India has made its mark in space history by becoming the first country to land a spacecraft on the south pole of the moon! With the help of ISRO (the NASA of India), India can now study ice on the moon. This is significant because water on the moon can not only potentially serve as a rest or fuel stop in outer space, but it also may provide the conditions for the first lunar base. ISRO is also searching for materials that may economically benefit India, like helium-3 and other rare elements.

The spacecraft in particular is called the Chandrayaan-3, around 6 feet tall (2 meters) and over 3,750 pounds (1,700 kilograms). It traveled for 40 days before touching down, the first to make a successful mission unlike its two predecessors. The space shuttle contained the Vikram lander and a rover named Pragyan (Pragyan’s rear wheels are designed to leave imprints of ISRO’s logo and the Indian national emblem), each having separate jobs. These two are not expected to come back from the moon and they will operate for around 14 days collecting samples until they run out of power.