India becomes first nation to land spacecraft near Moon's south pole

India on Wednesday became the first nation to land a craft near the Moon's south pole. The unmanned Chandrayaan-3, which means "Mooncraft" in Sanskrit, touched down at 6:04 pm India time as mission control technicians cheered wildly and embraced their colleagues.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi who is attending BRICS summit in South Africa smiled broadly and waved an Indian flag on a live broadcast to announce the mission's success. Chandrayaan-3 took much longer to reach the Moon than the Apollo missions in the 1960s and 1970s, which arrived in a matter of days.