Chandrayaan-3 mission: ISRO has ben awarded the 2023 Leif Erikson Lunar Prize by the Exploration Museum in Iceland's Husavik for its successful Chandrayaan-3 mission. The award celebrates the first soft-landing of a spacecraft near the lunar south pole and "ISRO's indomitable spirit in advancing lunar exploration and contributing to understanding celestial mysteries," the Embassy of India in Reykjavik said in a post on X.
Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) Chairman S Somanath sent a "thank you" video message on the occasion and the prize was received on behalf of the space agency by Ambassador B Shyam.
Know more about Leif Erikson Award:
The Leif Erikson Award is an annual prize given by the Exploration Museum since 2015. It is named after Leif Erikson- a Norse explorer thought to be the first European to set foot on continental America, almost four centuries before the expedition of Christopher Columbus.
Chandrayaan-3 was India's third mission to the moon, and the second attempt to carry out a soft-landing on the lunar surface. ISRO managed to place the Vikram lander on the lunar surface and roll out the robotic rover, Pragyaan.
The triumph of Chandrayaan-3 marked a historic milestone on August 23 when the lander module successfully touched down on the moon's South Pole. India became the fourth nation, following the United States, China, and Russia, to achieve a successful lunar landing. The mission not only showcased technological prowess but also signalled redemption after the disappointment of the Chandrayaan-2 crash landing four years earlier.
Post-landing, the Vikram lander and the Pragyan rover conducted various tasks on the lunar surface, including detecting the presence of sulfur and other elements, recording relative temperature, and monitoring lunar activities. The success of Chandrayaan-3 further solidified India's standing in lunar exploration. Following the lunar triumph, India swiftly moved ahead with its maiden solar mission, Aditya-L1, launched on September 2.
The spacecraft has successfully undergone multiple maneuvers, including four earth-bound maneuvers and a crucial Trans-Lagrangean Point 1 Insertion (TL1I) maneuver, enabling it to escape Earth's sphere of influence. In the most recent development, the Propulsion Module (PM) of Chandrayaan-3 achieved another feat by transitioning from lunar orbit to Earth's orbit.
(With agencies inputs)
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