The spacecraft, which is now left with 10 payloads, will continue in its present circular orbit for the next two years and carry out a variety of scientific experiments. These include testing the possibility of presence of water on the moon’s surface, mineral mapping of the lunar terrain and details about the presence of Helium-3.

If the sense of joy at ISRO’s Telemetry Tracking and Command Centre was overwhelming, so was the tension as the clock pushed past 8 pm. Giant screens across the room streamed in various health parameters for the probe — including temperatures and data transfer rate.

Former President A P J Abdul Kalam, who had proposed the idea of landing a probe on the moon when ISRO had been hesitant, was present, next to Nair.

At 8.06 pm, the command centre transmitted orders to the spacecraft to initiate the process of separating the probe. Within 10 minutes, smiles began appearing around the room as the first signs came in of the MIP being on course to putting the Indian flag on the moon’s surface.

At the end of 25 minutes — described by the ISRO chairman as being “precise to the second” — when the probe touched down on the moon at a speed of 1.6 km per second, a wave of triumph and relief swept across the centre. “We knew things were going smoothly at 8.4 seconds after the probe separation command was given because the health status of the probe began appearing and every thing seemed to be going fine,” said Annadurai. The first hurdle was crossed when the probe snapped the cable acting as an umbilical cord to the spacecraft and began spinning down to a predetermined spot over the Malapert Mountain and onto the crater at the moon’s south pole.

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