives you access to news from hundreds of sites
Already a member? Sign in here
Our Picks
Fourteen days free
Download the app
One app. One membership.
100+ trusted global sources.