Chandrayaan-3: Years After Mocking ISRO, Pak Leader Calls Mission 'Historic Moment for Humankind'

Years after he brutally trolled India’s previous moon mission, Pakistan’s former minister Fawad Hussain Chaudhry has now praised Indian Space Research Organisation’s (ISRO) Chandrayaan-3 calling it a “historic moment for humankind.”

Taking to X (formally Twitter), the former Science and Technology minister asked his country to show the Chandrayaan moon landing live on Wednesday evening.

“Pak media should show Chandrayaan moon landing live tomorrow at 6:15 PM… historic moment for Human kind specially for the people, scientists and space community of India,” Hussain said on X.

This comes after 2019, he had questioned Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government spending of Rs 900 crore on the Chandrayaan-2 mission, and said it was unwise to venture into an unknown territory.

Chandrayaan-3: When & Where to Watch

Fawad had also used the hashtag “India Failed” after ISRO lost contact with its Vikram lander in the previous mission.

India’s third mission in its lunar exploration series was launched successfully on July 14 from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota. The spacecraft — entered the lunar orbit on August 5 — is scheduled to make a soft landing on the moon’s surface on August 23.

Chandrayaan-3 Lander Module will make a touchdown on the surface of the Moon at 6:04 pm on Wednesday. With less than 30 hours to go for the landing, the Lander Module of the lunar craft is trying to locate a spot for perfect landing on the Moon’s surface, which will lead to a historic landing.

The lunar mission is aimed at the southern polar region of the Moon, a region with water ice or frozen water, that could be a source of oxygen, fuel and water for future moon missions or a more permanent moon colony.

After landing successfully, the Chandrayaan-3 is expected to remain functional for two weeks, running a series of experiments including a spectrometer analysis of the mineral composition of the lunar surface.