NEW DELHI • India's second Moon mission - or Chandrayaan-2 - which was launched on July 22, has sent its first pictures of the Earth, the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) tweeted yesterday.

The agency tweeted a total of five pictures taken by Chandrayaan-2.

"First set of beautiful images of the Earth captured by Chandra-yaan-2's Vikram Lander. Earth as viewed by Chandrayaan-2 'LI4' Camera on Aug 3," tweeted ISRO.

The Moon mission has so far completed four of the total five orbits of Earth. The fifth and last orbit is slated to be completed tomorrow.

The first set of pictures tweeted by ISRO drew joyful comments from its countrymen on Twitter.

The "Lander" and the "Rover" are expected to touch down near the lunar south pole early next month.

If successfully carried out, India would become the fourth country - after the United States, Russia and China - to make a soft landing on the Moon surface.

The mission, costing nearly US$150 million (S$206 million), aims to gather data on water, minerals and rock formations on the lunar surface.

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