Chennai: The severe cyclonic storm 'Helen' hurtling towards Andhra Pradesh coast has been captured by India's Mars Orbiter in the first image of the country beamed back in its maiden mission to Red Planet.
'Mangalyaan' has beamed back the first set of pictures of Earth, capturing the Indian subcontinent and parts of Africa, ISRO said in Chennai on Thursday. The storm, captured on Tuesday, is expected to hit the southern Andhra coast on Friday.
"We are checking the equipment on board the spacecraft. This picture is from Mars Color Camera, fitted on Mars Orbiter spacecraft taken on Tuesday at 1.50 PM from over 67,975 km altitude with a resolution of 3.53 km," ISRO sources said.
Asked whether the picture was planned since the mission is to Mars, the sources said this was part of checking the equipment on board the spacecraft. Though the national space agency has received more than one picture, it has released only one on its official website.