Residents of Patna await with great zeal for Chandrayaan-2's soft landing

Residents of Patna are all over the moon as they await with great zeal bated breath for India's indigenous lunar mission Chandrayaan-2's soft landing on the moon in the early hours of Saturday.

Locals here are enthusiastically looking forward to Chandrayaan-2's soft landing on the moon surface, which will take place in a few hours from now.

"India is going to create a history which no other country has created ever before and I feel very proud of it. Chandrayaan-2 will be the first spacecraft which will be landed in the South Polar Region of the moon. We will get to know about so many things and studies through this mission. Chandrayaan-2 is an indigenous mission, another reason to be proud of this mission," said a resident.

"This is an extremely proud moment for India as a country. Prime Minister Narendra Modi will be at ISRO tonight to witness the final descent of the spacecraft. I wish I should have also gotten this opportunity to watch the live landing with our Prime Minister," said a local, Suman Chaurasiya.

The Chandrayaan-2 spacecraft will be the first Indian expedition to carry out a soft landing on the lunar surface. This mission will make India the fourth country after the US, Russia, and China to conduct a soft landing on the moon.

"It is a proud moment for our nation. Various scientists must be looking forward to the landing. Many people always dreamt of going to the moon but today this dream will come true when Chandrayaan-2 will be landed on the moon's surface," said another resident, Vishal Vaibhav.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will be at the ISRO around midnight to watch final descent of Chandrayaan 2. Over 60 high school students across the country who cleared an online space quiz last month will watch the soft landing of the mission with the Prime Minister.

After revolving around the earth's orbit for nearly 23 days, the craft began its journey to the moon on August 14. The mission took off from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota on July 22.

India's second mission to the moon was approved by the cabinet in September 2008, just before the launch of Chandrayaan 1.

The Chandrayaan 2 spacecraft will be the first Indian expedition to carry out a soft landing on the lunar surface. This mission will make India the fourth country after the US, Russia, and China to conduct a soft landing on the moon.