BENGALURU: Nearly seven months after PM Narendra Modi announced that Chandrayaan-3’s landing site will be called “Shiva Shakti“, International Astronomical Union (IAU) approved the name on March 19.
“The IAU Working Group for Planetary System Nomenclature has approved the name Station Shiv Shakti for the landing site of Chandrayaan-3’s Vikram lander,” said Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature, which provides information about planetary names approved by IAU:
Modi had made the announcement at the Isro Telemetry Tracking and Command Network (Istrac) in Bengaluru on Aug 26, 2023, three days after Vikram’s historic Moon landing on Aug 23.
“…In Shiva, there’s resolution for humanity’s welfare and Shakti gives us strength to fulfil those resolutions. This Shiva Shakti Point of Moon also gives a sense of connection with the Himalayas to Kanyakumari,” Modi had said.
According to Gazetteer, the origin of the name is defined as: “Compound word from Indian mythology that depicts the masculine (“Shiva”) and feminine (“Shakti”) duality of nature.”
Fifteen years before the Chandrayaan-3 soft-landing, India’s Chandrayaan-1’s moon impact probe (MIP) had touched the lunar surface on Nov 14, 2008. The site was called “Jawahar Point” or “Jawahar Sthal”, as notified to IAU.
Terming the “touchdown moment” one of the inspiring moments of this century, Modi said the world had witnessed and accepted the strength of India’s scientific spiritand scientific temperament. Isro chairman S Somanath had said: “The PM was emotional about this historic event and all of us are very happy to know the naming of the two sites.”
“The IAU Working Group for Planetary System Nomenclature has approved the name Station Shiv Shakti for the landing site of Chandrayaan-3’s Vikram lander,” said Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature, which provides information about planetary names approved by IAU:
Modi had made the announcement at the Isro Telemetry Tracking and Command Network (Istrac) in Bengaluru on Aug 26, 2023, three days after Vikram’s historic Moon landing on Aug 23.
“…In Shiva, there’s resolution for humanity’s welfare and Shakti gives us strength to fulfil those resolutions. This Shiva Shakti Point of Moon also gives a sense of connection with the Himalayas to Kanyakumari,” Modi had said.
According to Gazetteer, the origin of the name is defined as: “Compound word from Indian mythology that depicts the masculine (“Shiva”) and feminine (“Shakti”) duality of nature.”
Fifteen years before the Chandrayaan-3 soft-landing, India’s Chandrayaan-1’s moon impact probe (MIP) had touched the lunar surface on Nov 14, 2008. The site was called “Jawahar Point” or “Jawahar Sthal”, as notified to IAU.
Terming the “touchdown moment” one of the inspiring moments of this century, Modi said the world had witnessed and accepted the strength of India’s scientific spiritand scientific temperament. Isro chairman S Somanath had said: “The PM was emotional about this historic event and all of us are very happy to know the naming of the two sites.”
