You head to Google and start typing to look something up.
Before you do, you notice a purple background with stars and an anthropomorphic moon. A gold object plops under Earth’s satellite, deploying an arm. Then the moon gives a big smile before an anthropomorphic Earth, with arms outstretched, pops up smiling.
This doodle illustrates the successful landing of the Chandrayaan-3 spacecraft, which landed on the moon’s south pole on Wednesday, Aug. 23. The spacecraft launched from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota Range, Andhra Pradesh, India on July 14, 2023, Google said in a statement.
“Moon landings are no easy feat,” the tech company said. “Previously, only the United States, China, and the former Soviet Union have completed soft landings on the moon — but no country has made it to the southern pole region before now.”
The moon’s southern tip holds particular interest due to the “suspected… existence of ice deposits located inside permanently shadowed craters,” Google said. Chandrayaan-3′s landing confirmed this to be true, providing crucial resources for future space missions like air, water and even hydrogen for fuel.
After the spacecraft landed, its message back to Earth was: “India, I reached my destination and you too!”
Towards the bottom of the Google info page describing the significance of Thursday’s doodle, the website showed previous doodles used on Aug. 24. Most doodles reflect Ukraine’s Independence Day. Other doodles include one to commemorate the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games. Another showed each letter of the word “Google” wearing a mask, reflecting “Get Vaccinated. Wear a Mask. Save Lives.” on Aug. 24, 2021.
In 2015, the doodle showed a long surfboard with the face of professional surfer Duke Kahanamoku on it, commemorating his 125th birthday. Argentinian author Jorge Luis Borges had his work reflected in a doodle in time for his 112th birthday on Aug. 24, 2011.
