Sep 24, 2014 10:24 AM EDT By Russell Westerholm, UniversityHerald Reporter

India has completed its first trip to Mars, as its Mars Orbiter Mission (MOM) spacecraft has been confirmed to have started orbiting the Red Planet.

According to NBC News, the Mangalyaan (Hindi for "Mars-Craft") sent signals back to India's mission managers after traveling around Mars' far side. The Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) announced the Mangalyaan successfully performed a 24-minute engine burn and entered Mars' orbit.

"History has been created today," Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi stated upon hearing the news. "We have dared to reach out into the unknown, and have achieved the near-impossible."

Starting its orbit just ahead of the Mangalyaan was NASA's Mars Atmosphere and Volatile Evolution (MAVEN) spacecraft. NASA confirmed Monday that the probe had reached Mars and will begin examining the Red Planet's upper atmosphere in a matter of weeks.

India's spacecraft is about the size of a car, NBC News reported, and cost one-ninth what MAVEN did to NASA. India may have plenty of problems on the ground with over-population and poverty, but Modi said such advancements in technology and space will help.

"Through your achievement, you have honored our forefathers, and inspired our future generations," Modi told the mission team in a statement. "We Indians are a proud people. Despite our many limitations, we aspire for the best. The success of our space program is a shining symbol of what we are capable of as a nation."

One of the mission's main successes was the cost, BBC News reported. The ISRO's spacecraft cost 4.5 billion rupees, which translates to $74 million, a shockingly low sum in terms of sending a spacecraft to Mars. What India spent on their Mangalyaan spacecraft is what some Hollywood (and even Bollywood) studios spend on sci-fi movies about space.

"They've kept it small. The payload weighs only about 15kg. Compare that with the complexity in the payload in Maven and that will explain a lot about the cost," Dr. Andrew Coates, a principal investigator on Europe's Mars rover in 2018, told BBC News. "Of course, that reduced complexity suggests it won't be as scientifically capable, but India has been smart in targeting some really important areas that will complement what others are doing."

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