IAU approves Chandrayaan-3 landing site name 'Shiva Shakti'

The International Astronomical Union (IAU) has approved the Chandrayaan-3 landing site name 'Shiva Shakti'. The approval came on March 19 after Prime Minister Narendra Modi's announcement following the success of the mission on August 26, 2023.

"IAU working group for Planetary System Nomenclature has approved the name station 'Shiv Shakti' for the landing site of Chandrayaan-3's Vikram lander," the Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature, which provides detailed information about planetary names by IAU said.

For the unversed, ISRO’s Chandrayaan-3 was launched on July 14, 2023, from Satish Dhawan Space Centre Second Launch Pad in Sriharikota, Andhra Pradesh, India. The spacecraft landed on the Moon’s South Pole on August 23, 2023. Shortly after the successful landing of the Chandrayaan-3, on August 26, PM Modi announced that the point where the moon lander of Chandrayaan-3 touched down would be called 'Shiv Shakti'. 

The announcement defined the origin of the name as, a "compound word from Indian mythology that depicts masculine (Shiva) and feminine (Shakti) duality of nature; Landing site of Chandrayaan-3's Vikram Lander.

While the Chandrayaan-2 landing failure spot will be called “Tiranga point", the day of the touchdown of the Vikram Lander on the Moon (August 23) will be celebrated as “National Space Day” in the country, PM Modi had stated.

Prime Minister Modi made the announcements while addressing the gathering of scientists at the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) at the ISRO Command Centre. “India has decided to name the touchdown point where Vikram Lander made a soft landing on the Moon as “Shiv Shakti Point”. The word “Shiv” stands for the welfare of humanity. “Shakti” stands for the required strength to get going to achieve the welfare of humanity,” PM Modi said.

PM Modi has said that the Moon’s Shiv Shakti point will be a symbol of unity from the Himalayas to Kanyakumari. “The Shiv Shakti Point will inspire future generations in the direction of the use of science for the welfare of humanity,” PM Modi had underlined.

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Inputs from IANS