The moon

© Victor Blum/Getty Image

To the moon and back. International Moon Day

Today we're celebrating small steps and giant leaps—it's International Moon Day. This day honours the legacy of the Apollo 11 mission. Initially celebrated as National Moon Day in the United States, the day was recognised globally by the United Nations in 2021. Apollo 11, the pioneering space mission that first landed humans on the moon, was launched on July 16, 1969. It culminated in the astronauts Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin taking the first steps on the moon on July 20, 1969.

The Chandrayaan programme is India's ongoing lunar exploration series led by ISRO. It includes a lunar orbiter, an impactor, a soft lander and a rover. The programme has had three missions, yielding two orbiters and two lander-rover pairs. While Chandrayaan-2's lander and rover crashed, Chandrayaan-3 successfully landed on 23 August 2023, making India the first nation to land at the lunar south pole and the fourth to achieve a soft landing on the moon, following the Soviet Union, the USA and China. Moon missions have found no signs of life, but it could be a future site for human colonisation. The discovery of water ice, especially in the dark craters at the poles, makes it more hospitable for potential settlers. So, until you have a chance to live there, keep dreaming under the same moon that has captivated humanity since time immemorial.