On 23 August 2023 the Indian lander Vikram touched down near the Moon's south pole, making India the fourth country to soft-land on the Moon, and the first near the south polar region, where permanently shadowed craters may hold water ice. The rover Pragyan drove a few hundred metres and found sulphur and other elements in the soil. The success came days after the Russian Luna 25 crashed, and after India's own Chandrayaan-2 lander failed in 2019. Both lander and rover went dormant at the onset of the lunar night.
Before and after
- 17 July 2023July 2023 Crimean Bridge explosion
- 26 July 20232023 Nigerien coup d'état
- 10 August 2023Launch of Luna 25
- 23 August 20232023 Wagner Group plane crash
- 23 August 2023Chandrayaan-3 lands near the lunar south pole
- September 2023Storm Daniel
- 6 September 2023September 2023 Kostiantynivka missile strike
- 8 September 20232023 Marrakesh-Safi earthquake
- 13 September 20232023 North Korea–Russia summit
More in Exploration & discovery
- 3 August 1958The USS Nautilus crosses the North Pole under the ice
- 14 July 1965Mariner 4 sends the first close-up pictures of Mars
- 3 December 1973Pioneer 10 flies past Jupiter
- 5 March 1979Voyager 1 reveals Jupiter and its volcanic moon Io
- 25 August 1989Voyager 2 flies past Neptune
- 26 September 2022DART spacecraft deflects an asteroid
The era
This moment belongs to the Contemporary world (1945 CE to today), the world since 1945. You can also browse everything in the 21st century.