An entire nation waited, praying and hoping fervently, as the countdown to touch down on the Moon wound to a slow close on Wednesday with many thousands gathering in schools, places of worship and elsewhere and scientists doing last-minute checks to ensure Chandrayaan-3 makes a soft landing on the lunar south pole. Meanwhile, food delivery platform 'Zomato' wished all the best to ISRO's third ambitious moon mission with 'dahi-cheeni' in typical Indian style.
Taking to X (formerly known as Twitter) Zomato shared a pic of a bowl filled with curd and a spoon with sugar. It is believed that having a spoon of curd and sugar before an important task is a good omen.
If the Chandrayaan-3 mission succeeds in making the touchdown and in landing a robotic lunar rover in the Indian Space Research Organisation's second attempt in four years, India will become the fourth country to master the technology of soft-landing on the lunar surface after the US, China and the erstwhile Soviet Union. The landing is scheduled near the Moon's south polar region at 6:04 pm.
In temples and 'dargahs' across the country people gathered for special prayer meets for Chandrayaan-3's success, while in schools and colleges, excited students keenly watched the live-telecast of the mission's progress with bated breath.
(with inputs from PTI)
