Deepanshi Manchanda/ New Delhi 

One plus four billion hearts pounding in anticipation and their hands and minds in prayers for the successful landing of Chandrayaan-3, the countdown for the landing of India’s third lunar mission on the South pole of the Moon has begun. The landing is scheduled for 6.04 pm Indian Standard Time.

The excitement cuts across class, age, and nationality as people of the Indian Diaspora in the US and other countries are holding Havanas and prayers for the success of the mission.

Muslim students in Lucknow offered a special Namaz for the success of the Chandrayaan-3 mission.

The interest of the Indians in this scientific mission is so high that #Chandrayaan-3 and #Chandrayaan-3landing have been trending on X (formerly Twitter) for several days.

Indians are frequently checking the status of Chandrayaan-3 through ISRO images released on social media. The excitement peaked after ISRO chairman S Somanath exuded confidence in a successful soft landing. He said that even if things go wrong with the Lander Vikram to the level that both its engines fail, it has a built-in system for continuing with its mission.

The statement of ISRO chairman S Somanath on Chandrayaan landing

The release by ISRO of images of the moon captured by the Lander Position Detection Camera from an altitude of about 70 km has also given people a reason for optimism. 

Youngsters, in particular, are very excited about the mission. The video of a young Ladakhi singing Lehra do, a popular Bollywood number sung by Arijeet Singh in the company of foreign tourists on the occasion posted on X is breaking the internet:

Soulful voice of #Ladakh wishing Success of #Chandrayaan3Mission and #Chandrayaan3Landing. National Flag always fly high- “Lehra Do”🇮🇳 pic.twitter.com/7QhNajbIAW

— Manish Prasad (@manishindiatv) August 22, 2023

Devyani, a student enrolled in B.Tech in a private university in Delhi, told Awaz-The Voice, "I am excited, for I feel that Chandrayaan will finally land without any difficulties"  

Tarushi Jain, a student of Journalism from Delhi College said she cannot wait to catch the live streaming on August 23. "I am going to watch the live streaming," she said.   

Devyani, Tarushi Jain and Rishika

Rishika, a college student in Delhi said, "I feel the landing will go very smoothly and it won’t be postponed".  

UP chief minister Yogi Adityanath has announced that the Chandrayaan-3's landing on Moon will be telecast live in all State-run schools. Schools will open for an hour in the evening to enable students to watch this spectacular event. 

Visuals of people praying in Varanasi posted on social media have gone viral on X:

Prayers 🙏🤞 for #Chandrayaan3Landing today. All Indian citizens are looking forward to a successful spacecraft landing on lunar South. The most critical part to transfer lander from horizontal to vertical with the help of algorithms and extensive simulation! pic.twitter.com/cxq5wUB2c0

— Neetu Garg (@NeetuGarg6) August 23, 2023

Indian-American astronaut Sunita Williams said, "Landing on the Moon will provide us invaluable insights. I am truly thrilled that India is at the forefront of space exploration, these are truly exciting times...Filled with enthusiasm for lunar exploration.’’ 

ALSO: Muslims offer Namaz in Lucknow for Chanrayaan-3 success

Actress Kareena Kapoor has also expressed her excitement for Chandrayaan-3 and said that it is a proud moment for the country which she will watch with her children. And people in Varanasi performed hawan puja for the successful landing of Chandrayaan-3.