Updated on Friday, November 14, 2008, 00:00 IST

New Delhi, Nov 14: Congress President Sonia Gandhi tonight congratulated the country's space scientists for their spectacular achievement in placing the tricolour on the Moon's surface.

"This is indeed a historic moment and we are proud of our scientists," the UPA Chairperson said.

India marked its presence on Moon tonight to scale this historic milestone after a Moon Impact Probe with the national tricolour painted on it crashed on the lunar surface after being detached from the unmanned spaceprobe Chandrayaan-1.

Bureau Report