Chandrayaan-3 team receives John L. ‘Jack’ Swigert Jr. Award

• India’s Chandrayaan-3 mission team has been presented with the prestigious 2024 John L. ‘Jack’ Swigert Jr. Award for Space Exploration in recognition of it raising the bar for space exploration.

• The award was received by India’s Consul General in Houston D.C. Manjunath on behalf of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) during the opening ceremony of the annual Space Symposium in Colorado.

• In August, India made history as its Moon mission Chandrayaan-3 became the first to land in the uncharted lunar South Pole. Comprising the lander (Vikram) and the rover (Pragyan), India’s Moon mission Chandrayaan-3 touched down on the lunar South Pole at 6.04 pm on August 23, 2023.

• With this touchdown, India became the fourth country to master the technology of soft landing on the lunar surface after the US, China and the erstwhile Soviet Union. 

• As the first nation to land on the Moon’s South Pole, Chandrayaan-3, a mission developed by the ISRO, extends humanity's space exploration aspirations to new and fertile areas for understanding and cooperation.

John L. ‘Jack’ Swigert Jr. Award

• John L. ‘Jack’ Swigert Jr. Award for Space Exploration recognises extraordinary accomplishments by a company, space agency, or consortium of organisations 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 the 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 en route to the Moon.

• People around the world watched as NASA overcame tremendous odds and returned the crew safely to Earth. 

• The Space Foundation created the Jack Swigert Award for Space Exploration in 2004 in tribute to his enduring legacy of space exploration.

• Space Foundation, a non-profit organisation, was founded in 1983 offering information, education and collaboration for the global space ecosystem.

Manorama Yearbook app is now available on Google Play Store and iOS App Store