(Image source from: Mangalyaan leaps Mars orbit)

What a proud day for the country! India's maiden mission to Mars, Mangalyaan, has pulled off perfectly and is now darting towards its historic rendezvous with the Red Planet.

Lauding the moment is Prime Minister Narendra Modi who is at the mission control centre in Bangalore to cheer for Mangalyaan.

It has been a dream run for the Mars orbiter so far. However,  pushing it into the Mars orbit was a tricky operation.

And Mr. Modi is clearly delighted. "Today Earth has met Mars" he said, before congratulating all the scientists at Isro and every single Indian over the success of the mission.

"Travelling an incredible distance of over 650 million kilometres, we have gone beyond the borders of enterprise and human imagination. We have successfully navigated our spacecraft on a route known to very few. We have dared, to reach out, into the unknown, " he continues.

What an absolutely exciting time for India and Mangalyaan! With this, India now joins the very elite group of nations who have actually managed to send missions to Mars, and the first Asian nation to do so.

AW: Suchorita Choudhury