India has successfully landed a spacecraft on the moon. It's the first time that a country has safely landed at the moon's south pole. The landing is a huge success for India, which has been working on the project for years.

The Chandrayaan-3 was launched on 14 July 2023. In early August, the spacecraft began orbiting（环绕……运行）the moon. Then, the lander, called Vikram, made a successful "soft landing" at the moon's south pole. Leader of the project, Sreedhara Somanath, announced, "India is on the moon." Before this, only three other countries had ever made soft landings on the moon.

In 2019, an earlier Indian mission, Chandrayaan-2, ended when the lander crashed onto the lunar surface unexpectedly. But India learned from its mistakes. It made several changes to the lander to make it stronger and improve the computer programs that control it. Pragyan, the rover（探测器）that the lander carries, hasn't changed since the Chandrayaan-2 mission.

All Indians were excited about the landing. Across the country, people gathered to watch and cheer for it. Now that India's lander is safely on the moon, Vikram and Pragyan will start studying it. They have special tools to study the moon from different aspects（方面）, including studying its temperature and materials. The machines are solar-powered, and are expected to work for about 14 days. After that, the sun will set at the south pole, and the machines will no longer have power.

One reason why the moon's south pole is worth studying is that there exists ice. Learning more about this frozen water could help astronauts on future trips to the moon. India has many more plans for space, including sending Indian astronauts into space, and possibly even planning trips to other planets. The country has also worked hard to encourage private Indian companies to develop space programs.