India is hoping to make history this morning by becoming the first nation to land near the Moon’s south pole.

If its spacecraft Chandrayaan-3 is successful, India will be only the fourth country to have achieved a soft landing on the Moon.

The country’s attempt comes just days after Russia’s Luna-25 crashed while trying to touch down in the same region.

One of the mission’s major goals is to hunt for water-based ice, which scientists say could support human habitation on the Moon in future.

Scientists believe craters that are permanently in shadow on the dark side of the Moon may hold frozen water.