India's successful Mars mission 'significant milestone' for the country: NASA

Zee Media Bureau

Washington: The US space agency NASA on Wednesday termed India's successful maiden Mars mission as a “significant milestone” for the country.

Congratulating its counterpart ISRO, NASA Administrator Charles Bolden said: “We congratulate the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) for its successful arrival at Mars with the Mars Orbiter Mission ( MOM), adding that it was an impressive engineering feat.”

“We welcome India to the family of nations studying another facet of the Red Planet. All space exploration expands the frontiers of scientific knowledge and improves life for everyone on Earth. We commend this significant milestone for India,” he added.

Bolden said he hopes the MOM could add to the knowledge the world is gathering with the other spacecraft at Mars.

India has become the first Asian country to reach the Red Planet after it successfully placed its spacecraft in Mars' orbit early Wednesday.

The arrival came two days after NASA's own spacecraft, dubbed Mars Atmosphere and Volatile Evolution (MAVEN), entered the planet 's orbit.

The two joined five spacecraft already operating on Mars surface or in orbit, including three orbiters - Mars Odyssey, Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter and Mars Express - and two rovers on the surface, Curiosity and Opportunity.

(With Agency Inputs)