"I salute the passengers" - Rajasthan minister Ashok Chandna makes a slip, on Chandrayaan mission

In a goof-up, a Rajasthan minister on Wednesday congratulated “passengers” he suggested were taking part in the #Chandrayaan-3 mission to the moon.

Rajasthan Sports Minister Ashok Chandna made the slip hours before the touchdown by Chandrayaan’s lander on the lunar surface – an unmanned landing eagerly anticipated across the country.

“If we are successful and make a safe landing, I salute the passengers,” he told reporters on the sidelines of an event here. “Our country has taken a step further in science and space research. I congratulate the countrymen for this.” Chandrayaan-3 made a successful soft-landing on the moon Wednesday evening, making India only the fourth country to do so and first to reach its uncharted south pole.