'Present & Future ISRO Chief': S Somanath's Little Neighbour Surprises Him With... | See Pic

Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) chief S Somanath, who is attributed for India’s recent space success stories, received a special gift from a young admirer who came to congratulate him and his team of scientists for the successful landing of Chandrayaan-3.

The special gift that the ISRO chief was seen flaunting in a now-viral picture is a handmade model of Chandrayaan-3’s Vikram Lander. The boy is reportedly Somanath’s neighbour.

“ISRO Chief Sri Somanath today had a surprise visitor. A young neighbour boy has handed over his own-made Vikram Lander model to the ISRO chief on behalf of all the neighbours,” ISRO scientist PV Venkitakrishnan wrote on the microblogging site ‘X’ alongside a picture of the ISRO chief and his young friend.

Meanwhile, social media users are full of praises for ISRO scientists and hailed how the Indian Space Agency is instilling pride and motivation in young minds to pursue science and make the country proud.

Ever since the successful moon landing on August 23, ISRO and its chairman S Somanath have been at the receiving end of India’s outpouring of love, appreciation and pride

In another heartwarming gesture, the ISRO chief also received a grand welcome from Indigo’s cabin crew and passengers upon boarding the flight.

In the viral video, the air hostess was seen greeting Somanath and urging other passengers to join the airline in welcoming the “national hero”.

Meanwhile, on the progress of Mission Chandrayaan-3, ISRO on Saturday said that rover ‘Pragyaan’ has completed its assignments on the lunar surface and set into sleep mode.

The space agency’s announcement came hours after its chief S Somanath said the lunar mission’s rover and lander, ‘Pragyaan’ and ‘Vikram’, respectively were functioning well and they would be put to “sleep” soon to withstand the night on the Moon.

“The Rover completed its assignments. It is now safely parked and set into Sleep mode. APXS and LIBS payloads are turned off. Data from these payloads is transmitted to the Earth via the Lander,” ISRO said in an update on social media platform X.