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  • Mangalyaan
    Location update by ISRO this morningISRO
  • Mangalyaan
    This was the D-Day Schedule for Mangalyaan, detailing every step in the processISRO
  • Mangalyaan
    The first step was changing over to the Medium Gain Antenna which has a wide field of viewISRO
  • Mangalyaan
    The second step, the Forward Rotation, began at about 6 50 am on Wednesday Forward rotation of MOM was essential in order to make the direction of firing opposite to the direction of motion of MOM. This enables effective braking.ISRO
  • Mangalyaan
    The spacecraft entered the shadow of Mars a little after 7 am on Wednesday, a few minutes before the firing of engine was going to begin.ISRO
  • Mangalyaan
    Once the MOM was behind Mars, scientists faced a communication blackout as expected, as the radio link between Earth and Mangalyaan was blockedISRO
  • Mangalyaan
    The crucial burn-start of the 440 Newton Liquid Apogee (LAM) engine and eight thrusters on MOM began at 7: 17 am, which was the most crucial process to slow down the spacecraft's speed from 22.1 km per second to 4.4 km per second, so that it could be captured into Mars' orbit.ISRO
  • Mangalyaan
    The firing of the main liquid engine lasted for 24 minutes, and MOM was just moments away from its moment of reckoning.ISRO
  • Mangalyaan
    Finally, ISRO confirmed that MOM had indeed entered Mars' orbit, thus making space history and propelling India into the elite space clubISRO

The climax was nail-biting. As the crucial steps in Mangalyaan's final phase unfolded early on Wednesday, the Indian Space Research Organisation put out regular updates and photos of the complex process for watchful Indians who followed the historic mission on the ISRO webiste and social media forums.

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The entire nation seemed to have erupted in applause as the mission was achieved, the confirmation of which came in at 8:02 am.

Mangalyaan entered into an elliptical orbit around Mars that will bring the spacecraft within 365 kilometers (227 miles) of the planet's surface at its closest and 80,000 kilometers (49,700 miles) at its farthest.

India has become the first nation to successfully place its spacecraft in Martian orbit in the first attempt, and has been propelled into the elite club, so far occupied by only three others– United States, Russia and the European Union.

Watch the entire coverage of the historic mission here: