Colorado(US): Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO)'s Chandrayaan-3 mission team has been awarded the 2024 John L "Jack" Swigert Jr. Award for Space Exploration, a top award from the US-based Space Foundation.
The prize acknowledges the contribution by the Indian space agency in “raising the bar for space exploration.” Last year in August, during the Chandrayaan-3 mission, a successful landing occurred on the Moon's south pole, marking India as the first country to achieve this feat.
The award was presented at the Space Foundation's yearly opening ceremony of the Space Symposium in Colorado on April 8. Consul General of India in Houston, DC Manjunath received the award on behalf of ISRO's Chandrayaan team.
Recent winners of the John L. "Jack" Swigert Jr. Award include NASA and the University of Arizona OSIRIS-REx team, the teams behind the NASA JPL Mars Ingenuity Helicopter and InSight-Mars Cube One, NASA Dawn, and Cassini.
Earlier in January, the US-based Space Foundation announced that it has selected the Chandrayaan-3 Mission Team as the recipient of the 2024 John L "Jack" Swigert Jr Award for Space Exploration.
“India’s leadership in space is an inspiration to the world,” Space Foundation CEO Heather Pringle said in a statement in January when the award was announced. “The pioneering work of the entire Chandrayaan-3 team has again raised the bar for space exploration, and their remarkable lunar landing is a model to us all. Congratulations and we can’t wait to see what you do next!” Pringle added.
India was the first nation to land a spacecraft on the Moon's South Pole. Chandrayaan-3, a mission developed by the Indian Space Research Organization, extends humanity's space exploration aspirations to new and fertile areas for understanding and cooperation, according to the Space Foundation. (with ANI inputs)
