India scripts space history

An excited ISRO team led by its Chairman S Somnath on Wednesday said India is now on the Moon and has scripted history. Acknowledging the immense contribution of a generation of leadership and scientists of the country's space agency for the Chandrayaan-3 mission's success, he said its achievement is an "incremental progress" and "a huge one".

“Prime Minister Narendra Modi, virtually joined from South Africa to witness the culmination of the complex mission, lauded the scientists for their efforts and linked my name to the Moon and we are all highly grateful to him,” he said. Somnath said, "The Honourable PM called me and conveyed his greetings to each one of you and your family for the wonderful work you did in ISRO. Thanks to him for the support he is giving to us for missions like Chandrayaan-3 and missions that are in the offing. That's the great word of comfort that we are receiving for pursuing the inspirational work that we are doing for the nation."

Somanath thanked all those who prayed for the mission's success, and ISRO veterans like A S Kiran Kumar, the space agency's former chief. "They have been helping so much, they were part of the team to help them to get the confidence and get the reviews done, and to ensure that nothing goes with any mistakes," he added.