Chandrayaan-3 landing site is now officially called 'Shiva Shakti'

New Delhi: The spot where the Vikram lander of the Indian Space Research Organisation's (ISRO) groundbreaking Chandrayaan-3 mission touched down on the moon has been officially named "Shiva Shakti" following approval by the International Astronomical Union (IAU).

The approval came nearly seven months after Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced that the landing site would be called "Shiva Shakti".

The name "Statio Shiva Shakti" for the Chandrayaan-3 landing site was approved by the Paris-based IAU on March 19, as per the Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature which provides detailed information about planetary names approved by the astronomical organisation.

Regarding the origin of the name, the Gazetteer said, "Compound word from Indian mythology that depicts the masculine ('Shiva') and feminine ('Shakti') duality of nature; Landing site of Chandrayaan-3’s Vikram lander."

The Prime Minister, in his announcement on August 26, 2023, at the ISRO Telemetry Tracking and Command Network Mission Control Complex in Bengaluru, also said that August 23, the day when Chandrayaan-3 landed on the Moon, would now be known as ‘National Space Day’. He further said that the spot on the lunar surface where Chandrayaan-2 left its footprints will be known as 'Tiranga', as an "inspiration for every effort made by India. It will remind us any failure is not final". On August 23, 2023, the Chandrayaan-3 mission created history with the successful soft landing on Moon's surface.

India is now the first nation to reach near the Moon's unexplored South Pole and ranks amongst the top four nations to carry out a soft landing on the lunar surface.

Last week, ISRO was honoured with the prestigious Aviation Week Laureates Award for its achievements with the Chandrayaan-3 mission.