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.
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: