ISRO scientists revel in Mangalyaan's glory

The successful Orbit Insertion Maneuver of Mangalyaan earned praise and brought relief and delight for the scientists at Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO).

The scientists are thrilled with pride after Mangalyaan's 300-day marathon covering over 670 million kilometers finally resulted in a national milestone.

"We are feeling out of this world. Everything was autonomous so we were just monitoring the space craft. The Prime Minister's speech was very inspiring," a scientist told ANI here.

Meanwhile, another scientist at ISRO described the past Mars Orbiter Mission's journey as emotional and encouraging.

"Now we can say East or West, ISRO is the best. There is no impossible word in our dictionary. It was a very encouraging and very emotional journey, now we are feeling on top of the sky," he said.

"After day before yesterday's test firing, we were very confident that it will be a success and it was. It was very nice when PM Modi told the entire country to celebrate this moment," added another scientist.

Another scientist at ISRO echoing similar sentiments summed up the mood on the occasion.

"I am too excited that I just can't explain it. It has done whatever we expected it to do," he said.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi closely watched the progress of the Mangalyaan from the ISRO headquarters in Bangalore earlier today.

After the success of the mission, Prime Minister Modi said, "The short form of this Mars mission is MOM, and as soon as I heard this I knew MOM never disappoints."

"I congratulate the people as India has successfully reached Mars. History has been created as we have dared to reach out to the unknown. By travelling more than 650 million kilometers, we have gone beyond the boundaries of human imagination," he added.