Three years ago, India sought to land a small spacecraft on the Moon, Chandrayaan 2. However, due to a series of problems, including software errors, the lander crashed into the gray and lonely lunar surface during its final descent. This failure hit a sore spot for the country, which takes pride in its burgeoning space program and its growing list of achievements.

Now, there is a lot of national fervor behind India's second attempt to land on the Moon, with a spacecraft called Chandrayaan 3. After launching in mid-July, the spacecraft's Vikram lander is due to attempt a soft touchdown at 8:34 am ET (12:34 UTC) on Wednesday. Success is far from guaranteed, especially after Russia's Luna 25 spacecraft crashed into the Moon this past weekend.

It was, therefore, perhaps inadvisable that a well-known Indian actor and politician named Prakash Raj took to the social media network formerly known as Twitter this weekend to share an image and comment, "BREAKING NEWS:- First picture coming from the Moon by #VikramLander Wowww #justasking"

BREAKING NEWS:-
First picture coming from the Moon by #VikramLander Wowww #justasking pic.twitter.com/RNy7zmSp3G

— Prakash Raj (@prakashraaj) August 20, 2023

The tweet included a photo of an Indian man—who bore a striking resemblance to the leader of India's ISRO space agency, K. Sivan, at the time of Chandrayaan 2's failed landing—dramatically pouring tea from one cup into another. This apparently was a joke, as Raj said himself. However, as an American space writer, the cultural meaning of the humor is lost on me. Anyway, some people did not take the attempt at humor very well.

Raj received responses from people who believed he wished ill on Chandrayaan 3. Others claimed he hoped it would fail because it would cast a negative light on the ruling party of India, the Indian People's Party, and the nation's prime minister, Narendra Modi. Raj lost a local election in 2019 as an independent candidate.

Anyway, some Hindu organizations took the matter so seriously that they filed an official complaint at the Banahatti police station, located in the Bagalkote district in Karnataka, a state in southwest India. Some news accounts have reported that Raj was "booked" by police, but it is not clear that he has been taken into custody. Rather, the police have said they are investigating the matter.

It does seem extreme to arrest someone for making a joke about India's Moon mission, but just to be safe, I will cross "Delhi-based writer for The Onion" off my bucket list as a journalist. Also, for the sake of India and its humorists, perhaps it would be best if things went well with Wednesday's attempted landing.