St. Louis, Mo., Aug 24, 2023 / 12:40 pm
India’s Catholic bishops celebrated along with the rest of the country this week after an Indian-built lunar lander touched down on the moon’s surface Wednesday morning, a win for the country’s still-developing space program.
“The progress made by our scientists and engineers in the field of space research is truly commendable and fills our hearts with pride,” said the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of India (CBCI) on Aug. 23, as reported by UCA News.
Archbishop Andrews Thazhath of Trichur, apostolic administrator of Ernakulam-Angamaly and the conference president, said: “The pursuit of knowledge and exploration knows no boundaries and brings together people from all walks of life, reflecting the unity in diversity that India represents…May this achievement serve as a reminder of what we can accomplish when we come together with a shared vision.”
The touchdown of the Chandrayaan-3 spacecraft marked mankind’s first successful mission to the moon’s south pole, which is an interesting site for scientists due to the presence, scientists believe, of substantial quantities of water ice. The mission also represents a redemption for India’s space program, as a previous attempt to reach the moon in September 2019 ended in failure amid a software glitch.