India has became the first nation in the world to successfully reach Mars on its first attempt.<br /><br />The Mangalyaan spacecraft entered the red planet’s orbit on Wednesday, after a journey of more than ten months.<br /><br />India’s PM Narendra Modi, who is also the minister for space, praised the achievement.<br /><br />“History has been created today. We have dared to reach out into the unknown and have achieved the near-impossible,” he said.<br /><br />The mission cost 58 million euros – less than the 77 million spent on the Oscar-winning movie ‘Gravity’ about astronauts stranded in space.<br /><br />Mangalyaan joins NASA’s spacecraft Maven which entered into an orbit around Mars on Sunday, costing almost ten times the Indian mission’s stated cost.<br /><br />The Indian spacecraft will study the red planet’s surface and scan its atmosphere for chemical methane. It will not land on the surface of the planet.
