The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) wrote history Wednesday evening when the Chandrayaan-3 spacecraft achieved a gentle landing on the surface of the Moon, cementing India's reputation as a global space power. With the mission's accomplishment, India has become the first country to land a spacecraft on the Moon's unknown zone of the south pole, and the fourth overall.

The spacecraft's Vikram lander touched down softly at 6.04 PM (IST), putting an end to the disappointment of the Chandrayaan-2 lander's crash landing four years earlier. While congratulating the mission's scientific team, ISRO head S Somnath stated that the lander's health would now be examined and that the rover would emerge from the lander module within the next few hours.

What happened during the final stage of the Chanrayaan-3 mission

The following are the four phases that occurred during the mission's "15 minutes of terror" before Chandrayaan-3 safely soft landed on the Moon:

Rough braking phase: During this phase, the lander's horizontal velocity dropped from roughly 6,000 km/h to near zero for a soft landing.

Attitude holding phase: The lander tilted from a horizontal to a vertical posture while traversing a distance of 3.48 kilometres at a height of roughly 7.43 kilometres above the lunar surface.

The fine-breaking phase will last around 175 seconds, during which time the lander will travel approximately 28.52 kilometres horizontally to the landing spot while lowering its altitude by approximately 1 kilometre. Between the Attitude Hold and Fine-braking phases, Chandrayaan-2 lost control.

Picture from Chandrayan -3

Lander's health is to be assessed, and the rover is to come out .!

The most difficult portions were the launch, landing, and capture by the Moon's orbit, the fall of the lander, and the final landing. The lander's health will be evaluated, and the rover will emerge from the Lander within the next several hours, according to ISRO chief S Somanath.

Landing velocity less than expected: ISRO chief

According to ISRO chairman Somnath, the landing velocity was less than the targeted 2 metres per second, which gives tremendous promise for future missions. He stated that the next 14 days of experiments by the instruments aboard the lander and rover will be intriguing.