With the planting of the tri-colour on the moon through the successful Chandrayaan-I moon mission, India has secured a place in the distinguished club of space-trotting nations. This should boost national self-belief, as it is a demonstration of the country's technological prowess, and managerial and execution abilities. The Indian Space Research Organisation (Isro) deserves kudos for this feat, as indeed for its very creditable record so far on a much broader front. The journey to the moon has of course been done by others before, including manned missions by the US nearly 40 years ago, and unmanned missions have even reached Mars and other planets; Chinese astronauts recently did a spectacular space walk. Against those, Chandrayaan-I might look like a modest effort. Still, there are several firsts that this clock-work mission has to its credit, to set it apart from the others.
