ISRO’s Chandrayaan-3 mission team received the 2024 John L “Jack” Swigert, Jr, Award for Space Exploration, a top award from the US-based Space Foundation. This annual award honours a space agency, company, or consortium of organizations in the realm of space exploration and discovery.
The award was presented at the Space Foundation’s yearly opening ceremony of the Space Symposium in Colorado on April 8. The Consul General of India in Houston, DC Manjunath received the award on behalf of ISRO’s Chandrayaan-3 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.
Space Foundation is a nonprofit organization founded in 1983 offering information, education and collaboration for the global space ecosystem. Space Symposium, hosted by Space Foundation since 1984, is the assembly for the global space ecosystem.
Earlier in January, 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 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. Furthermore, the technical and engineering achievements showcased by this mission show the world the unquestioned leadership and ingenuity of the people of India in the global space ecosystem.
In a press release, Space Foundation CEO Heather Pringle said, “India’s leadership in space is an inspiration to the world.” He added, “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!”
The press release issued by Space Foundation stated, “The John L “Jack” Swigert Jr Award for Space Exploration recognizes extraordinary accomplishments by a company, space agency, or consortium of organizations in the realm of space exploration and discovery.”
“The award honours the memory of astronaut John L “Jack” Swigert Jr., one of the inspirations for the creation of Space Foundation. A Colorado native, Swigert served with retired US Navy Captain James A Lovell Jr and Fred Haise on the legendary Apollo 13 lunar mission, which was aborted after the perilous rupture of an oxygen tank while in route to the Moon,” it added.
In September last year, Chandrayaan-3 touched down on the uncharted lunar South Pole after a 40-day journey into space, making India the first country to do so. India also became only the fourth nation after the US, Russia, and China to successfully conduct a lunar landing mission.
