The prestigious award — named after the iconic Norse explorer — has been conferred by the Iceland museum in recognition of ISRO’s commitment and contributions to lunar exploration.

India’s latest lunar mission Chandrayaan-3 made history on August 23, 2023 when it successfully landed near the Moon’s South Pole, making India the first country to accomplish this feat.

India’s Ambassador to Iceland Balasubramanian Shyam received the prize on behalf of ISRO.

ISRO Chairman S Somanath expressed his gratitude to the Husavik Museum for the honour bestowed upon the Indian space agency.

Lander Vikram provided valuable data on lunar surface temperatures, and Pragyan rover conducted in-situ experiments, contributing enormously to the knowledge about the Moon.

She said when ‘Rakesh Roshan reached the moon’, Indira Gandhi asked him how India looked from there. She was speaking at an event soon after Chandrayaan 3’s soft landing. The clip went viral as Mamata Banerjee confused astronaut Rakesh Sharma with Bollywood personality Rakesh Roshan, father of Hrithik Roshan. Also, Rakesh Sharma did not go to the moon. His conversation with Indira Gandhi was from space. “Sare jahan see accha,” Rakesh Sharma said replying to Indira Gandhi’s question, “Upar se Bharat kaisa dikhta hai aapko (How does India look like from space?).”

“I remember when they reached the moon, Indira Gandhi asked Rakesh Roshan how India looked from there, for space,” Mamata Banerjee said. The clip went viral adding to the list of public displays of ignorance by political leaders on the question of India’s prestigious and successful moon mission.

She was not the only one. Rajasthan sports minister Ashok Chandna congratulated the ‘passengers’ who were on Chandrayaan 3 after its successful soft landing. Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar was asked on Chandrayaan 3 before the soft landing. He apparently did not understand the question and asked the minister who was with him.

While Nitish Kumar and Mamata, both key leaders of INDIA alliance came under fire, they posted congratulatory messages on Chandrayaan 3’s success. “By successfully landing Chandrayaan-3 on the moon, the country has created a new history in space for which every countryman is proud. This is the result of the hard work of ISRO scientists. Many congratulations to the entire ISRO team for this,” Nitish Kumar tweeted.

The Vikram Lander touched down on the Moon’s south pole, making India only the fourth country to achieve a soft landing on lunar surface after the US, China, and erstwhile Soviet Union.

As scientists, dignitaries and every visitor applauded the big moment at ISRO, Prime Minister Narendra Modi watched the live telecast from South Africa, where he is attending the BRICS Summit.

Moments after the successful landing, the PM addressed the nation and hailed India’s great achievement.

The chief of National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) congratulated ISRO and hailed India for demonstrating leadership.

“Congratulations to Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) on the Chandrayaan-3 launch, wishing you safe travels to the Moon. We look forward to the scientific results to come from the mission, including NASA’s laser retroreflector array. India is demonstrating leadership on ArtemisAccords!” tweeted Bill Nelson.

There is a NASA connect to Chandrayaan-3 as one of its eight payloads is the US space agency’s Laser Retroreflector Array (LRA).

A specialised instrument used for lunar range research, LRA enables scientists to calculate distances on the moon by bouncing signals off the retroreflector and monitoring how long it takes for them to return.

India signed the Artemis Accords last month, during Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s state visit to the United States.

The Accords, signed by 26 countries including Japan, Australia, the UK, France and Canada, aim to boost human space exploration on the Moon and Mars and also enhance peaceful relationships between nations.