India's maiden mission to Mars is the culmination of half-a-century of space rocketry in India. Fifty years ago, India launched its first rocket from a small village in Kerala: a small US-made Nike Apache rocket. Since then, relations with the US soured when the cryogenic technology was denied to India. Relations have now been warming up. The current American Ambassador to India, Nancy Powell made history by becoming the first US Ambassador to witness the launch of a rocket from Sriharikota on November 5, 2013. NDTV's Science Editor Pallava Bagla caught up with Ambassador Powell for an exclusive interview.
