The mission - Chandrayaan means "moon vehicle" in Hindi and Sanskrit - is India's second attempt to land on the south pole of the moon. Rough terrain makes a south pole landing difficult, but making a first landing would be historic. India's moon mission blasted off on July 14, and the lander module of Chandrayaan-3 separated from the propulsion module last week. For India, a successful moon landing would mark its emergence as a space power as Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government looks to spur investment in private space launches and related satellite-based businesses. A successful mission would make India only the fourth country to successfully land on the moon, after the former USSR, the United States and China.

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Persons: Russia's Luna, ISRO's, Narendra Modi's, Manish Purohit, Sivan, Pawan Chandana, Nivedita, Gerry Doyle, Mark Potter Organizations: ISRO, Handout, REUTERS, Rights, Indian Space Research, Twitter, Thomson Locations: Russian, Russia, India, Hollywood, USSR, United States, China, Bengaluru