Chandrayaan-1 launch perfect, says ISRO

Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) Chairman G Madhavan Nair described the launch as "perfect" which was achieved after "fighting against all odds".

As India's first lunar mission settled into its chosen orbit successfully, Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) Chairman G Madhavan Nair described the launch as "perfect" which was achieved after "fighting against all odds".

HT Image

"It is a historic moment as far as India is concerned. We have started our journey for the moon and the first leg of the journey has gone perfectly well," Nair said seconds after the successful completion of the launch.

"It is a remarkable performance by the launch vehicle," he said.

It is a perfect launch. Now it will be orbiting the earth, he said, adding that today "what we have started is a remarkable journey for the Indian spacecraft to go to the moon and try to unravel the mysteries of the moon".

"We have been fighting against all odds," the noted scientist said explaining that heavy rains and cloudy skies over the last four days had led to a lot of worries about the launch.

Other scientists who were present at the launch station attributed the success of the maiden moon mission to a "great teamwork".

While some scientists termed the euphoria of the successful launch as a "thrilling experience", others said that it was like "hitting the bulls eye", "a red letter day for ISRO" and a "glorious mission" as they complimented their "baby" on its soujourn.

"It has been a great team work. We handover the phase-2 of the moon mission to the next teams," a scientist said.

George Koshy, Mission Director said: "It was like that the moon was coming and peeping how we worked..."

As soon as the fourth stage of Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) seperated from the Chandrayaan-1, scientists here broke into raptures.

Tears rolled down from the scientists' eyes as they receieved accolades for their achievement from their counterparts present at the centre.