PM Modi dials ISRO chief to congratulate him, team for Chandrayaan-3 success

New Delhi, Aug 23: Prime MInister Narendra Modi, who watched the landing of Chandrayaan-3 on the moon from Johannesburg on Wednesday, later called Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) chief S. Somanath to congratulate him and his entire team for the success of the mission, saying that he will meet them personally soon.

Modi, who's in Johannesburg for the BRICS summit, told the ISRO chief, "Your name is Somanath, which is also related to moon. Your family must be very happy. From my side, many congratulations and best wishes to you and to your entire team. Soon I will congratulate you all. Many hearty congratulations."

The phone call from the Prime Minister to the ISRO chief came soon after the success of Chandrayaan-3 as India’s moon lander successfully set its four legs softly and safely on the lunar soil on Wednesday evening as planned, becoming the fourth nation in the world to achieve the feat after Russia, the US and China.

Commenting on receiving the Prime Minister's call, Somanath said, "The Prime Minister congratulated all of us and said that he would like to personally come down and congratulate each one of us."

When asked about the next mission, the ISRO chief said, "It will come out soon and we will make a decision today. ISRO's next mission is the Aditya L-1 that is getting ready at Sriharikota."

The lander landed near the South Pole of the moon after travelling about 3.84 lakh km for over 40 days.

With the landing, a major portion of the Rs 600 crore Chandrayaan-3 mission has been realised. The remaining portion is the moon rover rolling down from the lander, moving around and doing the programmed experiments.