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India became the fourth country to achieve a lunar soft landing.

The Claim

The Chandrayaan-3 mission's successful lunar soft landing made India the fourth country to soft-land a spacecraft on the Moon.

The Short Version

Chandrayaan-3’s successful soft landing made India the fourth country to achieve this lunar milestone, after the Soviet Union, the United States, and China. Space agencies and independent news organizations consistently confirm both the landing and the historical ranking.

Caveats

  • The historical count includes the Soviet Union, which achieved the first lunar soft landing in 1966.
  • India was the first country to land near the Moon’s south pole, but the fourth to soft-land anywhere on the Moon.

The Receipts

  1. Moon missions through the ages - Reuters

    reuters.com

  2. Chandrayaan-3 spacecraft lands on the moon in 'victory cry of a new India'

    reuters.com

  3. India Becomes Fourth Country Ever to Land on the Moon - The New York Times

    web.archive.org

  4. India makes historic landing near Moon's south pole

    bbc.com

  5. Chandrayaan-3: India becomes fourth country to land on the moon - SpaceNews

    spacenews.com

  6. India becomes fourth country to land a spacecraft on the moon - ABC News

    abcnews.com

  7. ESA - India's Chandrayaan-3 successfully lands on the Moon

    esa.int

  8. Chandrayaan 3 Moon Landing: Chandrayaan 3 Vikram Lander: With perfect touchdown on Moon's south pole, India goes where no nation’s gone before | India News - Times of India

    timesofindia.indiatimes.com

  9. NASA chief congratulates India & ISRO as Chandrayaan-3 lands on the Moon | India News - The Indian Express

    indianexpress.com

  10. Chandrayaan-3 first to land near Moon’s south pole; all eyes on rover, ISRO says ‘craft healthy’ | India News - The Indian Express

    indianexpress.com

+ 17 more sources — see the full list on Lenz

Filed Under

Chandrayaan-3IndiaMoon

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