NEW DELHI — India became the first Asian nation to reach the Red Planet when its indigenously made unmanned spacecraft entered the orbit of Mars on Wednesday – and the first nation in the world to successfully reach Mars on its first attempt.

The spacecraft called “Mangalyaan,” or “Mars-craft” in Hindi, which was launched in November 2013, slowed down just enough to reach orbit early Wednesday, securing India a place in the elite global space club of Martian explorers.

Images of beaming scientists clapping and hugging each other at the command center in the southern city of Bangalore were shown live in a nationally televised broadcast after a breathless, nail-biting countdown during the spacecraft’s final leg.

Over an hour after reaching the orbit, the space agency received the first photographic data of the red planet’s terrain, which were transmitted via an antenna located in Canberra, Australia.

Calling it the “national pride event,” the Indian Space Research Organization also showed it live on Facebook and Twitter.

The Headline Today news TV channel called it “India’s date with the Red Planet,” and NDTV 24×7 called it “India’s big leap,” reflecting the surge of national pride. NASA tweeted congratulations to India for its “Mars arrival.”

India’s mission cost a fraction of NASA’s $670 million Maven, which entered Mars orbit Sunday. The Curiosity Rover, which touched down on Mars in 2012, cost nearly $2 billion.

By comparison, India’s $72 million Mars orbiter is the cheapest interplanetary mission ever, costing less than what it took to make the Hollywood space movie “Gravity.”

Over the next six months, India’s Mangalyaan will study the mineral composition on Mars and also look for the presence of methane, a chemical key to life on Earth.