ISRO honoured with Aviation Week magazine Laureates Award for Chandrayaan 3 mission

By R. Anil Kumar

• The Aviation Week Laureates Award is renowned for recognising extraordinary accomplishments within the aerospace industry, and this year, it celebrated ISRO’s ground breaking mission, Chandrayaan-3

• In August 2023, Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced that the spot where Chandrayaan-3’s moon lander landed would be known as “Shiva Shakti”

Bangalore, March 25. The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) has been honoured with the prestigious Aviation Week Laureates Award for its achievements with the historic Chandrayaan-3 mission.

The award was received on behalf of ISRO by Sripriya Ranganathan, Deputy Ambassador at the Indian Embassy in the US.

The Aviation Week Laureates Award is renowned for recognising extraordinary accomplishments within the aerospace industry, and this year, it celebrated ISRO’s ground breaking mission, Chandrayaan-3.

This mission, which cost a modest $75 million, achieved a historic milestone by making a successful landing at the lunar South Pole. But the accolades do not stop there.

Chandrayaan-3 didn’t just land; it confirmed the presence of water in the region, a discovery that has profound implications for future lunar exploration and the possibility of sustaining life on the Moon.

Additionally, the mission detected sulphur nearby, adding another layer to our understanding of the Moon’s composition and resources.

The mission’s lander, Vikram, equipped with the Chandra’s Surface Thermophysical Experiment (ChaSTE), provided valuable data on the lunar surface temperature, reaching a depth of 10 centimetres below the surface. Additionally, the Pragyan rover conducted in-situ experiments, further contributing to the wealth of knowledge about the Moon.

The successful landing of Chandrayaan-3 at the lunar South Pole, a feat not many nations have accomplished, placed India among the leading countries in space exploration.

Moreover, the confirmation of water presence opens new avenues for research and potential habitation strategies for future missions, both by India and the global space community.

The recognition by Aviation Week demonstrates the international appreciation and respect for ISRO’s contributions to space exploration.

ISRO had previously received the Leif Erikson Lunar Prize from the Husavik Museum for its unwavering commitment and significant contributions to lunar exploration.

Chandrayaan-3 landing site is now officially called ‘Shiva Shakti’

In August 2023, Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced that the spot where Chandrayaan-3’s moon lander landed would be known as “Shiva Shakti”

The spot where the Vikram lander of the Indian Space Research Organisation’s (ISRO) ground breaking Chandrayaan-3 mission touched down on the moon has been officially named “Shiva Shakti” following approval by the International Astronomical Union (IAU).

The approval came nearly seven months after Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced that the landing site would be called “Shiva Shakti“.

The name “Statio Shiva Shakti” for the Chandrayaan-3 landing site was approved by the Paris-based IAU on March 19, as per the Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature which provides detailed information about planetary names approved by the astronomical organisation.

Regarding the origin of the name, the Gazetteer said, “Compound word from Indian mythology that depicts the masculine (‘Shiva’) and feminine (‘Shakti’) duality of nature; Landing site of Chandrayaan-3’s Vikram lander.”

The Prime Minister, in his announcement on August 26, 2023, at the ISRO Telemetry Tracking and Command Network Mission Control Complex in Bengaluru, also said that August 23, the day when Chandrayaan-3 landed on the Moon, would now be known as ‘National Space Day’.

He further said that the spot on the lunar surface where Chandrayaan-2 left its footprints will be known as ‘Tiranga’, as an “inspiration for every effort made by India. It will remind us any failure is not final”.

On August 23, 2023, the Chandrayaan-3 mission created history with the successful soft landing on Moon’s surface.

India is now the first nation to reach near the Moon’s unexplored South Pole and ranks amongst the top four nations to carry out a soft landing on the lunar surface.