Chief Minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy on Tuesday congratulated the ISRO scientists led by Chairman Dr. K Radhakrishnan, for the successful launch of India's first mission to Mars this afternoon from the Sriharikota spaceport in Andhra Pradesh, beginning a 300-day journey to study the Martian atmosphere.
The CM said, "The blast off was perfect. It's a great achievement. ISRO scientists deserve all kudos for the precision-like successful launch. Well done. My hearty congratulations to the entire ISRO team. It’s a historic day for the country".
He said that the Mars Mission 'Mangalyaan' has so far been progressing "absolutely well" and that he hoped that it will reach its destination successfully, and expressed happiness that India joined the elite club of the very few countries in the world that have ventured into exploring Mars.
The CM called this a big achievement for the Indian space scientists as the project was completed in 15 months, at a cost of just Rs. 450 crores.
He said that this is India's first inter-planetary space mission, and that the country has now joined Russia, the United State of America and Europe in exploring planet Mars. (INN)
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